Spectacular and Inspiration Filled Whole Foods Paddle Race #3 - The Whole Story

The Whole Foods San Rafael Paddling Race #3 fired off in spectacular fashion this past Saturday July 28th with Outrigger Canoes, Stand Up Paddleboards, Prone Paddleboards, and Surfski's all lined up for action.(all photos credited Ron Steinau)

With cloudy skies, a 70 degree air temp, and a light 5-8mph sea breeze buffeting the course the conditions were near ideal for racing. Our 2.2 mile short course keeps racers in the relatively serene and sheltered San Rafael Creek while for the elite racers a 5.8 mile open water romp was the order of business. Two themes emerged on the day – spectacular and inspirational.

First up let's tackle spectacular. It all started with our new event sponsor Whole Foods setting the bar high. As the 46 racers on the day assembled in the 101 parking lot they were greeted by a stocked goody bags and a sumptuous spread of fresh bagels, cream cheese, and bottomless pots of coffee. With enough food for an army it was a tough task to pull the fleet back in to race mode. With the bar set high there was only one thing Whole Foods San Rafael could do for lunch – jump over it – more on that later.

As for the inspirational part it was a diverse and dynamic crowd of paddlers setting up to race. At 101 Surf Sports we do our best to extend the Ohana Spirit to all and it was met by an amazing group of paddlers. From ages 13 to 60+ it was clear that everyone was ready for some fun and San Rafael was ready to deliver. In our first race it was a 69 year Ken Altman out classing the field and taking top honors but this race showed we best not count out the youth. In addition we were stoked to see 56 year old Barry Mckeown take to the course and show that paddling fast takes only determination and grit and that overcoming adversity is relative to our own personal challenges. Barry (pictured at left), you see, has lost the use of his legs in an accident many years ago and you can be sure that's no excuse for him not turning in a stellar performance. I was playing water safety patrol on the day and as I made my way out the Marin Islands it was no surprise to me to see Barry in the hunt for the overall lead as the top paddlers made the turn to head for home. In fact Mckeown took third overall only 18 seconds behind overall winner 48 year old Kevin Seid of Everpaddle Stand Up Paddleboards. In addtion Barry set the new Outrigger Canoe record for the  Marin Islands Course Nice!

Back to the youth. Two stellar performances were turned in by the kids and first up it was, to the best our knowledge, the youngest Stand Up Paddler to ever complete the around the islands long course. Sixteen year old Grant Findlet didn't just complete it - he excelled.

Findlet put up solid one hour thirty three minute time that was made even more impressive by the fact that he was paddling a surf style board. Awesome work Grant. While Grant (pictured at right) was killing it on the long course 13 year old Bobby Mello was doing his thing on the short course to take first place for the juniors. The more seasoned paddlers had better watch their backs as these two are sure to be stroking to the front of the fleet in races to come.

Back out on the long course for the ladies it was Valerie Khachadourian doing what she has done in races all over the bay – winning. Valerie's 1hr 19 minute was good enough to best second place Sally Mello by just over 2 minutes. Janet Walp took third in 1:31:30.

A quick special props has to also go out the Charlie Banfield (pictured at right) who took to the course with a bum arm and paddled the long course prone – you just can't keep this guy off the water.

Over on the short course it was a simply dominant Michael Melville putting up a thirty minute and two second time to win. A quick check of the record books showed that to be a new course record for the surfboard class – nice work Michael. Something tells us Michael (pictured below) will be back – only 3 seconds separates him from the first sub 30 minute time on the short course.

Brad Coburn took second but perhaps the paddle of the day on the short course was put in by Gail Demarco who, in winning the ladies division, took third place overall! First time racer Cathy Huang showed that all an Outrigger paddler has to do is "Stand Up" and good things will happen. Huang took second place for the women's division with another first time racer, Tracy Barhydt rounding out the top three. We are particularly stoked for Barhydt who only just recently started paddling as part of our Frequent Paddler Program. 

On the surf board side of the business it was June Grant (pictured at right) taking a hard fought battle with Kate Carpenter as the two paddlers went 1st and 2nd respectively in that class. Back on the inspirational theme it was Arline Thomas showing how it's done taking third place for the surf board class.

Back to the spectacular and it was Whole Foods jumping well over the aforementioned high bar they set on the breakfast spread. With platters brimming with fresh fruit, bowls over flowing with Granola and yogurt, Burritos, coconut waters, Cliff bars, Orange Juice and more. Need something to wash it down? Event sponsor Hint Water threw down a plethora of cases of all natural, sugar free Hint waters to make it a healthy and hydrating end of day celebration.

A special thanks has to go out to racer Mark Guelfi who on top of racing the long course also generously loaned out his Protector Powerboat for both water safety and photo opportunities. Photo Op? Yes and it was another big thanks going out to Photographer Ron Steinau, of Rick Miller Photography, who used both boat and land to capture a massive gallery of the day's action.

Please support the businesses that support our sports. Shop Whole Foods San Rafael and drink Hint Water and tell them 101 Surf Sports sent you!

Thanks to everyone who paddled and to all the families who supported them. We were particularly happy to see all the first time racers and can only hope to see more!

The next Whole Food Paddling Race is Saturday October 6th – mark your calendars and bring an empty stomach we'll see you there.

Huge Ron Steinau Photo Gallery

Complete Results 

(we had techinchal difficulties at the end of the day. Please report any scoring errors to david@101surfsports.com and we will correct them ASAP)