Rainbows And Surprise At Inaugural SUP Run Championships

Under grey skies and light showers the first ever SUP Run Championships came to San Rafael by both sea and land. With McNears beach providing the perfect venue for the day’s action it was a fun competitive day of paddling and running.(pictured the starting line - all photos Ron Steinau)

The event is the brainchild of Olympian Andy Toro. Andy had a vision to bring something new to the paddling world. His love of paddling was evident in all the fine details. Flags, Banners, Podiums, proper finish line, food and more were all part of Andy’s idea to create a new event that will develop elite paddlers for years to come. (pictured below - the stoke)

With rain drips buffeting the course some small adjustments were made to make the event a bit safer. Slick surfaces caused us to take out all the incline and decline as well as the steps on the running course. For the water side of the action we shortened the course to get paddlers off the water before the forecasted blustery storm winds took over the race course. It all worked out will with a nearly perfect 4 mile by 4-mile event.

The racing was simply amazing and full of surprises. Since it was our first ever event we weren’t sure what to expect. What we got was some very interesting lead changes as the first Stand Up Paddlers to finish were reeled in by some of the faster runners. We have to offer up much apologies for the scoring errors but some of the gaps were so large that it made us scratch our head and we made a few mistakes. To be specific here is how it rounded out.

First up the on the women’s side of things your winner was Jackie Auchard. Jackie dug deep digging out of a nearly 3-minute hole on the paddle to make up 7 more minutes on the run. Second place went to Andi Traynor with Kate Major taking third place.Kate shoud be standing on the 3 spot on the podium. Nice rainbow in the background.

On the men’s side of business, it was Dan Miller (aka Wiki Wiki) doing likewise. Shaking off a third-place finish in the paddle leg to take the overall win. Grant McFadyen held on to second after winning the paddling leg with Barry Wicks in 3rd. Barry turned in the fastest time on the running leg blazing 4 miles in just over 31 minutes turning his fifth place paddle finish in to a third overall.(pictured above)

The master’s division was full of lead changes. The first-place paddler Dave Hook could not hold on his paddling lead dropping to third place. Cary Riter got second and it was Sea Trek’s Mitch Powers taking the impressive win. Mitch’s run was so fast it resulted in one of our mistakes. Mitch made up a four-minute deficit on the water and then tacked on 4 plus minutes on land to take the resounding win. Dave Hook finished in third. Janet Walp won the women’s masters division.

Winners of the 4 divisions all received brand new paddles courtesy Quickblade Paddles.What are fresh legs worth? Just ask the lone relay team of Leo Montero and friend. Their 53-minute paddle time was offset by a blazing 27+ minute run time. Wow!

A special thanks to the Marin County Parks with an extra heaping of praise on supervising ranger Kevin O’Donoghue. The event simply would not have been possible without their support

Of all the events, we have ever been part of this one was the most work. Just ask anyone who volunteered. This was some serious work with timing and boards and runners and just about action on every corner. A little extra thanks to Cathy and Vincent Huang & Kim Charlesworth, Justin Beddecarre, who were running just as hard as the competitors. More praise for event photographer Ron Steinau for all the great shots. An extra huge atta girl for Leigh Claxton who pitched in on many fronts. Thanks all.

We do have to single out the water safety support team for some top-notch coverage on the water. Thanks to Emily Matthews, John Dye & his Marietta, alongside surfski paddler Lia Gaetano. Also a shout out to the San Rafael Police Boat and officer Mark Heedon. Having this much paddle talent on the water assures us all will come back safe.

Last but not least we thank our sponsors and hope you to will thank them by patronizing their businesses. Kind Bar, Hint Water, and of course Quickblade Paddles.

Thanks to all who paddled and paddle on!

Photo Gallery (Ron Steinau land shots - John Dye Water shots) This gallery is raw and unedited. 

Results below (all time was manually recorded)