Spectacular Oktoberfest Paddle Racing Aktion!
The 2014/15 Whole Foods Market San Paddle racing series kicked off under near ideal conditions of blue skies and balmy temperatures with a total absence of a normal attendee – the wind. (all photos by Ron Steinau)
The racing action is centered more on family fun and low pressure racing but that's not to say some high level paddling was not happening out on the water. In fact with over 90 registered paddlers it was a spectacle to behold. With numbers that high it's imperative paddlers register on-line for our next event or risk losing out on the fun. All events will be capped at 101 paddlers for safety and site capacity reasons.
The day started with 3 separate starts across two courses. The two hardest choices of the day came at the beginning and the end of the day. First choice was whether to tackle the 2 mile short course or 6 mile short course. Second choice was at the finish line – Marin Brewing Company Pale Ale or Tiburon Blonde. Whichever choice you made it was the right one.
The day was near perfect with one exception – some mayhem in the results. A sincere apology to all the paddlers for messing up the results in certain divisions.
We happened to miss an entire division in the 12'6 & 14ft Men long course and to make some rights here I want to call out some of the corrected entries.
- Tony Graef got third place in the 12'6 men's Masters Short Course
- Judy Jensen won the women's prone short course
- Lisa and Milan Hines went 1-2 in the women's 12'6 short course
- Michael Valenzuela was first to finish the long course race overall
- Randy Nelson won the men's 14' Masters short course
- Julie Drenan won the women's masters 12'6 on the short course
- Tom Funke took line honors – first overall in the long course
- Matthew Gruchala took second in the long course with Allen Yip getting third plac
- Ben Gibson took the win, and Rod Delarosa took second, and BIll Allred third with no call out at the awards ceremony. Due to registration switching it looked like TIm took the win but he was on an OC1
- Cathy Huang took third in the women's masters 12'6 long course
- Kate Carpenter took second in the women's masters division on the long course
We are super sorry this happened and have figured out what caused the system to go haywire. Allowing two entries on one person on short and long course simply hosed the system database. .
If you did not receive a prize during the Awards please stop by the shop to pick up some loot and thanks again.
COMPLETE RESULTS CLICK HERE (long course subtract 2 minutes, except boats and prone, for actual time - short course subtract 4 minutes)
We have to offer up some special thanks to our sponsors. This time Whole Foods Market doubled up their help with both the San Rafael and Mill Valley stores kicking in to make the lunch a special affair. Three Twins Ice Cream is really good. How do you make it better? Serve it up next to a slice of Mamie's Pies! Thanks to both for the sweet support! O'Neill joined the ranks this year and we of course simply couldn't have had an Oktoberfest without the suds support from our friends at Marin Brewing Company. Remember to patronize these businesses when you can and help support the sport we love.
Thanks as well to all the volunteer helpers and to Ron Steinau for all the photography.