SwimRun Cape Cod Short Course

SwimRun Cape Cod Short Course

Shuttle buses run to the start from Wellfleet Elementary School. The Short is the shortest of the three: 5.2 miles of running in three legs and 1,600 yards of swimming in two ponds, about 6.1 miles in all. The swims are Gull Pond and Long Pond, 800 yards each, and the run legs are 1.1, 1.4 and 2.7 miles. Its run is marked with yellow flags rather than the pink of the longer courses.

The Short swims the same two ponds that close out the Long and the Medium, so it shares their late cutoffs: Gull Pond entrance by 11:15 am and Long Pond by noon, with everyone off the course by 1:30 pm. Each pond is a glacial kettle, and the organiser puts typical depths at 40 to 60 feet. A safety buoy, inflated, is required on every swim, and the race lends one for free. The organiser also holds a free pre-race clinic at Gull Pond Beach at 3 pm on Friday, October 2.

Two swims and three runs make a short race, but family still lose sight of the racer between the ponds. On Livebib the racer shares a link to their own broadcast, which opens in any browser with no account. It shows position on the course line, distance covered and a finish estimate that updates as the race goes. When the phone loses its fix in the water, the position is carried forward along the course and marked as estimated.