July 6th, 2019 at Camp Kitchen at 7:00am
A Little Background History
On August 28th 2015, just before the first, and only, IRONMAN Muskoka, TriMuskoka and Hospice Huntsville hosted a “Sunrise Swim for Hospice” charity open water swimming event. We figured if Kona had the Underpants Run, then we would put a Muskoka spin on things and incorporate the incredible beauty of our area, and the access to our incredible waterway system, to good use for a great charitable cause.
This event was an early morning, fully supported 1.6 km casual and non-competitive swim to raise money for Hospice Huntsville. Swimmers gathered at Camp Kitchen, which now is the location of the swim start of the IRONMAN 70.3 Muskoka, and headed off for a warm up swim around Alice Island and back to Camp Kitchen for coffee, tea, and some homemade muffins and goodies.
As this was an incredible event that supported a vital health care service to our community, our club is bringing the Sunrise Swim back again for this years IRONMAN 70.3 Muskoka.
Take a read of this article that was published in the Doppler Online, one of our fine local media outlets.
This years fundraising project is one that our club is initiating, called the MSCLE (Movement for Strength, Conditioning, and active Lifestyles for Everyone) Project
The additional bonus is that the Sunrise Swim provides swimmers with a chance to preview the first leg of the swim of the 70.3. Often in the first leg of the swim, athletes want to get their bearings with respect to landmarks for sighting, strategies on how they are going to approach the initial leg of the swim, and to get comfortable with the surrounding environment. This is an excellent way to swim this part of the course, with the support of kayaks and boats in a non-competitive fun environment, on the day before the 70.3 Muskoka. Participants will arrive at the start line the next morning fresh, confident and ready to go!
The Schedule of Events for the Swim on July 6th
The Sunrise Swim for Strength will take place on July 6th, 2019 at Camp Kitchen. This is the exact location of IRONMAN 70.3 Muskoka swim start, which will be taking place 24 hours later.
| 6:15am |  Participant check in commences for the swim at Camp Kitchen. Park at the back of the Canada Summit Centre (click here for the link) near the Active Living Centre (there will be signs) and walk down to Camp Kitchen which is about a 10 minute walk |
| 7:00am |  Pre-event announcements will take place at Camp Kitchen. The 70.3 swim starts at 7am, so you will have the exact amount of lighting that you will have the next morning! |
| 7:15am |  Hop in the water and swim the 1.6km course, or any part there of, in predesignated waves. We just want to spread the swimmers out a bit so that people get back to the coffee dock in a staggered fashion.We think that the dock would sink if everyone came back at the same time!The buoys will be set up in the exact location that the race will be using, so you will literally be swimming on the course. We have added an additional section where you swim around Alice Island to get to the 1.6km distance. Stop at the 2nd buoy and look at where the second turn will be so you can get a landmark to sight off of for the next morning. Turn around anywhere you want to to head back to the coffee dock and for some tasty home made treats for breakfast! |
| 7:45am |  Get back to Camp Kitchen at your pace and swim up to the coffee dock. Enjoy a cuppa super delicious locally roasted, free trade organic Inspire Coffee Roasting Company coffee, and then swim ashore for some tasty homemade baked goods, fruit, and a whole bunch of yummy goodness to fuel you for the race the next day. |
| 9:00am |  Get back to everything else that you had planned for the Saturday! Don’t forget about all of the great fun lined up on Saturday in town, including the Rotary Dockfest and parade, and the IronKids Fun Run! |
Here is a map of the swim course.
The Breakfast Buffet
As you can see from the photo below, the “continental” breakfast buffet that we had at the 2015 IRONMAN Muskoka Sunrise Swim was pretty incredible. There was fruit, muffins, yogurt, juice, cinnamon buns, coffee, and tea all served up by our incredible volunteers. We have some gluten free options available as well for those with gluten sensitivity.
Registration for The Sunrise Swim for Strength
Registration for the event is $30, and is open to anyone over the age of 13 years of age regardless of whether or not you are doing the 70.3 the next day. However, we only have 300 registrations available. So, first come, first served
All of the net proceeds from registration go directly to MSCLE project, and to help fund publicly accessible fitness equipment in Huntsville. By registering for this event, you are helping our community as a whole become more active and pursue healthier lifestyles regardless of age, sex, or socioeconomic status.
If you have any questions or if someone is coming with you to the 70.3 for the weekend and they want to volunteer as a kayak or SUP support person, please contact our Registration Coordinator
Note…it is really challenging to do on site registration. So please register before hand.
It helps us plan for volunteers, lifeguards, food amounts, insurance coverage and many more logistical elements.
About The MSCLE Project
The MSCLE Project, which stands for Movement for Strength, Conditioning, and active Lifestyles for Everyone, is a community based project that TriMuskoka is spearheading. This multi-phase project see the installation of publicly accessible, body weight based functional fitness equipment in central locations around Huntsville.
Having it located centrally ensures that these fitness parks is accessible to everyone. The total project is estimated at $200,000 to $300,000. We will be looking to community partners, both financial and in-kind donations, to help these goals be realized quickly, so that our community can start pursuing active lifestyles as soon as possible.
Thank you to our amazing 2019 partners who are helped make this great event even better!
