Location: Mecklenburger Seenplatte
Website : https://otilloswimrun.com/races/1000-lakes/
Germany has been very important for us to find the right location. After more than a year of looking we found the amazing area of more than 3000 fresh water lakes just 70 km north of Berlin. Who would have thought we would find the location so close to home?
The Mecklenburger Seenplatte is special, it is very rural, it is riddled with pristine lakes with drinking quality water and it is full of beech forests. This makes the race extremely graphic, while running on the beautiful hard, and fast sand trails everything around you is in a vertical plane with tree trunks reaching for the sky! You feel as if you are in almost virgin nature.
The start in Wesenberg is spectacular with traditional costumes and lots of villagers, the finish line is in Rheinsberg, just after the castle.
The race has been moved from the end of October to September so that we do not miss out on the end of summer with comfortable water and air temperatures. The climate during this time of the year is mild with water temperatures around 14 degrees.
World Series:
This race course is fast and spectacular! Not only do you need to be able to move fast along never-ending forest trails, you also need to be strong in the water with many swim sections and almost 25% swimming. The water is usually calm and flat so think of it as a giant pool. 10 swim sections means lots of transitions, be fast in and out of water to gain time. Get ready to embark on a new adventure, through mystical forests and in untouched lakes. Get ready for a wild race!
THE COURSE
This race course is mystical, almost as if you are in a tunnel. A tough start in Wesenberg will bring you to pristine lakes and wild forest trails. You will pass places which feel like you are in the 20s and you will swim through amazing waterways. In the forests most of the ground is hard-packed sand and the trails are very clear, it will be fast running! We love almost straight line race courses.
We have decided to increase the amount of open-water swimming in our races and here you will all be put to test, almost 18% of swimming in magical lakes. The course will have 10 swims, totaling 7,5 kilometres; of which the longest swim will be around 1 300 metres. You need to have your transitions dialed, if you are not fast there you will lose lots of time going in and out of the water.
The winning time will be around 4 ½ hours. We will have two cut-off for safety reasons and the longest time on the course will be 8 hours. Your team needs to be strong in the water and fast on land.
The total distance is 42,2 km. There will of course, be plenty of safety, energy stations in cool places and medical staff on call.