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