Hopping Good Times At Paddle Race 4
The scene at 101 Surf Sports was Hopping this past Saturday, January 21st on probably the most beautiful day of the year so far of our Winter Paddle Race Series.
It was especially fitting that things were hopping because everyone was decked out with their rabbit ears for our celebration of the Chinese New Year. The Year of the Rabbit is known as the meaning of washing away bad luck and bringing in all of the good luck.
Even though we are in the San Francisco Bay area, surrounded by water and the Pineapple Express waterfall of rain has subsided, our early race sign-ups were a bit slower than normal. However, our dear friend Jen Fuller rallied her troops and our intrepid River Town Racers put the numbers over the top. So much in fact that the Canal looked like an Epic Kayaks showroom with all of the surfskis lined up on the starting line.
The luck of the rabbit was everywhere today with some sizzling hot finish times. Actually, some course records were most likely broken! One of our racers has been a part of our community since he was a wee little nipper, young Jack Charlesworth, and he not only hit his first course record at the age of ten…he hit his second one today at the age of 14! The future of any sport is the youth that start perfecting their skills that last for a lifetime passion for sports. The coaches from Rivertown Racers are doing exactly that kind of cultivation of young paddlers, amongst their ranks walks a national and world champion paddler or two.
Several paddlers shined today for many reasons other than fast times and course records.
In life, attitude is everything, and these folks embody that quote. One of our paddlers, Matthew Rosen’s rudder fell off his surfski right before the start. He didn’t panic or decide to not get on the water. He handled it with grace, got back in the race only a short bit behind the pack, and crossed the finish line with a smile. A couple of other stand-out paddlers with the perfect attitude would be Mira Kanter and Loraine Otte. They train hard with their coach Jen Fuller and each time we see them race, they get faster and faster and their smiles get bigger and bigger. Loraine was extra fast today on her brand new Infinity Blackfish with her trusty QuickBlade UV 82, perhaps it’s the attitude, maybe it’s the gear? Whatever the case, we suggest that you try both.
Another thing warmed the souls of the racers today, the arrival of the piping hot and delicious Extreme Pizza! The pizza was complemented by a hearty salad prepared by our adhoc chef Cort, and it was the talk of the tables. Please support the businesses that support your scene. Extreme Pizza has provided hundreds of pizzas over the years for our on-site paddle party birthdays and corporate events that our customers book.
One more fantastic partnership we have developed over the years would be with Mark Hadeen of the San Rafael Police Department. He is always out in the bay on the SRPD boat “Mission City”, helping to keep people safe on the water, and he’s the one that always has our back to make sure that our racers are safe and sound. Thank you so much Mark, we truly appreciate you!
With that being said, if you have yet to ever do a race, keep in mind that our events are perfect for the first-time paddler. If you want to have an amazing time and meet some wonderful people, sign up for one of our last two races for the season.
Our Mardi Gras themed Race #5 February 18th More Information & Register Here
And our end-of-season final blowout for St. Patty’s Day on March 18th More Information & Register Here
For all of our paddlers who are interested in taking a peek at our Course Records, keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming blog post that will have a listing of 12 years worth of 101 Surf Sports race series records. We highly suggest each racer take a look at their PaddleGuru account and let us know if you think we need to add your name! If you want to help us update the list, please email tom@101surfsports.com.
The team at 101 Surf Sports wants to thank each and every one of YOU for coming to our events and for helping the paddle sports community thrive. We are a community full of wonderful people, so the next time you attend one of our events, bring a friend!
Complete Results
| Course | Name(s) | Category | Age Group | Gender | Time | Rank | Div Rank |
| Long | Zachary Alva | Surfski Single / K-1 | Open (18 to 50) | male | 41:59.0 | 3 | 1 |
| Long | Petri Alva | Surfski Single / K-1 | Open (18 to 50) | male | 55:50.2 | 4 | 2 |
| Long | Albert Szilvasy | Surfski Single / K-1 | Open (18 to 50) | male | 56:04.5 | 5 | 3 |
| Long | Ben Lawry, Sebastian Kauffman | Surfski Double / K-2 | Juniors (1-17) | male | 56:19.7 | 6 | 1 |
| Long | Steve Axt | Surfski Single / K-1 | Masters (51-60) | male | 58:24.1 | 7 | 1 |
| Long | Kenny Howell | Surfski Single / K-1 | Grand Masters (61-70) | male | 59:20.2 | 8 | 1 |
| Long | Vio Popa | Surfski Single / K-1 | Open (18 to 50) | male | 00:06.1 | 9 | 4 |
| Long | Idan Avrutsky | Surfski Single / K-1 | Open (18 to 50) | male | 00:27.7 | 10 | 5 |
| Long | John Dye, Amy Byers | Oc-2 | Masters (51-60) | male | 00:59.5 | 11 | 1 |
| Long | Jake Johnson | Surfski Single / K-1 | Juniors (1-17) | male | 01:41.8 | 12 | 1 |
| Long | Paul MacIntyre | Surfski Single / K-1 | Grand Masters (61-70) | male | 01:52.1 | 13 | 2 |
| Long | Yohei Rosen | Oc-1 | Open (18 to 50) | male | 01:52.1 | 14 | 1 |
| Long | Alan Dixon | Surfski Single / K-1 | Grand Masters (61-70) | male | 02:58.2 | 15 | 3 |
| Long | Jody McComas | Surfski Single / K-1 | Grand Masters (61-70) | male | 04:38.7 | 16 | 4 |
| Long | Jonas Moore, Leah Ahmed | Surfski Double / K-2 | Juniors (1-17) | mixed | 06:21.9 | 17 | 1 |
| Long | Doug Kidder | Oc-1 | Grand Masters (61-70) | male | 07:15.8 | 18 | 1 |
| Long | Lukose Ninan | Surfski Single / K-1 | Masters (51-60) | male | 07:58.1 | 19 | 2 |
| Long | Jonathan Paulsen | Surfski Single / K-1 | Masters (51-60) | male | 09:13.1 | 20 | 3 |
| Long | Rachel Alvarez | Oc-1 | Open (18 to 50) | female | 10:24.5 | 21 | 1 |
| Long | Matt Chamberlain, Tom Nadzam | Oc-2 | Masters (51-60) | male | 10:26.2 | 22 | 2 |
| Long | Pete Gauvin | SUP 14' | Masters (51-60) | male | 11:11.2 | 23 | 1 |
| Long | Thane Jennings | Oc-1 | Grand Masters (61-70) | male | 14:22.3 | 24 | 2 |
| Long | Matthew Rosen | Surfski Single / K-1 | Masters (51-60) | male | 19:19.2 | 25 | 4 |
| Long | glenn friedland | Surfski Single / K-1 | Grand Masters (61-70) | male | 19:20.8 | 26 | 5 |
| Long | Tanya Alva, Tracy Johnson | Surfski Double / K-2 | Masters | female | 20:17.7 | 27 | 1 |
| Long | Nghi Lam | Surfski Single / K-1 | Open (18 to 50) | female | 22:35.9 | 28 | 1 |
| Long | Vincent Fallourd | SUP 14' | Open (18 to 50) | male | 23:23.6 | 29 | 1 |
| Long | Jen Fuller | SUP 12'6" | Masters (51-60) | female | 25:30.9 | 30 | 1 |
| Long | Jack Charlesworth | SUP 12'6" | Juniors (1-17) | male | 29:04.6 | 31 | 1 |
| Long | Trey Strickland | SUP 14' | Masters (51-60) | male | 37:20.9 | 32 | 2 |
| Long | Maryanne Steurer | SUP 14' | Grand Masters (61-70) | female | 43:09.9 | 33 | 1 |
| Long | Tracy Radcliffe | SUP 14' | Masters (51-60) | female | 44:00.4 | 34 | 1 |
| Long | Mira Kanter | SUP 14' | Masters (51-60) | female | 08:32.7 | 35 | 2 |
| Short | Zoe Rice | Surfski Single / K-1 | Juniors | female | 22:35.1 | 1 | 1 |
| Short | Beck Geiser | Surfski Single / K-1 | Juniors | male | 25:26.9 | 2 | 1 |
| Short | Avery Uang | Surfski Single / K-1 | Juniors | male | 28:11.7 | 3 | 2 |
| Short | Noah Best | Surfski Single / K-1 | Juniors | male | 28:12.8 | 4 | 3 |
| Short | Daniel Madick | Surfski Single / K-1 | Juniors | male | 31:34.3 | 5 | 4 |
| Short | Noah Humbard | Surfski Single / K-1 | Juniors | male | 31:35.1 | 6 | 5 |
| Short | Daniel Luciano, Martin Ramos | Oc-2 | Open (18 to 50) | male | 32:32.5 | 1 | 1 |
| Short | Audrey Johnson | Surfski Single / K-1 | Juniors | female | 33:07.5 | 7 | 2 |
| Short | Isabella Lofaro | Surfski Single / K-1 | Juniors | female | 33:35.6 | 9 | 3 |
| Short | Kianna Morse | Surfski Single / K-1 | Juniors | female | 33:35.6 | 8 | 4 |
| Short | Lorinne Otte | SUP 14' | Masters | female | 39:16.4 | 10 | 1 |
| Short | Bob Cooper | Kayak | Senior Masters | male | 39:47.6 | 11 | 1 |
| Short | Kris Everett | SUP 12'6" | Masters | female | 47:01.6 | 12 | 1 |
| Short | Kelly Geiser | SUP 12'6" | Open | female | 52:40.8 | 13 | 1 |
| Short | Jessica Moore | SUP 12'6" | Open | female | 56:58.8 | 14 | 2 |