Breca Wanaka

The Entry Fee Includes:

• swim cap
• finishers’ t-shirts
• finishers’ medals
• Prizes
• race timing
• race nutrition and hydration
• free event photography

Breca Wanaka

Run: 37.1km; Swim: 7.5km; Transitions: 20; Total: 44.6km

Estimated completion time: 6-11 hours

• Terrain: trails, sections of technical running, rocky island crossings
• Swimming: rocky beach entries and exits, some technical transitions
• Difficulty: hard. To complete this race you need a high level of fitness

Breca Wanaka Sprint

Run: 14.3km; Swim: 3.5km; Transitions: 10; Total Length: 17.8km

Estimated completion time: 2-4 hours

• Terrain: trails, sections of technical running, rocky island crossings
• Swimming: rocky beach entries and exits, some technical transitions
• Difficulty: medium. To complete this race you need a medium to high level of fitness

Cut Offs

We use cut-off times to cap the time that each swim stage is open. Otherwise, our water safety teams would be out on the water for too long and we’d risk people swimming after dark. Also, we want to ensure that our entrants have a suitable level of fitness to safely undertake our courses. Consequently, cut off times will be strictly enforced. If you miss your cut off and continue to race you will be disqualified from this and all future Breca Swimrun events.

Breca Wanaka Checkpoints And Cut Offs

Checkpoint 1: Mount Burke Station | 8km from start | 10:20 cut off
Hydration (water, PURE Sports electrolyte) | bananas | sweets

Checkpoint 2: The Peninsula, NE | 15.2km from start | 11:45 cut off
Hydration (water, PURE Sports electrolyte) | oranges | boiled new potatoes

Checkpoint 3: Colquhouns Beach | 23.2km from start | 14:10 cut off
Hydration (water, PURE Sports electrolyte) | bananas | PURE gels | EM’s Power Cookies

Checkpoint 4: West Wanaka | 30.7km from start | 15:05 cut off
Hydration (water, PURE Sports electrolyte) | oranges | sweets | boiled new potatoes

Checkpoint 5: Fern Burn Delta | 39.2km from start | 16:20 cut off
Hydration (water, PURE Sports electrolyte) | bananas | PURE gels | EM’s Power Cookies | boiled new potatoes

Checkpoint 6: Damper Bay | 46.5km from start | 17:50 cut off
Hydration (water, PURE Sports electrolyte) | oranges | sweets | boiled new potatoes

Finish: Edgewater Hotel | 53km from start

Wanaka Sprint Checkpoints And Cut Offs

There are three fully-stocked checkpoints on the Wanaka Sprint course, viewable on the Course Map. The locations, distances and cut off times are listed below:

Checkpoint 1: Fern Burn Delta | 4.4km from start | 16:20 cut off
Hydration (water, PURE Sports electrolyte) | bananas | gels | boiled new potatoes

Checkpoint 2: Damper Bay | 11.8km from start | 17:50 cut off
Hydration (water, PURE Sports electrolyte) | oranges | sweets | boiled new potatoes

Finish: Edgewater Hotel | 19.4km from start

Course Marking

The courses will be fully waymarked and checkpoints and transitions will be manned by volunteers.

Friday 15th March

Registration and the safety brief will take place at the Lake Wanaka Centre

Registration takes place between 17:00 and 19:00. Please ensure you have photo identification and the mandatory equipment.

Please bring your wetsuits and running shoes CLEAN and DRY for the biosecurity inspection. Remove all dirt from your shoes – ideally by machine wash – or you will have to wash them at registration.

Teams will be issued with their race vests and swim caps during registration.

The Safety Brief takes place at 19:00 and will last one hour.

What to Bring: Every competitor must present:

• Photo identification
• Whistle
• Reusable cup or flask – read about our pioneering “cup free” race sustainability initiative. We will accept any type but it must be reasonably robust.
• Wetsuit and Trainers – Clean And Dry! Our continued use of the pristine lakes on our courses depends on our commitment to biosecurity. You must present your wetsuits AND trainers for the biosecurity check. If they are not CLEAN – this includes the soles of your shoes and means NO DIRT – and DRY, you will have to wash them before you can register.

17:30 – 19:00 – Registration, kit inspections
19:00 – Safety brief

Saturday 16th March

Breca Wanaka Full Distance

07:00 – Bag drop at Edgewater Hotel
07:30 – Athletes’ coaches depart from the Edgewater Hotel to start
07:50 – Breca Wanaka teams fully assembled at the start, Hikuwai Conservation Area
08:00 – Breca Wanaka start

Breca Wanaka Sprint

11:30 – Bag drop at Edgewater Hotel
12:20 – Athletes’ coaches depart from the Edgewater Hotel to start
12:50 – Breca Wanaka Sprint teams fully assembled at the start, West Wanaka
13:00 – Breca Wanaka Sprint start

Both races

19:00 – Presentations at Edgewater Hotel

Presentations

Prize giving will be held at the Edgewater Resort at 19:00

Post Race Party

The party will be held at the Edgewater Hotel. All participants, volunteers, safety teams, supporters and spectators are invited to join us after the race.

Getting There

Getting to Wanaka is easy. It’s a short, scenic 60-minute drive from Queenstown, the closest international airport, where you will find all major rental car companies and scheduled bus services that provide transport to Wanaka throughout the day.

Wanaka Accommodation

There is a wide range of accommodation in Wanaka, including apartments, motels, holiday homes, backpackers, hotels, B&Bs, camping and lodges. Wanaka Accommodation by Lake Wanaka Tourism lists all the providers.

Getting to the Race Starts

The Breca Wanaka races start at Glendhu Bay. Competitors will be transported there by coach from Edgewater Hotel. There are no changing facilities at Edgewater but you will be able to store drop bags from 07:00 – 07:20. Please arrive changed and ready to race. Aim to be on the coach by 07:25. If you miss it, you’ll miss the event.

Each team must have:

• Two wetsuits suitable for temperatures of 10°c
• Two whistles
• Two reusable cups or flasks – any kind will be accepted, as long as they are genuinely reusable

Teams may also use tow ropes, paddles, pull buoys and fins (no longer than 15cm, measured from the toe), but they are not mandatory.

What is swimrun?

Swimrun is an adventure race, comprising a series of run and swim sections staged continuously as a race in rugged environments, normally held over “ultra” scale distances. You run in your wetsuit and swim in your shoes. The race is run in pairs: courses have to be completed in their entirety with a teammate at your side.   Races unfold quite differently to other formats you might be used to. You don’t change your equipment as you work your way through the course, everything you start with, you finish with. Transitions refers to either a water entry or a water exit. When approaching a swim leg, ensure that your wetsuit is fully zipped up, your shoes are tightly fastened, and that you are wearing your race vest and swim cap. When finishing a swim, exit the water together at the transition flag. Teamwork is particularly important on technical, rocky transitions.

At the heart of Breca’s courses are the landscape and the experience. We want you to feel the thrill of racing in beautiful, wild places, away from artificial surfaces and structures. They’ll take you over craggy hilltops, through mountain tarns, along rugged coastlines and across glittering lakes.

Do I need a teammate or is there a solo option?

All of our swimruns are completed in pairs, we do not offer a solo option. While the concept of doubling the workload may sound daunting, having a teammate to share in your successes, urge you on when times get tough and check up on you when you start to flag adds to the exhilaration of the day.

There is also a practical reason for racing with a teammate: safety. Swimrun water entries and exits take place in open water and are not as controlled as in triathlon. They are often technical – on rocks and other slippery surfaces – so it is important to have a friend on hand to help support you through the challenges you’ll face.

This also means you need to find someone at a similar level to you, or be prepared to adjust your speed accordingly.

Can I switch teammates?

During a race you cannot change your teammate: you start together and you finish together. If one of you is unable to complete the course, that is the end of your race.

Changes can happen for any number of reasons prior to race day: teams may have to split due to injury or a change in availability. We allow a change of one team member prior to race day. Please send a request in writing to the Breca Swimrun team, including the details of the new teammate as well as their racing experience, and we will update the entrants list.

How do transitions work?

In swimrun, a transition refers to either a water entry or a water exit. Teams must arrive at each transition as a pair. When approaching a swim leg, ensure that your wetsuit is fully zipped up, your shoes are tightly fastened, and that you are wearing your race vest and swim cap. When finishing a swim, exit the water together at the transition flag, assisting each other as required. Teamwork is particularly important on technical, rocky transitions.

How do I train for a swimrun race?

Swimrun sounds like it should be straightforward to train for: a bit of swimming and bit of running… simple right? But with its paired buddy system and unique equipment requirements there are several techniques you can employ in your training to ensure you are getting the most out of your time and are well prepared for your swimrun adventure.

One of the most important aspects to master in training is the team dynamic. It’s likely that in any swimrun pair there will be a mismatch between running and/or swimming ability so although it may be cliché to say “you are only as strong as your weakest link”, this is especially true in swimrun.

Find a training location to replicate race length transitions. Racing for several hours with more than a dozen transitions between swimming and running is a feeling no amount of big swim sets or long training runs can prepare you for. To help your body adapt, find an outdoor training environment where you can easily switch between disciplines.

What should I eat and drink during the race?

Nailing your pre race, post race and all important race nutrition could well be the difference between racing strong and enjoying a good day, and hitting the wall and suffering round the course. Furthermore, as a team sport it is not just you that is going to being slowed down – both teammates need to be fuelled correctly as you are only as fast as the slowest person.

Planning in a Swimrun race is a massive part of your day, and nutrition is just like your physical training. You need to plan, prepare and practice! The key is to keep your energy levels high, which means ensuring that you have a plan in place for race day.

High energy foods and drink will be available at the checkpoint locations. Breca provides a full breakdown of each checkpoint location, the distances between each checkpoint and the nutrition supplied on our event logistics pages. Having this information to hand will help you decide when to fuel and what to take; it also gives you targets to aim for during the race.