A new direction

A new direction

 

 Following my 400 mile Florida everglades challenge, I took some time to spend with family.  A lot of time with family.  They definitely deserve it after all I put them through. 

     Post expedition I was fortunate enough to be offered my own show on   Stoke Radio called "The Distance". It's on Wednesdays at 11am, 4pm, and 10pm cst. Then Thursday on the it's available on demand

Then April 27th came and I raced in the Vol80 in Knoxville, Tn. A race organized by my friend Charles Goodson. A truly scenic race of 80 miles in the smoky mountains, For 80 miles I finished the race in just over 18 hours of paddling with 14 hours being rained on.

 

  And now as May ends, I am about to embark on yet another monster of an expedition.  Friends are calling it the Triple crown. I call it the Iron athlete. Regardless of what it's called it's going to take heap loads to pull it off.  Not only the feat itself, just making it happen. You see, I have only one sponsor this year, Werner Paddles . They provide me with paddles, support, promotion. They've helped me since 2012 and I am very thankful to have them. Yet I am left without any major sponsors. I have no board sponsor so I am left to procuring my own board. 2 weeks ago I had to put a deposit on a 17'6" unlimited custom SUP to be built to my paddling style and body type. Not an easy task given my situation. Yet i will find a way. That is not the message of this blog.

 

Here It is:

                                                                      “Iron Athlete”

      On July 20^th I will toe the starting line of the 100 Mile paddle(http://www.100milepaddle.com/).  It is a 2 day staged race that starts 75 miles north of New York City. On day 1 I will race against other elite SUP athletes and complete the 60 mile leg of the race. Then day 2 (july 21) I will complete the final leg of 40 miles aiming to finish 1^st in the SUP division. (100 miles total distance)

     That evening of the 21^st I  will drive approximately 24 hours back to my home state of Missouri where on the evening of the 22^nd I will attend the safety meeting for the MR340 race (http://rivermiles.com/mr340/).  It is a non-stop race 340 miles on the Missouri river from Kansas City to St. Charles.   On the morning of the 23^rd I will yet again toe the starting line of this 340 mile race. I will compete against 350+ canoes, kayaks, surf ski’s, and other SUP racers. I aim to finish this race in under 60 hours therefore racing straight through july 23,24,25,.

     Then the evening of the 26th I will begin a 3^rd expedition, one that has never been attempted before.  I will land paddle 100 miles of Illinois roads while towing a SUP behind my skateboard.  At the end of the 100 miles I will then attach the skateboard on top of the paddle board and SUP 100 miles down the Mississippi river to end at the Arch in St. Louis. This portion will be done unsupported.

     The entire experience will be filmed as a documentary titled, “Stand Up Guy – Iron Athlete”.  It will be an experience that will redefine the possibilities of stand up while promoting  Stand up sports.

   I am seeking sponsors that wish to be part of this journey that will gain mass exposure through the documentary, online articles, and print edition magazines.  Sponsors will received their logo on the SUP during all events as well the logo can be on my race jersey.  Sponsors that are product sponsors as well will be highlighted throughout the documentary with the use of their product as well as High res pictures made available to them for promotion purposes.

If there is anyone that has potential sponsors or connections please let me know.  I will have to do some fundraising for this to happen but it would be great to have some sponsors step up to help too.

More to come





1 week after The Everglades Challenge

1 week after The Everglades Challenge

 

 

   I've taken a week post expedition to spend time with my family and rest up from the Florida Experience.  It's been great to change Poopy diapers, pick up lots of toys, clean the house, and have basic conversationswith my wife as I return to normal life for a while. 
   During the expedition my wife would send me pictures and videos of the kids. It was the highligh of my day.

Family vacation in Tennessee fall 2012

   But pictures aren't the same thing.  Having them close to hug and love on. Now that's what I need.
During the race I had pictures of my family taped to my deck bag. It's really what brought me through the race.
   I remember at checkpoint 3 (Flamingo) where I made it in 5 days of hard paddling. That's 270 miles in 5 days! I slept for a few hours. when I woke I loaded up and portaged my board and gear around a dam about 50 yards. Warren Richey (Author of Without a paddle) was there filming a documentary of the race. He interviewed me as I was carrying my gear on the portage. He asked me how I was getting through the race given my circumstances. I remember having a hard time talking as I was tearing up and said," I look at the picture of my family. That's what gets me through this".
Family is an integral part in What I do.  Without them I don't have a chance at success. I never forget this. No person should.

     I know there's a lot of folks that want to hear the full story of the expedition. There's just too much that happened to be able sum it up in a blog. The Texas Water Safari blog took me 9 seperate chapters to get through, and I still wasn't able to get all the detail needed to do the race justice. So for this expedition I have decided to write a book. Nothing too long, maybe 150-200 pages.  But to really get the full picture we have a nice documentary that we are putting together of the expedition.  Jordan Fogerson and I are collaborating on putting this together.  It will take about 4 months to put together but will show you an inside look of what I go through in order to do what I do.  It will trace 5 months of pre-race, race, and post race adventure.
    If you are a sup shop, organization, group of paddlers, or any other entity that would like to have an event when the documentary releases, please contact me at shaneperrin@gmail.com.  I'll come out and paddle with you, do a short speaking engagement, charity event, or just sit on your couch and drink beer as we watch it. 
     Some of the things I'll talk about: the people I met along the way:
                                         
                                      Pre-race. JoJo and Joe at Suncoast Surf shop. A huge help. very cool shop

                     A surprise visit from My dad and Grandmother at Sanibel island

               Paige with Hooked on SUP who manned the or "Womanned" checkpoint 1

                                                                        The Journey

                                                      And Much Much More!

 Check back here at the blog too as I have alot of people to thank, Updates on the post expedition life (like a few days ago when I woke up at home but was trying to figure out how to get back on the water as i thought I was still racing), and next chapter of racing. Hint, April 28.2013 I'll be racing a 80 mile race in Tennessee. Search the VOL80


Florida Everglades Challenge Experience

Florida Everglades Challenge Experience

 

 

     There's alot that has taken place since my last blog post. Pre-expedition consumed my life as well as my family's.  There was little time to post anything as we prepped for the biggest expedition race of my life.  My days were filled with 4am workouts, working for the parks 6:30am-3pm, coming home and prepping, then an evening workout.  Before I knew it, race time was here.

 

 

     I will eventually go into more detail of the experience.  For now please listen to this interview with Leslie Kolovich on the Sup Radio Show.

 

Florida everglades Challenge Interview

 

Time wise, I am catching up spending time with my family. I missed them tons while gone for 2 weeks. So I'll have some down time to love on them.

     I'll be writing a book on the experience as there's too much that happened to write in a blog.  Plus the documentary that was filmed by Jordan Fogerson is being edited and should be done in 4 or so months. 

                                                         Leaving Marathon Key 3/10/13



Expedition Update - Werner paddles

Werner Paddles Sponsors the Expedition!

 

This is a Game changer!
 

     When I first started racing in 2011 I thought all paddles were created equal. Being in the midwest I was just happy to have a full carbon SUP paddle back then. It was a rarity. There just wasn't much available.  Then paddles slowly trickled into shops. I found that a local store, The Alpine shop in Kirkwood, MO has been carrying Werner kayak paddles for years, and now carries SUP paddles.  This is a good thing out here in the midwest. We're getting one of the  best paddles made! You thought you knew Carbon? You need to feel the weight on the Grand Prix Bent shaft. It'll make your paddle feel like a heavy pig!

    

My first use of a Werner paddle came June 2012 at The Texas Water Safari. A race that's 260 miles traversing 3 rivers and ending with a 5 mile bay crossing. Pure Hell! But I loved it.

 

The race start- Aquarena Springs

 

                                                     Coming out of a low water bridge



 

 

   It made a huge difference in finishing this race. The bent shaft paddle is one of the biggest evolutions in SUP paddle design. The ergonomics save your wrist and forearm from getting beat up over the miles. Instead of having to use  an "ok" shaped grip with your pinky and ring finger not fully used on a straight  shaft paddle, the bent shaft allows you to have a full natural grip with all fingers engaged and wrapped around the shaft. Pure ergonoics! And Werner was the first to bring us this advancement.

 

 In my homeland, St. loius, MO

 

Start of the MR340, check out the ergonimcally shaped shaft 

    Attempting  this Florida everglades challenge is like nothing I've ever attempted. i'll need every advantage I can find. Thanks to the fine folks at Werner I don't have to worry about 10 days of paddling with my wrist and forearms getting hammered. now I just need to worry about the rest of my body.

Still time to donate to the expedition
http://www.gofundme.com/10-days-400-miles





The backstory: A 10 year view from my wife

-The day we met in 2001-

 

    Ten and a half years ago at a University of South Florida tailgate I met my husband for the very first time. He was full of life and pushing the envelope in every way he could. Little did I know at the moment that I was meeting my best friend and the man that would be the father of my two beautiful children.  I had no idea that the reason I had him in my life was because of a kidney transplant he had received just one year prior. To understand the whole story of who Shane Perrin is, you have to understand what he went through to get here.

 

February 2001

Shane was like any other college student attending classes, fit, active, healthy and holding down a night manager position. He was keeping crazy hours and living up the college life. The thing that separated Shane from the average college student was the signs of his failing kidneys.  He was losing vision in his left eye, throwing up constantly, he was crippled with continual headaches and had tea colored urine. Now Shane kept telling himself he was burning the candle at both ends and having too much fun for his own good. It wasn’t until Shane lost complete vision in his left eye and started losing the vision in his right eye that he thought he should see an eye doctor…men...seriously! 

Off to the doctor he went.  The first doctor told Shane that he had been an eye doctor for over a decade and had no idea what he was even looking at with Shane’s eyes so he referred him… and so did the next guy, and the next guy. Shane went to six eye doctors. The final eye specialist decided to order blood work and run some tests on Shane. He sent him on his way and told him he would let him know when he heard back about the blood work. The following day Shane was at work and received a call from the eye specialist.  He told Shane that there were irregularities with his blood work and he should go straight to hospital. The doctor had called the hospital already and they were waiting for Shane to arrive. In complete shock and utter confusion about what was causing this, Shane drove himself to the hospital.

Upon his arrival he checked in and began his work up.  The ER nurse came over and took Shane’s blood pressure…..hmmm that can’t be right.. So she took it again.. and again.. then manually instead of with the machine, then another nurse, 4 nurses and a charge nurse later they started asking Shane some questions about his current state, “Sir are you feeling light headed? Have a head ache?... It didn’t make any sense!.. Finally, in bewilderment, Shane asked what his blood pressure was…. 220/185… for those of you that don’t know much about blood pressure.. This is NOT normal! You could divide those numbers by 2 and it almost within normal range.  Shane was experiencing severe hypertension putting him at a very high risk for heart attack and stroke. In fact the nurses and doctors in the ER were shocked that he was even able to function.

 As a precaution to help lower his blood pressure he was admitted and heavily sedated. Over the next four days Shane was in and out of consciousness while they ran every test in the book to determine where Shane stood. On the fourth day they determined Shane had 0% kidney function and needed a transplant and an immediate dialysis regime. A port was installed in Shane’s neck and dialysis was started in the hospital. It was determined that Shane had Berger’s Disease, a hereditary kidney disorder.  Two months later Shane underwent another surgery to have a fistula (a more permanent port) installed in his arm for his continued dialysis treatments. On average Shane spent three hours a day, three days a week for the next nine months having his blood cleaned on a dialysis machine.

In November of 2001 Shane was given the greatest gift he could receive, a second chance at life in the form of a new kidney, from none other than his own mom. During Shane’s bout with kidney failure doctors were baffled by his bodies ability to endure and told him that if he was not so insanely fit that he would not be with us today.

-Us in Key West 2003- (yes, he had hair at one time)

 

      Since November 16, 2001 Shane has done everything in his power to maintain his health and live every day to the fullest. While this zest for life is not always the easiest ride to be on as his wife it is one of the things that drew me to him. His childlike wonderment with the excitement over the next horizon is intoxicating.  I have been pushed to try new things and had a front row seat for Shane’s long list of historic achievements in Stand up Paddling.  It is not to say that his paddling aspirations are all sunshine and roses... it is NOT! I spend about 1 month of 2012(cumulative of his active race time last year) worrying and not sleeping.. Communicating with his ground crew about the last time they saw him and how well he is taking care of himself, worrying that at any minute some small accident during one of these races could change our lives….. Forever.  While it is draining physically, emotionally and financially to support his dreams, I know that without his dreams and without his passion he is not the man that I fell in love with.   

Today, Shane continues to be a marvel of health to his nephrologist. Eleven years and counting!!!! Part of that success is Shane’s drive for health and wellness. He is in constant pursuit of strength, endurance and agility. Just this morning (a Saturday) I woke at 5:00am to an empty bed, only to realize Shane was already well into a work out on his homemade SUP ergometer so that he could be done by breakfast time so he could spend time with our two small children(Luke(3) and Tess (9 months)).

 

 

 

 



In a way this Everglades Challenge is the culmination of his SUP adventures. When they say it can’t be done it just fuels him further. Never count him out! I have never worried about Shane’s ability to finish a race or meet a goal he sets for himself; I only worry about him killing himself in the pursuit. It is overwhelming that he reached out and within four days his supporters were able to fulfill his needs to fund the expedition he so desperately wants to accomplish. What and unbelievable testament to people’s faith in Shane. But our work is not done! The expedition might be funded but the reason behind it is not!!  Part of this dream is to bring, health, wellness and zeal for life for those walking the path that Shane was on over eleven years ago. Shane has chosen to provide transplant recipients or those that are undergoing dialysis hope in the form a Stand Up Paddle board of their very own. And trust me if you have not tried SUPing it is an amazing work out. I was sore for about 3 days the last time I tried it! Without his health and exposure to activity Shane would not be the picture of health that he is today. 

      Help Shane to give this gift to people struggling all around the U.S. Help give them something exciting to look forward to and a fun way to stay healthy and recuperate after their transplant. Every dollar counts, if we could even get each of our Facebook friends to donate just 5$ our goal would be reached. If you are not in a place to financially contribute to this mission then please share the fundraiser with all of your friends.  Help Shane to spread his passion and his zeal for life.

Thank you,

Elissa Perrin
 

Crowdfunding

Thank you to Supconnect for all their support

SupConnect

   I've received support from so many individuals through my racing career I can't begin to thank everyone. I do try because it means a great deal to me personally. However looking back and now in the present there's a platform that has really accepted me in the SUP world and taken it upon them selves to promote what I do. I'll let you take a look at what I found Friday morning as I was browsing different SUP media: 

Click here: SupConnect

 

 

 

Pretty cool That they took it upon themselves to write the story and pull this unterview up from a little while back. 

 

     My first relationship with the organization came from the 2012 Supconnect SUP man of the year competition. Someone who must know me entered me in the judging as it came as a surprise that I ended up there. Not thinking I had a chance, I watched as so many people cast their vote for me in the open round.  The support came in from all over the nation. Fast forward through the voting and I actually win the open round. OPEN ROUND WIN!

 

   Althought I didn't win the final round of voting, I  felt honored just to be amongst the top SUP athletes in the world in the voting process.  Crazily enough, Supconnect named me SUP man of the year 2012 honorary mention. 

 Here's their MENTION,

        "Supconnect would also like to congratulate Shane Perrin, an extreme distance stand up paddler, who was the outstanding winner of the open nominations phase of Supconnect SUP Man of the Year. The love and support for him was extremely evident and the number of votes that poured in was inspirational. He has been given an honorary mention title in the 2012 Supconnect SUP Man of the Year Awards."

 

 Thanks SupConnect!
And thanks for promoting the upcoming expedition:



Crowdfunding

$2400 funded for the expedition. Thanks to my Sponsors

$2400 raised in the first week! Thank you to all my sponsors that have made the expedition a success already.  The toughest part of a race/expedition is getting there. These people made it possible to reach the first goal of $2400. Now anything else donated goes towards the purchase of Boards for dialysis patiens, transplant recipients, and those on a wait list.


You can become a sponsor here: http://www.gofundme.com/10-days-400-miles

Abu Dhabi -
Jen Scully  with http://www.livelovesup.com/#


Connecticut
  Nick Sezenias, Kim Aubin ( The woman who donated her kidney to me)

Illinois:

LaGenia Bailey

Florida:

Melissa & Tim Jay, Corrective care chiropractic
 

Ohio-
  Bill Cochrane-owner of Nalu Sup and Surf (on my left) and Brian Wilse (on my right),

 Monica Opdycke, Phil Budowanec, Jill Jankowski



 

 

 

 Maryland:

Mac balatico

 

Missouri:
 

 

Gary Stokes,  Andrew Goold, Sandy Habeck,  Kelly "Hondo" Larkin,  Chris Clinton,

Cindy Abernathy,  Anna & Tom Blanchard, Dorothy Holzwarth,  Ellen Strubert, Kin Reed, Joe&chrissy Eickhorst, Patricia & Dan Belmont (my father in-law pictured below), Lindsey Mueller, Sue Donnelly, Satish Gopinathan, David & Kathi Broughton

Minnesota:
Randi &Kristjin Arnar

 

 

New York:Erica hamilton
(yup that was from 2000. I still had hair!)
 

Virginia:

 Robert Harris
 

Sweden:
Henrik Friberg

Texas:

Donna Cannon, Katie Schumacher, RIO SUP, Jason Black, Devin Gates, Donald Garcia, Bill siersdorfer, Lindsay Stillman, Carlos Mata, Mike Dey

 

Washington:
Matt Myers
 

 

Wisconsin:
David Schultz with Longboat kayak


 

Unknown origins of Sponsors:  anonymous, Jeff and Mistie Rhomberg, Lisa Applegate, Anne Nischke,  Jeff Gibson,  Joe Vohs,  Craig May, Theresa Nicholson, anonymous
^ Email me if your name appears on this list so I can  add you above