Healthy living sporting craze inspires family festival at ‘spiritual home' Bantham

A PIONEERING, dynamic new outdoor activity craze has inspired a family-friendly festival at it's ‘spiritual home'  Bantham in Devon.

‘SwimRun' is an amphibious adventure race which sees participants taking part in long-distance races both in and out of the water.

Wearing the same outfit of shoes and a wetsuit for both activities, pairs of adventurers run and swim along coastline distances of 10K or 26K without changing in-between legs.

The SwimRun craze is Britain's newest and fastest growing endurance sport, growing from 50 to 450 events all over the world in just five years.

The Bantham event is being organised by barefoot footwear company Vivobarefoot who have designed shoes using ancient wisdom and modern technology to let feet do their natural thing while keeping wearers safe and sound.

Up to 150 guests will enjoy a solstice weekend of activities including races, yoga workshops, healthy eating and encouraged to reconnect with nature through a range of unique outdoor activities and enjoy talks hosted by leading international coaches, experts and famous friends of the brand.

They include inspirational speaker Ross Edgley who recently swam more than 2,000 miles around the UK.The highlight of the weekend is the Vivobarefoot SwimRun.

It will be the first to be held on the Bantham coastline. The SwimRun is truly unique as you must compete as a pair and run and swim multiple times in shoes and a wetsuit. The competitors will enjoy all that the Devon coastline has to offer, starting in Salcombe and ending in Bantham. There is also a shorter race.

Nicholas Charlier from Vivobarefoot had this to say: "The Vivobarefoot Retreat is a chance for us to share the activities we love with our guests and to provide new experiences for them on one of the most beautiful coastlines in Europe. SwimRun in particular gives you the rare chance to view the best of Bantham from both land and sea."

Bantham was first visited on horse and cart by Galahad Clark's grandfather in 1908, and has been the spiritual home of  Vivobarefoot ever since.