Some of the best summer runs don’t end at the trailhead. They end waist-deep in cold water.
In Colorado, that’s not a stretch. Half the trails I love finish near an alpine lake, a reservoir, or a creek cold enough to make you gasp. The problem is that most running shorts hate getting wet. The liner clings. The fabric stays soggy for the entire drive home. And anything that felt light at mile one feels like a wet diaper by the time you’re back at the car.
That’s the problem the Tracksmith Run Cannonball Run Shorts were built to solve. They’re a 5″ running short with board-short DNA, designed to run hot and plunge cold without skipping a beat.
We put that promise to the test.
Built to Get Wet
Most running shorts are built to manage sweat. The Cannonball Run is built to manage full submersion.
The body fabric is a lightweight, 4-way stretch woven with a PFC-free DWR (durable water repellent) finish. In plain terms: it sheds water instead of soaking it up, so it dries fast whether you’re sweating through a tempo run or climbing out of a lake. That DWR being PFC-free is also a nice touch—no “forever chemicals,” which matters when the whole point is jumping into the watersheds you’re trying to keep clean.
The other half of the equation is the liner. Tracksmith’s ultra-light VentAir liner is breathable and supportive without the compressive squeeze, and—critically—it doesn’t turn into a clingy mess after a swim. That’s the detail that separates a real run-and-swim short from a regular short you got wet by accident.
The Plunge Test
Here’s where it earned its name.
We ran a hot, exposed Colorado loop, then walked straight into an alpine lake at the turnaround. Cannonball, obviously. The shorts took the dunk without ballooning up or dragging, and the board-short details—low-profile binding, curved dolphin hems, and a drawcord waist—kept everything secure mid-plunge and on the swim back to shore.
The real surprise was the run after the swim. Soaked shorts usually mean chafing and a heavy, sloppy feel for the next mile. These didn’t. The water beaded and shed quickly, the liner kept doing its job, and within a mile or so they were closer to damp than drenched. By the time we hit the car, they were basically dry.
That’s the magic trick: a short that’s genuinely comfortable on the run, then comfortable in the water, then comfortable on the run again.
Pockets That Actually Work
Swim-friendly is great, but a running short still has to carry your stuff.
The Cannonball Run runs three pockets total. Two streamlined drop-in hand pockets handle a phone or gel, and the right one hides an internal bungee loop that locks your keys down through hard strides and a swim—no small thing when you’re about to fully submerge with your car key on board. The VentAir liner adds its own center-back drop-in pocket for anything small you want to keep close.
It’s not a cargo-style storage monster, and it isn’t trying to be. It’s just enough to leave the belt at home for short-to-medium efforts.
Fit and Feel
The 5″ inseam is the sweet spot for summer—short enough to move, long enough to feel like shorts and not a swim brief. It’s a pull-on short with a shirred, drawcord waistband that creates a skimming fit through the hip: easy to dial in, easy to forget you’re wearing.
It comes in two summer-ready colorways, Red Clay Sun Print and Rolling Hills, and at $110 it sits where you’d expect Tracksmith to sit—premium, but built to last and pull double duty as both running and swim gear, which quietly makes the price easier to swallow.
Colorado Lakes, Lower-Elevation Heat
Colorado gave us the ideal proving ground. High-country runs that dead-end at frigid alpine water are exactly the use case these shorts were drawn up for, and the cold-plunge-then-keep-moving rhythm is where they shine brightest.
Down at lower elevation, where the heat sits heavier and there’s no lake waiting, they held up as a straightforward hot-weather running short too. The woven fabric breathes, the stretch never restricts your stride, and the quick-drying finish that sheds lake water also shrugs off a sweat-soaked long run.
No short makes a 90-degree afternoon feel cool. But one that lets you cut the run in half with a swim and keep going? That changes the whole outing.
The Verdict
The Tracksmith Run Cannonball Run Shorts are for runners who don’t see water as the end of the workout—they see it as the best part.
If your summer miles tend to finish near a lake, a reservoir, or the ocean, these solve a problem most running shorts can’t: getting fully wet and staying comfortable. Fast-drying woven fabric, a non-clingy liner, smart board-short details, and key-secure pockets add up to a genuine run-and-swim short, not a compromise in either direction.
For anyone chasing the run-then-plunge summer, this is exactly the kind of gear that earns a permanent spot in the rotation.
Technical Specs at a Glance
Run Cannonball Run Shorts
- Inseam: 5″
- Body Fabric: 100% polyester, lightweight 4-way stretch woven
- Lining Fabric: 86% polyester, 14% spandex (VentAir liner)
- Finish: PFC-free DWR (durable water repellent) for quick drying in and out of water
- Pockets: Two drop-in hand pockets (internal bungee key loop in right pocket) + center-back liner pocket
- Details: Board-short-inspired low-profile binding, curved dolphin hems, shirred drawcord waistband
- Colors: Red Clay Sun Print, Rolling Hills
- Price: $110
- Care: Machine wash cold with like colors, tumble dry low