After my main challenge of this year, Ironman
70.3 in Austria, I decided to try something new which I have not done
before. The name of the sport is Stand UP Paddle (SUP) boarding.
Stand Up Paddle Boarding is a relatively new
paddling sport whereby the paddler stands up on a board similar to a surf board
or a windsurf board. The paddler and the board are propelled across the top of
the water by the use of a long single-bladed paddle.
My first attempt at this sport was two weeks
before the festival and I loved it. I do my open-water swimming at
Bray Lake and they have a wide variety of water sports. I decided to try
SUP a few times and each time I felt like I was improving and getting
better. After I gained some confidence I signed up for a race called
the 10k SUP/Run Duathlon, one of the three main events of the festival
weekend.
The main events were:
10k SUP/Run Duathlon
This race requires participants to run and paddle two 5k
distances, 10k in total. Similar to many SUP beach races, the duathlon was be
split into five segments - 1.6k paddle, 2.5k run, 1.6k paddle, 2.5k run, and
1.6k paddle.
200m Survival Sprints
This was an exciting race format that saw the
entire field of racers compete through a short sprint course with three
different buoy turns. The slowest three paddlers of each round were eliminated until
a final round decided the overall finish of the top three female finishers and
top five male finishers.
Adventure Race
This was a 12-18 mile race on the River Thames
from Hurley to Windsor.
There was a competitive race category and a
non-competitive adventure category with an option of a shortened route for the
non-competitive paddler. The course was set between Hurley and Windsor passing
many iconic River Thames towns and landmarks including Marlow, Cookham,
Maidenhead, Eton Dorney, and finishing in front of Windsor Castle at Eton
Bridge.
As for my SUP/Run Duathlon experience, the day
race weather was not that great. The wind was so strong and the water choppy.
I arrived two hours before the race to register and pick up a paddleboard
that I had reserved earlier. We had a briefing and everyone began to
get ready about fifteen minutes before the start of the race. I decided kept
my running shoes on as they suggested in the briefing. Once on the board and on
the starting line, an air horn signalled the start of the race and we started
to paddle.
I started slowly as I struggled to
fight against the wind. I was next to last throughout the first lap,
however, I managed to overtake four people on the first leg of my run. As
I got back on my board for my second paddle I was overtaken by a few
competitors, however, again I was able to overtake a few more on the second run
and even managed to cheer a few competitors up. On the third and final SUP lap
I knew what to do and how to deal with head wind. It was my fastest lap
despite the burning in my arms and back. When I crossed the finish line
I was very happy and I even got a medal too. My position was 6th
out of 12 ladies with time 1 hour and 33 minutes. Not bad for a beginner
who has only been on a board less than a handful of times.
I would like to say thank you to Ben
Swails for introducing me to SUP and to Bray Lake for organising such
a fantastic event. I will be back on the board soon!
