tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53335138673745501242024-03-13T07:49:46.387-07:00The Stand Up GuyThis blog is about my life through Stand Up Paddle Boarding.Shanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07647959321046367083noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333513867374550124.post-17940193030236189292017-06-27T12:55:00.004-07:002017-07-20T06:51:19.154-07:005 days of traveling'exploring the virgin islands by inflatable Pt 2<div style="text-align: center;">
PT 2</div>
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A good way to wake up. Coffee on board<br />
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A good nights' sleep in one of Jost Van Dyke's finest cabins (a 12x12 cabin with electric and a ceiling fan) And the morning starts with a sunrise typically found in the islands. The day reveals the cabins. Each one is painted differently.</div>
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C<span style="text-align: center;">abin in Jost Van Dyke</span></div>
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A swift departure from Jost Van Dyke and this is the paddle I have not been looking forward to. Crossing back to St John during prime time in the shipping channel. Loads of boats hauling butt across and I'm going right through it. My goal is to make it to Whistling Cay ( the circled spot on the map) lying just before St. John.</div>
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A moment before departure<br />
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Leaving the bay is the easy part. Once out in the ocean is where I Start falling off the board. 13-18mph winds sometimes gusting to 20+ have their way with me. It's a constant battle to stay in the direction I want to go. This means I have to paddle only on my right side the entire time. It ends up being less of a normal front to back stroke and more so a sweep or C stroke. The wind and the chop continuously pummel the side of the board. This wouldn't be as big an issue without a fin. The fin "anchors" the board to go straight but there is no straight from the wind and chop. The nose of the board wants to fight to go with the wind. I fight to keep a line across to Whistling Cay.</div>
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The paddle across is mostly uneventful. Mostly me clinging onto the board, falling off, remounting, and paddling like a maniac to stay straight. I do come across a massive sea turtle. I followed him a ways but he didn't care for my company much and left within a few minutes. I did manage to get a fuzzy shot of him.</div>
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Imagine, That's just the head!</div>
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5 hours later and I make it across the main open ocean crossing and am getting ready to enter the shipping lane. I float next to a large rock outcropping of a small uninhabited island watching the boat traffic. It's about 1 mile from the small island across to Whistling cay, a small former outpost. </div>
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I see a clearing and paddle as fast as I can and get about 1/4 of the way across until I see a large ferry boat coming from the east. I keep a steady eye on it and paddle with a 90% effort cadence. I get half way across the channel and hear to the west some deep growling engines. A huge Catamaran is motoring full throttle towards me. I'm a blip in the water and he doesn't see me. I am all out in panic mode and 100% paddling at this point. The boat steadily is closing in on me and It seems like death is now a possibility. No time to die, I paddle like an idiot and see that I'm going to clear the boat just barely. I get by and have 30 yards to spare. Seems like alot but it's not.</div>
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This was the ferry coming from the East I saw first. It ended up very close to me as well</div>
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So Death averted I'm happy to get to Whistling Cay. It was an old Outpost way back in the day when the Virgin islands were colonized. Troops were stationed here to look for invaders coming and they would warn the Government of St. John. </div>
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I entered whistling Cay and beached right where you see. The far island in the distance is where the shipping channel extends to. Doesn't look far but it is, trust me.</div>
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To the left you can see Western St. John. The fort actually actually faces the north shore of St. John at Maho Bay.<br />
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From Whistling Cay it's a quick paddle to paradise, Maho Bay</div>
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I spend a couple hours here joined by strangers from Wisconsin that conveniently have a cooler of beer. Later I Get a ride from My Friend Chirag back to his house to get cleaned up and relax before the night's activities.</div>
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At the St. John Brewers Taproom with Chirag that evening</div>
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The following day was supposed to be me paddling to Puerto Rico a distance of about 60 miles of open water. The morning comes and the decision is to abort Puerto Rico. The "Christmas Winds" have arrived and are blowing 20+ mph consistently. On top of which the local paddlers tell me that the area between St. Thomas and Puerto Rico is heavily fished and that attracts lots of sharks. So the easy decision was to play it safe and stay on St. John. I decide on a North Shore paddle on my last day in paradise.</div>
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Leaving Maho Bay</div>
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Quick stop on a rock beach</div>
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Cool Pirate ship on western St. John<br />
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Cruz Bay<br />
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Cruz Bay, Gear pulled off the board<br />
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Back at the Beach Bar<br />
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The next morning I catch a ferry over to St. Thomas with my gear</div>
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A quick Baggage check in to a Cape Air Flight from St. Thomas airport<br />
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Seems it's a wee bit of a small plane<br />
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I arrive in Puerto Rico and later board a flight back to Missouri<br />
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All in all, traveling and living out of 2 bags was a fun adventure. If you have an inflatable sup, don't mind a little sweat, and have an open adventurous mind, you can have quite the adventure. No tour guides. No fancy hotels. No pampering. </div>
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Just TRAVEL. PADDLE. STORE</div>
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Shanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07647959321046367083noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333513867374550124.post-27857526467636841312017-06-14T11:40:00.001-07:002017-07-20T06:43:37.360-07:005 days of traveling/exploring the Virgin islands by Inflatable Part 1 The plan was simple: travel the U.S. and British Virgin islands by living out of 2 bags (one containing an inflatable SUP) and then paddle to Puerto Rico. Everything needed to have a successful adventure would have to be packed into 2 bags, one checked in the flight and one carry on. <br />
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A quick drive to St. Louis's Lambert airport began the day at 4am. Flight check-in and 2 flights later I arrive in St. Thomas' Cyril E. King airport, a small airport where you land on the airfield and walk outside to the terminal. Upon entry I get some free Rum samples to help with the immediate face sweating from the climate. <br />
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I grab my bags, easy to spot coming off the conveyor belt, and make way to find a way out of the airport. This trip is non-luxury and I plan on not spending $40 on a taxi for a 20 minute ride. So from local intel I find there are safari rides. Not your typical safari rig in the bush, more-so these are pickup trucks modified to fit people into row seating 3-4 in a row. If you have a mammoth SUP bag with you then you commandere most of the seat row yourself. For $2 the safari will take me across half the island with multiple stops. At the end I can hop a second safari for another $2. $4 for a ride to the waterfront= saving $38 and adding a little adventure.<br />
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The kicker? Safaris are not allowed to roll up to the airport and pick people up. They are more geared for people getting around the island. Safaris are individually owned and not part of the taxi system. So I have to walk about a mile to get one. No sweat. Or more like loads of sweat! Pulling a 50lb bag on wheels and carrying a 40lb duffel makes me sweat as I trudge down a hot asphalt walkway. I find a convenience store and stop for info and some bottled water. A 20 minute wait and I hop my first safari. Interesting group of people on it. People getting off work, Going to the market. Going who knows where. The fella I'm next to has come off a labor job and is stoned as can be. Island life! He's hilarious and I tell him what I'm up to. He starts to tell me about the dangerous crossing from St. Thomas to St. John. It's entertaining but taken seriously.<br />
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I get to the the second safari and then finally get to the eastern end of St Thomas at Red hook. I walk about 5 minutes and I'm at the water inflating my SUP. Onlookers are wondering what's going on as they wait for their Ferry boat to come, the last of the night. I even convince a by-stander to pump a while. Board inflated and loaded up I leave for St. John at the day's end.<br />
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The fella from the safari wasn't exaggerating, the water gets rough quickly once in the main channel. It has a washing machine effect. The boats flying by combined with the ferry boats and the channel + wind makes for a hairy paddle. The Worst part is it's now dark and some of these boats are without lights. I have to listen to where they're coming from and make sure my strobe light is positioned so they can see it. A knuckle biter of a 4.5 hr paddle and I make St. John. greeted by "The Beach Bar" I settle in on a beach table and nestle my board and gear on the tree nearby. A Mahi sandwich and local St. John brewers beer make the crossing worthwhile. The best part is I put in a call to a friend who lives on the island, Chirag, co-owner of St. John Brewers, who is putting me up for the night at his place.<br />
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Day 2 on the island starts slow. Some morning yoga at the Westin Hotel with Chirag's wife and then back to the house to load the board and gear for a paddle. Loaded up I catch a ride to the Eastern part of the island from Chirag and unload. A quick Pump up and I'm prepped for the first big crossing. St John USVI to Jost Van Dyke BVI. A Caribbean sea crossing of about 10 miles or so.<br />
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No easy crossing by any means. It's a cross wind and swell. winds are blowing at 17mph. On top of that there's a shipping channel I have to navigate with heavy boat traffic. I Leave Leinster Bay and make my way to Tortola BVI. This is the easy leg as it's only 1.5hrs of paddling. In the bay it's calm due to being somewhat protected.</div>
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. The pic shows Leinster Bay where I launched. It looks peaceful but once I paddled between the 2 small islands the raging Caribbean erupted. </div>
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A quick stop Near Soper's Hole BVI. I don't think I could even call it a beach. It was the best spot I could find though on the western Tortola end to take a break. Everything else was private property.</div>
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Unfortunately I didn't take any pics of the actual crossing from Tortola to Jost Van Dyke. It was a hard 5 hour paddle across the ocean. The winds were closer to 20mph with 2-3' chop. I lost count how many times I fell off the board. I took all my wits and to keep looking in every direction for boats. The shipping channel was busy. Huge ferries, cargo transports, personal catamarans and every other tourist out there renting a boat. </div>
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You can see the distance was no short amount. I left on the far left of St John and paddled to where the blue dot is.</div>
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By the time I made it to Jost Van Dyke the sun was just starting to get ready to set. The tourist boats were leaving and I had a beach almost to myself.</div>
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I decided on renting a small cabin for $80 for the night. No frills.<br />
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Some nigh time exploration by foot<br />
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Foxy's bar<br />
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On the beach of Jost<br />
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an empty soggy dollar bar</div>
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Old Jeep on the island</div>
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Next up is day 3 of the adventure. Paddling back to St John. Near death from a boat. Stopping an old outpost. And seeing a sea turtle.<br />
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<br />Shanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07647959321046367083noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333513867374550124.post-35874481160719063142016-11-17T12:06:00.002-08:002016-12-07T12:09:26.745-08:002016 MR340: Finding a new family on the river - Pt.3Shoving off of Katfish Katy's banks at 5am gave us a jump on the day. Starting your paddle in darkness and allowing the sun to glow across the river before it rises is magical. Then, when you've been waiting for the glow to turn to light, it happens. The sun peeks over the land and illuminates the water, your face, and the land surrounding you. Life starts again. Day 3.<br />
The plan for the day is to get to Wilson serenity point (known as Noren access to commoners). The team decides we need to stop at Cooper's Landing before we get to See Joe Wilson at his native land. Paddling down river we have some interesting moments. Two in particular are when we " Had out shit together". AKA we all had our tree crouching moments of relief. More interesting was the vehicle we saw submerged in the water. Wierdest thing of the race, other than the motley crew configured on the Greystoke had to be the newer VW car that was 90% submerged off the river bank.<br />
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Cooper's</div>
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Approaching Cooper's landing, which if you haven't been, it's a must see landmark on the river. Good people, good food, and good times. We pull in to the boat ramp to some hootin' and hollerin' by resident Churchill Clark, a descendant of you guessed it, the Clark of the famous Lewis and Clark expedition. "Church", as he's called by some friends, is the great-great-great-great grandson of William Clark. In life he's found himself as a dug out canoe carver, river lover, entrepreneur, and public speaker. We spend some time with Church and check out the latest canoe he's chopping on. We also get a glimpse of his most famous dugout, affectionately named Knotty. Works of art hand carved with primitive tools. Church literally set up camp at Coopers with a tent and works from home.<br />
Church meeting us on the ramp of coopers with Dale<br />
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Jerico, Churchill, Dale, and me on Church's canoe in process<br />
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Dale next to the world famous Knotty</div>
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After we wolf down some made to order food we say our goodbyes to Church and the locals. Pack up Greystoke and make our way to our most anticipated stop. A few short hours and we pull into the most well maintained sought after stop of this whole race, Joe Wilson's Serenity point. Brenda is there with Ron prepared to help us in any capacity, TJ as well. Rod Wellington, (a traveling paddler from Canada known for Paddling long rivers, writing books and poetry, and living life has been following along the trip and popping in and out to say hi.<br />
However, Jerico and I are mostly interested in talking to one person, Joe Wilson. Joe was the most kind and genuine man you will ever have met. Always smiling, always there to give you a hug or a handshake. Just, not one to always having his teeth in. He'd make you laugh by his laughing and saying, Dang it Shane, I don't have my teeth in. No-one cared teeth or not. We loved his smile. Joe tirelessly created and maintained this boat ramp and every year paddlers looked forward to being there.<br />
We found Joe and spent all the time we could with him. Even people that had never met him Like TJ and Brenda found he left a lasting impression. TJ later told me he felt he knew Joe all his life. He was that type of man.<br />
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Jerico and Dale have a chat with Joe<br />
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Me, Jerico, Joe, Rod Wellington, Dale</div>
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We lost A treasure a few months after the this race was over. Joe lost his battle to cancer. Jerico and I did get to see him one last time in the hospital a week before he passed. Even then he was smiling and laughing, no teeth and all. One thing he said in the hospital to us that stood out was he always thought he'd be a hell of a paddler. He wondered why he never took it up. Yet, Jerico and I knew why, because he was a river angel. He watched over all the paddlers coming through his boat ramp.<br />
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Departing Joe's home turf we made way down river with our hearts full. 223 miles into a 340 race and we now know we have a distinct possibility of finishing as long as nothing happens unexpected. The next distance to the Hermann checkpoint is a long one, 46 miles. We have quite a bit of light left in the day and figure we can make Hermann late evening/early morning.<br />
Although it's a long stretch it flies by. It's as if our meeting with Joe has reset our bodies and minds and we have the spirit of the pre-race.<br />
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My teammates and I assume the usual banter between Jerico and myself. Dale seated in the rear of the board has a hard time hearing us. Yet, as always, when he speaks we listen. It's along this section of the river we find an interesting discovery. Back in the late 50's Dale worked in a naval hospital in Hayward,CA. At the time Jerico's Mother worked at the same hospital. As we chatted, the math worked where Dale technically could be Jerico's Daddy. We all had some good laughs and henceforth Dale became Daddy Dale to Jerico. Then as the Math Worked out I technically could have been been Jerico's son. I just called him uncle Jerico for some reason.<br />
We Spent the time swimming off the side of the board, munching on snacks, and entertaining ourselves the best we could. The time flew. We made Hermann at a decent hour and decided to spend some time and rest.<br />
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Our fearless crew, Brenda says it all. Tired and beat up and Why The F are you taking my picture?<br />
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In the safety vest is James, a checkpoint volunteer</div>
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It's here we really met James Crawford. A 340 volunteer, prior 340 participant, and Insurance fella by normal day life. He had the personality that fit in with our crew. The team, crew, chip and Phil-O-cookie; James was one of the fun wierdos. An intelligent guy that liked to joke and have fun. After we all ate I ventured back down to the boat ramp to chat with him a bit. The rest of the crew slept and I asked james' story. He nearly finished the 340 a year prior but had made a pact with his brother that if one of them pulled out so would the other. Unfortunately his brother had decided to pull out. As we talked I told him that if he really wanted to finish the 340 that in 2017 I'd be happy to have him on my craft.<br />
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Yep, James catching a nap on the Hermann boat ramp<br />
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At the Hermann ramp Chip and Phil catch up to us and rest. It's dark and late and we have 42 miles to get to the Klondike checkpoint. There's no way we want to paddle through the night without sleep and get into Klondike so we decide to break it up. About half way there's a boat ramp at new haven. It's not the best option as there are trains that run through the area but it's the only feasible option at this time. So the Greystoke trio followed by Chip and Phil-O-Cookie set out for New Haven in the dark.<br />
It's good to have Chip and Phil in tow. Chip adds a humor that can't be replaced. Always happy and smiling. Always positive. He's a great person to be with o and off the water. Phil is quiet and reserved. I've known him a few years now and he selectively speaks. This race he's opened up a little with Phil-O-Cookie humor. When he speaks, he slips in some funny goodness.<br />
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We make New haven. Essentially a parking lot with some patches of grass that butt up to railroad tracks. Ron (crew) and Brenda are waiting and it's here we decide to get some good sleep for a few hours. Dale disappears and we all decide he just knows how to find the quietest spot (away from us). We all fall into tents or vehicles and crash.<br />
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An early morning start and we're closing in on Washington. It's not a checkpoint but just a cool place on the river. It's about an hour upriver from Washington where we find ourselves in a violent storm. Winds, rain, and all kinds of water chop. We maintain paddling through it all and are suddenly confused as the Washington fire department makes a beeline towards us on a rib boat. They ask for me by name and I say good morning or something of the sort. They apparently were alerted by my spot tracker that we were in distress. The funny part is Phil-O-Cookie is using my spot. So I ask him if it's been activated for SOS. He checks and nothing of the sort has happened. Dale also has a spot and checks his. Nothing. An odd occurrence that at the end leaves all parties involved puzzled. (post race we find that Dale's spot tracker malfunctioned). <br />
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Odd occurrence behind us we paddle on and make the Klondike checkpoint. Brenda and Ron are waiting for us and it starts to mist/rain. So we all pile into the sup van and chow down on some Hardee's breakfast.<br />
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Our Crew Brenda and Ron<br />
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The Final Push!!!</div>
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Leaving Klondike is an amazing feeling. Knowing that in less than 5 hours you will be on land where your pain and suffering is done. You'll no longer need to paddle. You can be with family and friends. Drink a beer or 20. The feeling of accomplishment overwhelms and your body thanks you. Yet, for us paddling, we were a bit saddened. The past few days brought us together in a way unlike what you can find in life. The river has bonded us together in a way we have become this wierd little family. We don't want it to end but are eager to finish. <br />
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Phil-O-Cookieand Chip on the final stretch<br />
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Approaching the finish is a rush of emotion. Each individual has a different one. Jerico has attempted this race 4 times and had yet to cross the finish line. This is is his first. Dale, at 81, was uncertain if he'd be able to make it through. Chip dealt with a disgruntled paddler but remained happy and positive through it all. Phil-O-Cookie was smiling the whole time and said it was fun. 340 miles over 4 days and it was fun? got to love Phil. For myself this was a monumental race. Paddling a craft my friend Daren and I built in 9 days. Doubted by many. Winning over all. Learning who all these people in my group were as the days passed. Seeing the river differently than my previous four 340 races. Touching lives by our actions and not words. It all became my most cherished race I have done to date.<br />
Dale celebrating at the end<br />
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Finish line welcome. Scott reeves congratulating Jerico.</div>
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Bryan Hopkins welcoming Dale and I</div>
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My River Family</div>
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My future River rats</div>
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<br />Shanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07647959321046367083noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333513867374550124.post-76757804997062652632016-11-17T12:06:00.000-08:002016-11-17T12:06:05.102-08:002016 MR340: Finding a new family on the river - Pt.2 We spent some time resting at CP1 Miami. Each of us got a nap in. There's a lot going on there being the first main stop for paddlers to sleep. They will have paddled a total of 106 miles in less than 24 hours and it'll be the wee hours of the morning around 2am. Their crews are setting up tents and van spaces to crash. Some folks sleep on the ground. We kind of hung out and rested. Everyone got some good nutrition in and refueled for the night ahead.<br />
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Night time paddling was a slightly welcome change. The day's heat beat up all of us, myself included. As we paddled through the night headed towards Glasgow we were all still in good spirits. Jerico and I talked quite a bit through the race as we both stood towards the front of the board. Dale was towards the back of the board with his camp chair propped up and seated as he double bladed. The combination of the splash of Dale's paddle, the distance between him and us, and his bit of hearing loss made it difficult for us to have a lot of conversation with him. Yet, when he talked, we listened.<br />
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This race was a significant one for many reasons. The obvious, there never has been a 3-4 man sup enter the race. It was an untested vessel. I had a few people tell me the board would break under the strain of the race. We were definitely the under dogs with many people thinking we didn't have a chance to finish after losing our fourth paddler. Dale even had had thoughts of backing out after we lost the 4th paddler. My choice for a team was questioned by many. Jerico had attempted this race four times prior to this attempt and DNF'd (did not finish) each time. Many people questioned him as a choice. I was asked if Dale could survive a race like this? I heard it all.<br />
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Even with all of this in the mix I knew we would finish. Why? A few reasons.<br />
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I made a promise to Jerico in 2015, that I would build a vessel like none other and get him to the finish line. I guaranteed a finish! Pretty ballsy, I know. That was good enough for him. Also I chose Jerico because I like underdogs. People that aren't usually given a shot. I knew what he had in him. What most people lack, Grit. It's something you can't teach. The man has Grit coming out of his ass! I knew he was a good choice and he wouldn't give up on me.<br />
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Jerico at a checkpoint<br />
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As I looked for a 4th paddler, Jerico suggested Dale. Jerico actually had asked Dale about it and Dale declined the invitation. So I reached out to him and told him what my plan was and that we were going to finish. Slightly hesitant, he said as long as his health was good he was in. (later Dale told me he only agreed because he knew of me and what I was about. An awesome compliment). Did I mention he is 81? I wasn't too worried about Dale though. He has been an adventurer all his life. In 2015 he paddled the entire Mississippi river in 80 days! Granted, SUP was something somewhat new to him but paddling wasn't.<br />
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Dale on his source to sea paddle of the Mississippi 2015 at 80yrs old<br />
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The hours of cool night made for good paddling. Our pace was slower at night but we kept steady. Despite a long day of paddling the fellas kept paddling steady through the night. Dale would paddle for hours and then slump down in his camp chair and snooze a bit. Easily I'd say Dale put in 12-14 hours of solid paddling daily. I know 18 year olds that can't do that. Jerico and I jawed away with each other and talked about most everything. A little about Dirty Nancy, a 1971 VW bus he owned in the 90's which now resides in my driveway after we rescued it from the woods of Mississippi last year. To women, life, music and learning. All the while he was smiling and saying I can't believe we're still hauling ass.<br />
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And haul ass we did. We made Glasgow paddling in the dark and later witnessing the first sunrise of the race. Pulling into Glasgow late morning we were pretty tired. We got the report from Brenda where all the other paddlers were. Lauren, Frank, and Ryan were all 15 miles ahead. Chip, and Phil were a few hours behind us. So we lodged the 123lb greystoke board on the boat ramp and clambered up to where Brenda parked the Big blue Bertha B*tch and found Tj Holman had joined us to help crew.<br />
Always smiling, TJ Holman<br />
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This was a much needed break for the team. We were all a bit tired and needed a rest and to get some good solid food in. Total tally=<b>142 miles</b>. We each found different spots to sleep after wolfing down some grub. The highlight for me was the Asian style food truck that was up by the bathroom. As I waited for the lady to cook my food she gave me a free watermelon drink that I gladly sucked down. Some type of noodle dish came out and it was amazing. Amazing enough to cause me to expeditiously walk to the bathroom. Nonetheless, after my trip to the commode I walked back to hang with the team and found everyone lounging which I gladly did too. <br />
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Not too long after I woke I got to see Chip and Phil-O-Cookie paddle in. <br />
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They were hung up by another paddler through the night that they helped limp along to get into Glasgow. They were a welcome sight to the Greystoke crew as we pretty much paddled by ourselves all night and had not seen any of the sup paddlers since we left Miami. They were in good spirits despite the night paddle with a disgruntled paddler in tow. Phil was all smiles and no talk as usual. Chip was all smiles and all talk as usual. I love Chip's demeanor in tough circumstances. Calm and collected. He reaffirms that what happens in life is supposed to the way it does. All for a reason. I believe he's right.</div>
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I guess we were there long enough that dale grew dreads! </div>
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(with the help of Rod Wellington of course)</div>
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After we had our lounge session we decided to load up and press on. The goal was to make Katfish Katy's before Thursday (Day 3) morning, get some sleep and paddle on to Jeff City to get in late morning. This was a long stretch. 42 miles. Roughly 7.5-8 hrs of paddling going into the evening. We'd have to maintain about 6mph to get into Katfish paddling steady. Yet, the paddle was not too bad knowing we were going into this:</div>
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Keep in mind its still a heat index of 100+ everyday. We're sweating bullets and having to keep close tabs on our hydration and food. Dale has been down this road before but not on a level this extreme. Jerico has never pushed this far in a paddling race. So my concern was for their health and keeping hydrated. I felt like a father always asking them,"you drinking enough". You getting those electrolytes in"? When's the last time you had an electrolyte?" An odd position considering Jerico could be my dad and Dale could be my grand-dad. But the fellas had their needs down. They continued to push hard paddling through the evening hours.<br />
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Some of the most rewarding times were when we collectively decided to all jump off the board in the river. Generally it happened 3-5 times a day.<br />
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Dale jumping in off the side<br />
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The night passed easily and we paddled into Katfish Katy's arriving before 3am. Brenda was awaiting our arrival ad happy we me it with no problems. We caught a ride on Ron's truck up away from the ramp and pitched tents. I asked the fellas what they thought for sleep and somehow ( I think I pushed the time a little) we went for 2 hrs so we could get on the water before daybreak. So like scurrying rats we went our ways to find a place to sleep. Dale's patterns were becoming apparent to us. He sought out the more secluded and high ground areas away from everyone. Years of adventuring gave him knowledge of how to get good sleep.<br />
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2hrs went fast. I awoke in my one man tent by someone touching my leg. I jumped up ready to gouge someone's eyes out. False alarm. Just Brenda doing her crew duty. Apparently I sleep likek the dead. Silent. unstirring. Words dont't wake me. Touch startles me.<br />
Good thing we didn't sleep too long, or should I say good thing For Bryan Hopkins being at the checkpoint. Apparently while we slept, the Greystoke drifted off the banks and out into the river. Bryan told us he has to wade/swim out and save it!<br />
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Crisis averted, we gathered our gear and loaded up. The next stop was the one Jerico and I looked forward to most of all out of the whole race, Jeff City, Noren access. Better known as Wilson's serenity point. Our beloved river angel, Joe Wilson, was waiting for us. A man you will never forget if you've ever met him. <br />
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<br />Shanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07647959321046367083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333513867374550124.post-8659861229003395902016-11-16T06:32:00.000-08:002016-11-16T07:42:04.145-08:002016 MR340: Finding a new family on the river - Pt.1 <br />
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Those of you that know me understand the MR340 is a race close to my heart as it's in my backyard here in Missouri. It's where I found myself back in 2011 when I became the first SUP to enter and complete the race in a sea of kayaks, surf ski's, and canoes. Out of 117 vessels that year I placed 34th. Not too shabby for a guy standing up. I thought that was a pretty good accomplishment for myself and by far the most memorable 340 I would ever have. Little did I know 5 years later (this year, 2016) would become my most coveted 340 race I have ever had and probably will. Why? Because I found a new family on the river (oh, and there's that whole 3 man sup thing too) Read on.<br />
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Since my first 340 in 2011 I've tried to figure out how to get more SUP's to enter the 340. It's a grueling, heat filled slog-fest that takes a special person to complete. People paddle 340 miles over 3-4 days on the Missouri river starting from Kansas city ending in St charles, MO. We've had a couple solos enter a couple years after like John Straub of Seattle and Local friend Blake Thornton (2015 record holder) but never have had a lot of stand ups in one race. In the fall of 2015 I came up with the idea of trying to bring more SUP paddlers by creating a group that would go down the river together. I asked a select group to paddle with me. First asked was Chip Walter, a friend I met in 2013 while racing the 300 mile Florida Everglades challenge. A seasoned paddler who I knew could handle the race. Chip's best attributes is he can assume a leadership role when needed but also can follow when needed. A trait hard to find in people.<br />
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Chip With His daughter</div>
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Next was a friend that has emerged over the years that had zero sup experience except a 20 minute "here's how to sup" 2 weeks prior to the race. Jerico Lefort, A.K.A. The traveling Gnome. Having never been on a SUP before, he would seem a very un-likley person to ask. Yet, what he lacked in experience he more than made up for in grit and determination. </div>
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Jerico at work chopping a dugout canoe</div>
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Dale Sanders A.K.A The Greybeard adventurer. I met Dale about 6 months prior to the race as he was giving a talk and showing a video about his 2015 source to sea paddle of the Mississippi river. Yes, at 80 years old he paddled the entire Mississippi in 80 days. As you've already guessed from his Picture, Dale is no kid. But that was no concern to me. He's legit on the water in every respect. Asking him to join the group was Jerico's idea. It came from a picture from Dale's talk. He was a great choice to join us.</div>
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left to right: Jerico, Dale Sanders, Janet Mooreland, Me</div>
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Phil Rodway</div>
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A.K.A. Phil-O-Cookie</div>
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Phil is a heck of a paddler. Quiet and introspective, he's a person of few words. But he can paddle. He has never attempted a race of this magnitude. This was his first ultra-distance race. Longest one prior to this was 50mi. You may ask why Phil-O-Cookie? Well, just because. Everyone needs a nickname.</div>
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Phil-O-Cookie on the yellow Bark board<br />
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Joe Alfafaro. </div>
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Joe Owns Alfa SUP in Springfield, MO. He's immersed in the business and does a great job supporting and building the sup community there. Joe was the least seasoned long distance paddler on the team, but I knew he was a good person to ask as he needed the test and knew he'd go all out to finish. He chose to paddle an inflatable sup for the race, one of his own design. Ambitious and ballsy.</div>
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Lauren Rodriguez</div>
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I met Lauren at a race a year prior. She's from the west coast and has a lot of experience on a board but never has taken on a race of this length. She's an athlete. I knew she wold train hard for this and be ready. </div>
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Frank Drelling</div>
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Frank is friends with Lauren and they are training partners. They prepared for the race together. In the Same boat as Lauren, never having attempted a race of this length before, but also the same, Frank is an Athlete. </div>
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Frank far right</div>
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Ryan Far left</div>
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Ryan Fullerton </div>
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I had never met Ryan prior to the race. He's friends with Joe Alfafaro. The youngest of all the team I wasn't too worried about him. Not because of his youth, but because of his military background. A strong smart guy, well capable of this race.</div>
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Last but not least we needed a crew member to drive the Big Blue Van to meet us at each checkpoint and haul our food and supplies. To make trips to the store for supplies that were needed as the race developed and stuff broke or went wrong. To essentially keep us together and healthy. Brenda Herndon was originally dedicated to be Lauren's crew. Fortunately for us Lauren's father offered to be in a safety boat following Lauren documenting her 24hr record attempt and serve as her crew. Leading us to pick up Brenda as our dedicated crew. </div>
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Brenda The big Blue Van</div>
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Brenda deemed it Big Bertha B*tch</div>
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So It begins:</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LDkQ26SNGWk/V-GRMRxy4nI/AAAAAAAADQY/UwXscyV2_qUUI5eSzRiJ17xVCzKCUkZDQCLcB/s1600/20160718_160101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LDkQ26SNGWk/V-GRMRxy4nI/AAAAAAAADQY/UwXscyV2_qUUI5eSzRiJ17xVCzKCUkZDQCLcB/s320/20160718_160101.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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After we all check in for registration and go through the safety briefing we head head out for a decent night's sleep. We awaken to some scrambling and getting everyone fed and loading the van and make the 20 minute drive to the race start. The start is always a little chaotic. Boats flood the launch ramp. Cars crowd the lot. Foot traffic is plentiful. If you want to get in the water easily you need to get there early or scurry down a bank.</div>
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The Ramp at the 340 start</div>
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The plan was for everyone to start together and go down the river together. The plan changed drastically fast. The 4 man sup was supposed to have just that, 4 men. Days prior, our 4th man had to bail due to life circumstances. So Now there were only 3 of us left to paddle a 123lb one of a kind sup. Jerico, Dale, and myself. This meant we would be slower than anyone. So I told Lauren to just go as fast as she can. (She was attempting a 24hr moving water word record). Frank and Ryan would stay with her and keep her motivated. I saw Chip on the water that morning and told him to stay with Lauren as well. Also, the Phil-O-Cookie. So now the big blue board would be its own entity going down river.</div>
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So I should probably explain the big blue board that came to be know as Greystoke. The concept of a multi-person board has been explored most recently via inflatables hitting the market. With price tags ranging from $1500-3500 you can get a floating air mattress of your own. The problem with them is that the when the person next to you moves it shifts your balance. It becomes less about paddling and more about counter-balancing. Hence the idea of a rigid 4 man sup, not a completely new concept for SUP's. The most famous 4 man I'd say would be the quadnundrum made by Steve Boehne of Infinity sup, built for 4 people to stand inline. </div>
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The greystoke (received it's name during the race due to all the grey facial hair on board and the stoke we experienced) was designed for 4 people to stand shoulder to shoulder or staggered depending on conditions, and also able to hold plenty of gear for everyone. Essentially a long hauler designed for decent speed and large carrying capacity. </div>
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The board was built in 9 days by myself and good friend Daren Wolf. The last Hotcoat was applied to the board 2 days prior to the race. Generally you want a board to "cure" for 7 days before touching water. While loading the board the day before the race it was still tacky.</div>
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The first time the board hit the water was 20 minutes prior to the race!</div>
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8 days before the race. </div>
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Rough cut foam. Deck recessed.</div>
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Still needs to be shaped</div>
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We were so crunched for time race day we didn't bother to carry the board to the boat ramp. Nope, just scurried down the steep slope on Kaw point with the risk of dropping it on a rock or root. Yet, the board hit the water, supplies were thrown down the hill and dropped on it. The 3 of us hopped on and a paddling order emerged. I stood up front, Jerico in back of me, and Dale manned the rear. Keep in mind not only was this the first this board hit the water, it also was the first time the three of us paddled together.</div>
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A quick launch and the learning curve began. We figured out pretty quickly the board floated. Paddling was easier than we thought from a good hull design. Surprisingly, maneuverability was smooth. We took to the starting line, had about 10 minutes to prep, paused for the singing of our national anthem, received our 2 minute warning, a countdown from 10, and a race start commencing from a cannon being fired.</div>
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We managed to keep somewhere middle of the pack for the start. By about an hour in we fell back towards the rear of the pack. No worries, being a veteran of the race I assured the team this was a long haul, all we had to do was make the check points on time and we'd catch plenty of boats through the night. The team put their faith in my abilities and paddled steady. We made the first 50 miles to Lexington, checkpoint 1, in about 7.5hrs. As we pulled in I looked at Jerico and Dale and saw nothing but smiles. (I promise, Dale was smiling)</div>
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We didn't spend much time here as we had only beat the cutoff time by about 45 minutes. We met up with Brenda and Ron Abel (crew for another sup paddler, but good friend of ours) and they took care of us. We didn't need much at this stop. Pretty much water took care of it. Loaded back up and we took off for the next stretch to Waverly a mere 23 miles. The team joked about it even. 23 miles? HA, piece of cake.</div>
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23 miles was only a few hours of paddling, an easy stretch after the previous. But again we were in a time constraint as we made the checkpoint with about 1hr 15 mins before the cutoff time and reaper boat. For those of you who don't understand the cutoff times I''ll brief it. The race is set up for you to make the cutoff times/checkpoints based on finishing the race in 88 hours or less (see below). Once the race starts there's a boat, deemed the Reaper boat, that if it catches up to you, you're our of the race (it's designed to arrive at the checkpoints near exactly the checkpoint cut off time).</div>
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<span style="background-color: #dde3eb; color: #62686f; font-family: "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Kaw Point, mile 367, Race Begins, 8am (7am for solo) Tuesday, July 19th. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #dde3eb; color: #62686f; font-family: "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Lexington, mile 317, (50 miles) 5pm Tuesday Leg avg. 5.56mph Total avg. 5.56 </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #dde3eb; color: #62686f; font-family: "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Waverly, mile 294, (23 miles) 9pm Tuesday Leg avg. 5.75mph Total avg. 5.62 </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #dde3eb; color: #62686f; font-family: "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Miami, mile 262, (32 miles) 11am Wed. Leg avg. 2.29mph Total avg. 3.89 </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #dde3eb; color: #62686f; font-family: "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Glasgow, mile 226, (36 miles) 6pm Wed. Leg avg. 5.14mph Total avg. 4.15 </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #dde3eb; color: #62686f; font-family: "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Katfish Katy's, mile 180, (46 miles) noon Thurs. 2.56mph Total avg. 3.60 </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #dde3eb; color: #62686f; font-family: "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Wilson's Serenity Point at Noren Access (Jeff City), mile 144, (36 miles) 7pm Thurs. 5.14mph Total avg. 3.78 </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #dde3eb; color: #62686f; font-family: "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Hermann, mile 98, (46 miles) 10am Friday 3.07mph Total avg. 3.64 </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #dde3eb; color: #62686f; font-family: "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Klondike, mile 56 (42 miles) 6pm Friday 5.25 mph Total avg. 3.79 </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #dde3eb; color: #62686f; font-family: "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">St. Charles, mile 29, finish line, (27 miles) Midnight 4.50mph Total avg. 3.85 mph </span><br />
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In no time we left CP2 (Waverly) and made our way to the Miami Checkpoint (CP3) 32 miles away. This is a crucial checkpoint as it's decision time for all paddlers. By the time the vast majority of paddlers get there it's dark. About 1-2am. They need to decide if they are going to try and get some sleep or paddle through the night. The next checkpoint is Glasgow another 36 miles. About 6.5 hrs of paddling. Keep in mind at this point we've paddled 106 miles already. I'm now asking the team to push forward with little rest and another 6 hours of paddling to go. Additionally keep in mind of my two teammates on Greystoke: Jerico has had 20 minutes total time on a SUP before this race. Dale is 81 years old and his max distance paddling in a day is about 40+ miles. Yet, despite these facts, they were still all smiles and happy to press on. To Glasgow we go!</div>
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Shanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07647959321046367083noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333513867374550124.post-13383664309203488282016-10-26T19:36:00.000-07:002016-10-28T11:54:47.743-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DGXgwZy1i6s/WBFNPa-LadI/AAAAAAAADS0/UXxdEhLlBxUid5PEG3uGuIsQKJ8OhSSbwCLcB/s1600/IMG_7818.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DGXgwZy1i6s/WBFNPa-LadI/AAAAAAAADS0/UXxdEhLlBxUid5PEG3uGuIsQKJ8OhSSbwCLcB/s320/IMG_7818.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> So how does one decide to engage in pedaling a craft untested in the endurance field? Well naturally, it all starts at a bar with a few drinks. But prior to the bar scene, the seed was set earlier in the day, September 23rd, when my good friend TJ Holman, a fleet and outside sales manager at Ozark Mountain Trading company (omtc), Held a Hobie Demo day at Rock Lane Marina on Table Rock. There was every possible Hobie paddle and pedal craft Hobie makes courtesy of OMTC and additionally the Hobie factory team came from Texas headed up by Steve and Lisa Oxenford bringing the gamut of Hobie boats. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The day was fun getting local folks out to try anything they wanted. I volunteered teaching people how to paddle board. In my down time is when I boarded the Hobie Eclipse 12’ with the mirage drive to get a few minutes of time on it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">As much as I wanted to hate it thinking it was goofy, I enjoyed the stability and ease of cruising the system offered as well the workout. Think buns of J-LO! It was a great workout.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Fast forward to the bar at the end of the day and chatting it up with my river family, I mentioned I may want to try a 24hr pedal on the Eclipse. It Didn’t take much for TJ to announce, “Shane is doing a 24hr pedal on the Eclipse.” and It began. Jaden, whom also works for OMTC as assistant store manager heard it. As the drinks flowed he said,” Sounds like something I want to try.” And there you go. An idea was born.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">October 22nd the morning began with a family breakfast of Eggs, bagels, homefries and coffee, Lots of coffee. Looking out of the screened window from the condo we could see the morning fog on the water. Geougous!</span></div>
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View from the condo</div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We planned for a 9am start but as usual we started on river time, 10am it was. Jaden was ready although not fully knowing what he was getting into since he’d never attempted a 24hr event before. Yet, he seemed confident. He had been cranking out 12-18 miles on the Hobie Eclipse before work for the past few weeks. Opposed to me having 20 minutes total time ever on the craft. Both scenarios made for the next 24 hours to be interesting.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Minutes before we start the 24hr event</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f4g0nx1-lss/WBFPTMeQSUI/AAAAAAAADTQ/byDexUMyyOI9769B6bPV2_4a0CIyD6u5gCLcB/s1600/IMG_7824.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f4g0nx1-lss/WBFPTMeQSUI/AAAAAAAADTQ/byDexUMyyOI9769B6bPV2_4a0CIyD6u5gCLcB/s320/IMG_7824.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The pedal started as most endurance events do, lots of talking. I asked Jaden a lot of questions about himself and his life. He responded to everything positively but it always seemed I ended up dominating the conversation. For me it’s a bit of a flaw I own. There’s a bit of uneasiness in silence for me when getting to know someone, so I fill the gaps with talking. So I chatted him up for the first couple hours getting to know him. The most significant findings about Jaden I found was he’s a very experienced whitewater kayaker and he’s very soon becoming a dad! His wife is due in the next few weeks. Pretty awesome he is able to come out and do the event before he enters fatherhood. Lastly, he’s never attempted an ultra-distance event like this before.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The daylight hours were fun. The morning slipped into early afternoon in a blink of an eye. The water became choppy at about noon as the boat traffic came out. The Hobe Eclipses’ took every Next I know we are over 5 hours in and we have pedaled 18.5 miles. Cruising and checking out all parts of the lake.</span><br />
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Jaden Pedals near The Branson Belle</div>
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5 hours in</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kJyzwZEf0bQ/WBFQCrnkoOI/AAAAAAAADTc/UvkIvvixO3gMzmG4Ozj9SJ4e4wOH5NrPgCLcB/s1600/IMG_7736.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kJyzwZEf0bQ/WBFQCrnkoOI/AAAAAAAADTc/UvkIvvixO3gMzmG4Ozj9SJ4e4wOH5NrPgCLcB/s320/IMG_7736.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Having warmed the body up a bit, Jaden and I began to have the “What’s hurting on your body talks.” Now, you’d think it would be the calves but for both of us it was the thighs. Mine was mostly right above my knees and for Jaden it was more upper thigh. I battled cramping in the lower and Jaden in his upper. It lasted a couple hours and was gone by late afternoon. The sights seemed to take our minds off the physical conflicts.</span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BzyLQ4BvArw/WBFRTz5JIGI/AAAAAAAADTs/jo3tAooDvAEj5jQYuZ5tAfPhRB85ddANwCLcB/s1600/IMG_7825.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BzyLQ4BvArw/WBFRTz5JIGI/AAAAAAAADTs/jo3tAooDvAEj5jQYuZ5tAfPhRB85ddANwCLcB/s320/IMG_7825.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> We managed to find good spots to take breaks. I thought these would be conversation points but we each were messing with social media and filling our faces with snacks we had.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Then the night-time came. As the dark approached the speed dropped considerably. It was already a slower speed than expected as all the boats churned up the water through the day. A full 12 hours of paddling and we made nearly 37 miles. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AmWvrFsW-Nc/WBFevGmr0PI/AAAAAAAADU4/I6YVoRrw1bAxN5i_7Vb_2nrMeItPKwPawCLcB/s1600/IMG_7751.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AmWvrFsW-Nc/WBFevGmr0PI/AAAAAAAADU4/I6YVoRrw1bAxN5i_7Vb_2nrMeItPKwPawCLcB/s320/IMG_7751.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Sunset</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8rWaS25fJF0/WBFZ-se4VWI/AAAAAAAADUU/pVptvjsF9skqTre4Mwgr3zPLTKWM88lGgCLcB/s1600/IMG_7827.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8rWaS25fJF0/WBFZ-se4VWI/AAAAAAAADUU/pVptvjsF9skqTre4Mwgr3zPLTKWM88lGgCLcB/s320/IMG_7827.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Still, not a bad pace with short breaks every 2-3 hours but I personally was hoping for more. What made it difficult was if we got too close to the shore there were stumps that came up a couple feet that were inches below the water. Visible during the day, concealed at night. If we chose to pedal the center of the lake we ran the risk of boats hammering by us or on us. Some weren’t even running navigation lights at all. A little scary. So we kept a slower but steady pace. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> We had a good run from the boat ramp at Rock Lane Marina to the dam which we established during the day. It was a 2 hour out and back loop. Occasionally we would go a little further and check out sights like the Branson Belle running at night. It was pretty hilarious the seeing the passengers faces looking at Jaden and I. Looks of confusion and expressions of WTF. A high spot for sure.</span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tX6ardXhSdU/WBFQoPN3S-I/AAAAAAAADTk/823gsIxKxAAwwdNjlbfvpxveX-YYz4FLQCLcB/s1600/IMG_7752.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tX6ardXhSdU/WBFQoPN3S-I/AAAAAAAADTk/823gsIxKxAAwwdNjlbfvpxveX-YYz4FLQCLcB/s320/IMG_7752.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The other high spots for me was every few hours seeing the crew. Tj Holman has been a friend for a couple years now. You can’t help but smile when pedaling up and seeing him. Always willing to help and the main reason why this event happened.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>TJ in the center </b></span><br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s0mgnMhL-1I/WBFRmSV9dwI/AAAAAAAADT0/B4hgayXVKz8b2gPURJ4dgXipi7eavQcIQCLcB/s1600/IMG_7809.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s0mgnMhL-1I/WBFRmSV9dwI/AAAAAAAADT0/B4hgayXVKz8b2gPURJ4dgXipi7eavQcIQCLcB/s320/IMG_7809.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Brenda Herndon had her trial by fire crewing the MR340 not just for me, but for the 3 man sup team I was on and also 2 other individuals. Also a 230mi race I was in 2 weeks prior this Hobie event. She knows how to keep athletes running.</span></div>
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Brenda at the MR340</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AHRSwf5zkGs/WBFR1SaKV7I/AAAAAAAADT4/LtjgwbHTLj0s-rNm4u0LZURYNKprUoNwgCLcB/s1600/cp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AHRSwf5zkGs/WBFR1SaKV7I/AAAAAAAADT4/LtjgwbHTLj0s-rNm4u0LZURYNKprUoNwgCLcB/s320/cp.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ron Abel has crewed 2 events prior as well. He and Brenda make a good team and work well together. Ron’s specialty is cooking for us. He’s affectionately called the kitchen bitch. He keeps me fed well. We love him for it.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Brenda, Me, Ron</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x4Tk3H7eFaY/WBFXyc-Dj4I/AAAAAAAADUI/Vho7gkizLU85WZ-MG-Nyb3vdzC8h9OyKgCLcB/s1600/IMG_7830.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x4Tk3H7eFaY/WBFXyc-Dj4I/AAAAAAAADUI/Vho7gkizLU85WZ-MG-Nyb3vdzC8h9OyKgCLcB/s320/IMG_7830.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And James Crawford. This was his first event as crew for me. He’s been around ultra-paddling events before acting as safety crew/checkpoint manager for the mr340 and also competing in it. He’s the plucky comic relief. Always picking our spirits up and this time he brought 10 year old scotch.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> J</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>ames </b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>PCR (Plucky Comic Relief)</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pu4CZxaqOPg/WBFco7knuMI/AAAAAAAADUk/atJsa0ZNAhcIZR3p2IuWlmg_qyQKsbGiACLcB/s1600/IMG_7833.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="319" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pu4CZxaqOPg/WBFco7knuMI/AAAAAAAADUk/atJsa0ZNAhcIZR3p2IuWlmg_qyQKsbGiACLcB/s320/IMG_7833.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Then came the trouble times, between 2-5am. This is when that magic moment happens and the body wants to shut down and sleep. My magic started at midnight. The fortunate part was as we pulled into the boat ramp about that time we found the crew cooking S’mores and wolfing them down. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> <b>Rough life the crew has</b></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-34f0xlp93fY/WBFc3bSoDLI/AAAAAAAADUo/JsCWfEHIuWAnkimP8alvjSlSJuwqNQZAgCLcB/s1600/IMG_7832.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-34f0xlp93fY/WBFc3bSoDLI/AAAAAAAADUo/JsCWfEHIuWAnkimP8alvjSlSJuwqNQZAgCLcB/s320/IMG_7832.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jaden and I welcomed a little marshmallow roasting and made a couple ourselves. Most of them made it in our mouths but a good amount oozed on our faces. At this point we really didn’t care. The sugar rush was well worth it. Propelled us to get back on the water and pedaling. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> By now the temp had dropped into the low 50’s. The warmth of fire gone, we now had to go into warmth maintenance mode. I layered up and layered down finding trouble keeping a balance. Jaden seemed to do ok with the balance of heat. We did our usual to the dam and back loop to get us 2 hours of pedaling. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Jaden at the Dam</b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was pretty dark but the quarter moon illuminated the lake decent enough. Just not enough for me to avoid running aground on our way to the dam.. Now in inches of water I faced the dilemma of how to not get my feet wet and get the mirage drive system unstuck. Getting my feet/shoes wet in the first 30 mins would mean being wet and cold for the next 1.5hrs. In 50 degree temp that wouldn’t be a good thing. Then the solution struck. Though I wasn’t very familiar with the drive system’s inner workings, I did remember how TJ put them in. Turns out they’re simple really. You lift up the pedals that lay on the drive “feet”. There are 2 knobs you slide and and the whole drive system pops out. In seconds the drive system was out and in my hands. I used it as a paddle and back paddled off the gravel bar. Once clear I dropped the drive system back in, lowered the pedals, and was off chasing Jaden.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> <b>The Mirage drive system removed and sitting on the board</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b> (Obviously taken during the day)</b></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Jaden and I discussed a sleep schedule. I suggested no more than 90 mins. We settled on an hour. I slept in Brenda’s suv and he slept in TJ’s tahoe. 3:15am came quick. I got up and got my stuff together and didn’t see Jaden. Not knowing his physical condition i figured I’d go pedal around the bay until he surfaced. Shortly after I saw him loading stuff on his Eclipse. He was a little mad his alarm never went off. The kind of mad that he wanted to be on the water and didn’t need the sleep he got. After getting back on the water I could see he was in good shape, it was just an alarm mishap.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Pedaling through the wee hours was rough after a little sleep. Yet, no complaints from either of us as we continued pedaling. Our bodies must have thought we were playing mean tricks on them as the cycle continued of a little rest then pedal a few hours. We pressed on and were miserably happy doing so. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> <b>Jaden, Sunday</b> <b>Morning around 7:30am</b></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
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Jaden and my last pedal to the dam and back at daybreak. Pedaling in the fog was serene</div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> For me the real magic came about 22.75 hours in. Jaden and I came in and I told all the crew they needed to be on some type of craft and we were leaving in 10 minutes. No-one questioned it. They all jumped right on it. We all went out an cranked around the lake for the remaining hour. It was by far the highlight of the trip. TJ got to be on a sup I built custom for him named Makuahine (mother). Which s a story later to be told. Ron kayaked, brenda sup'd, and James canoe'd. And Jerico, who had driven 7.5hrs from Mississipi just to be with us, pedaled a native kayak.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The 24 hours concluded with us all rolling into the boat ramp at Rock Lane Marina where Jaden and started 24 hours prior. Not keeping an eye on the gps until we stopped at the ramp, I looked and it read a cryptic 66.6 miles. A benchmark was made. A standard set for 24 hours of pedaling a Hobie Mirage Eclipse. A first of it's kind. The craft, although seemingly gimmicky at first, won me over. I like it. There just may be another adventure or 2 coming out of it, with Jaden and the crew of course.</span></div>
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A huge Thank you to Ozark Mountain Trading Company (OMTC) for your support for this event. They loaned us the 12' and 10.5' Hobie Eclipses. Larry (one of the owners) even came out to the finish with donuts and milk. </div>
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As always a monster thanks to the crew: Brenda Herndon, Ron Abel, James Crawford and of course the traveling Gnome Jerico.</div>
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Shanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07647959321046367083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333513867374550124.post-87831102276173428412016-08-17T09:31:00.002-07:002016-08-26T08:42:41.162-07:00How well do you really know people? This will be a tough post to read as it's a tough post to write. When you think you actually know someone after 2.5 years of working with them and helping them and find out they are nowhere close to the the person they portray, it's pretty difficult, in this case devastating. <br />
Nate Dub aka Nate Waldera reached out to me in the fall of 2014 to ask for consultation on a 100 mile paddle. He told me his story of military service as a sniper in the army, how his humvee blew up and he was the only survivor, how the ptsd from that incident and all the confirmed kills he had as a sniper was mentally destroying him. Naturally, hearing his story i opened myself to him and told him I'd help him with his paddle and wanted to go along.<br />
He spent 2015 coming to St. Louis and paddling with me and lots of emails, phone calls, and texts. I got to know him pretty well or so I thought. Everything was a lie. He sold me his story. <b>He con'd me. He sold everyone his story. He con'd everyone.</b><br />
Fast forward to the 2016 MR340 the end of July and that's when everything started to become unraveled for him and his true self came out. He was a different person than the Nate I had known. Edgy. Unpredictable. Distant. It didn't make sense. Until the end of the race when he disappeared and I began to question everything.<br />
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Seeking the truth came from speaking with Ron Abel, a legit military Veteran, and who was ground crew for the 100 mile paddle last year, and for Nate for the 340. Nate admitted to Ron that his probation officer was calling Nate for the past week and Nate needed to come in and be booked. The deep dark secret of Nate? <b>Hes a convicted felon</b>. Which in itself is bad, but not all felons are bad people. Many are able to make amends and move on in life and be good contributing citizens.<b> However, In this case, he is a bad person.</b></div>
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<b> </b>8/3/16 arrest </div>
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Following the Mr340 race when he returned home to Wisconsin he was picked up and taken into custody for violation of probation. He was brought to jail where he currently is and will be for some time.</div>
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Here's where it gets bad. His original charge stems from a 2012 incident. <b> It's atrocious, but he was charged with first degree sexual incest of a minor. She was 6 years old</b>. He plead down to recklessly endangering safety. which as you read below is still a felony by law. In life there's a special hell for people like this. Which in prison, he will live once the other inmates realize what he's there for. The charges were reduced as he plead down.</div>
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original arrest in 2012</div>
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It's extremely disturbing to find this out. Even more disturbing that I had this man sleep at my house several times over the years. I have a 6 year old and a 4year old that were present. Thankfully nothing happened to them or he would not have made it out of my house alive. </div>
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He had a 5 year sentence in 2012 from the case. He served a little over a year and received early release and the rest of the sentence to be spent on probation.</div>
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I spent an hour on the phone with His probation officer this week. He called me as part of an open investigation in Nate's case. He's also called others that were in contact with Nate. The violations of probation are as follows:</div>
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<b>-</b>can not leave the state </div>
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He traveled to NC, NY, CT, MO that we know of</div>
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-can not drink alcohol</div>
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I've been with him while he was drinking. there's pictures on social media.</div>
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-can not sleep over others houses at all. No sleepovers with kids or women especially</div>
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violated it with me and as recently as 2-3 weeks ago with his girlfriend and her daughter and friends. The girlfriend had no clue.</div>
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- No smartphones</div>
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definitely has one and has used it</div>
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-has to hold a job. was fired from his a few months back. didn't tell probation</div>
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and i'm sure there's more. This is what the Probation officer mentioned</div>
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If that wasn't bad enough, there's more. <b>Nate sold us all on the fact that he was a military vet </b>with 8 years service. He told the story of how he was a sniper and was on the watch list as he killed so many people while serving in operation iraqi freedom and operation enduring freedom. He also sold us on that his humvee blew up while all his brothers in arms in the vehicle died and him being the only survivor. He labeled himelf as a military vet with ptsd and needing a service dog to get trough life.</div>
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The hard facts are he did serve in the military, but for less than a year. He was set for deployment but pussed out. He convinced a doctor he had sleep walking habits and mental illness. A easy out. He never was deployed. Never saw action. Doesn't have ptsd. Didn't lose his brothers in a humvee. Didn't kill people as a sniper. </div>
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His devious mind as a pathological liar went as far as adopting a dog (BO) and labeling him as a service dog to sell the vet with ptsd look. He paid $75 online to get a therapy dog certification. He even got a tattoo on his arm that had his "fallen" brothers' dog tags. His family, when asked about the tattoo said it didn't make sense. They even questioned it. <b>It was all a con</b>. He did all these things to try and portray the image of a vet with ptsd. <b>It was nothing more than <u>STOLEN VALOR!</u></b> Which to me is as disgusting as him being a incestual pedophile that he is. </div>
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My grandfather served in WWII and my brother served in operation desert storm. I know them as military heroes. They know themselves as just citizens doing their country duty. That's how real military handle themselves. They're proud to have served, ask for nothing in return, and seldom talk about their service.</div>
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The organization "Proudly We Stand" he created was for him to raise money for vets with PTSD. The concept to me was great and I was happy to contribute both financially and emotionally. I consulted him on the 100 mile paddle, made a documentary, and helped fund it. <b>I want to make it very clear that I had no hand in this organization other than supporting it. Neither did Ron Abel.</b> We were merely 2 people trying to help another for what we thought was a good cause. We even helped Nate raise over $7k for companions for heroes, an organization to help vets get dogs. Sadly, I recently found out he pocketed the money and never gave them a cent. I apologize to all that donated to him. I had no idea this was the case. I donated to the org as well.</div>
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Currently the case has been turned over to the wauwautosa police and he will be pursued for theft, grand larceny possibly. This should add to the current 5 years jail he is already looking at. It won't replace the money he stole but he won't get to use it where he's going.</div>
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Amongst the other lies he told me, his wife died of cancer years ago and his 2 kids are from a stripper he dated after college. All a lie. She is alive and was smart enough to leave him 14 years ago. She leads a great life with her own family. His second "relationship" had the kids with him which ended in 2012 with the above incest charge. The kids are happy, healthy and great people.</div>
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I have heard all sorts of variations of lies he has told others. Trust me, none of his BS is true. The probation officer confirmed he is a pathological liar.</div>
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Going forward the people that were affected most have been a great support system. I've taken this atrocity pretty harshly as I attached my name on his events. However, Although Nate destroyed a lot of faith in humanity and betrayed us all. However, some good came out of it. I gained friends out of this that are good people. I keep up with Ron Abel from Wisconsin, he's a great guy, true military vet, and part of my team now. We talk weekly. Brenda Herndon, out of KC. ground crewed for the mr340 and is in the same boat as Ron. Great friend and is running ground support for a 230 mi race i'm doing in the fall. Dave Schultz, Deb Klapperich, and host of other Midwest paddlers were introduced to me through Nate<b>. So essentially I had to weed through the shit of Nate to find the candy corn surprises of friends</b>. I am most grateful for them and wouldn't trade them for anything. </div>
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I know I can't fix things or change how it happened, but I am working on repairing what has been done. We are working with the family of Nate and are planning to sell the Hobie custom sup he has and give the money to companions for heroes. Also I will be putting together a paddle in the spring to raise money for the charity. I'll do it on lake Geneva and it will be open to all paddlers. </div>
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I am very sorry how everything played out. But be certain of this, Nate Dub aka Nate Waldera is in jail and will be for quite some time, 5+ years. He will never be welcomed in our circle again. The sup family is a strong and loving one. We will overcome what's happened and will remain a family and push forward.</div>
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<br />Shanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07647959321046367083noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333513867374550124.post-62513132274762758172016-03-07T12:08:00.000-08:002016-08-15T06:25:35.781-07:00<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><u>2015 was the worst and best year I've had </u></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><b> How does one have the worst and the best year all in the same time-frame?</b> The short answer is: spend 6 months training for a 750 mile race; get hit by a tree 1 week prior to your race, experience a severe concussion accompanied with short term memory loss; and then realize this is the best thing that has happened to you in a long time. Let me explain.</span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OkB9JR7RkdM/Vt2n8ZZA32I/AAAAAAAADE4/UqXYeYqIoFc/s1600/tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OkB9JR7RkdM/Vt2n8ZZA32I/AAAAAAAADE4/UqXYeYqIoFc/s320/tree.jpg" width="239" /></span></a></div>
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After spending 5 years in an unfulfilling job as a parks maintenance worker, I decided to seek more adventurous employment and became a logger. Yes, a person who cuts down trees for a living. Big trees. Fifty to sixty foot trees.</div>
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After six months of working this new lumberjack profession there came a particularly wet day where I found myself working on a hillside, cutting in wet, slippery conditions. As I'd done with any other tree, I made my notch cut on the side where I wanted the tree to fall, and then made my plunge cut, continuing to the rear of the tree. I felled it across the hill rather then dropping it downhill to make harvesting easier later. I walked uphill with my saw as the tree began, but I slipped and fell on the wet hillside and slid ten feet downhill away right back towards the cut tree trunk. As I slid, the tree fell on the hillside on a bunch of brush. What I didn't know was that under the brush was an already downed tree. The tree I had cut landed and see-sawed on the other trunk. As the top of the tree fell across the other trunk, it forced the base upwards - right where I was now standing. BAM! <b>The tree drilled me right on the 2 O'clock of my head/face catapulting my feet up over my head.</b> I landed all crumpled up and had no idea where I was for a bit. Once I came to, I hiked out of the woods and called a friend to come get me and drive me to the hospital.</div>
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(<b>Happy to be alive in Alton Hospital</b>)</div>
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Although I optimistically believed I was still going to race 750 miles from Port Townsend, Washington to Ketchikan, Alaska in a week, the harsh reality of doctors saying I had a long recovahead set in. After the adrenaline wore off, I began experiencing headaches every day, and my entire body was wracked with pain.<span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div>
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Now on workers comp, I sat home idle. 6 weeks in to recovery my employer terminated me, Something I didn't see coming, Funny how life goes. So a wrongful termination lawsuit ensued and yada yada, I now needed to find a job.</div>
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I had gone from making great money outdoors, being in the best shape I've ever been in and getting ready to race the biggest race of my life to being unemployed, with horrible headaches and soreness, and now repeating myself multiple times to a day due to short term memory loss. My poor wife was very patient with me. <b>It must have been like living with a 40 year old with Alzheimer’s patient</b>. I told her about Dale Sanders 2-5 times a day. Dale, AKA the grey Beard Adventurer, is an 80 year old man who became the oldest person to paddle the entire length of the Missouri river source to sea <a href="http://www.greybeardadventurer.com/"><b><span style="color: red;">http://www.greybeardadventurer.com/</span></b></a>. If you ask my wife, she'll absolutely know who he is after she spent a summer hearing about him everyday from me. </div>
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Thank god for Stand up paddling! Scrambling for a job that was low impact and outdoors limited me to, well... not much. Afterspending some time trying to figure it out <b>I decided to work with what I had, and focus solely on what had been my second full-time job, </b> <b><a href="http://supstlouis.com/"><span style="color: red;">SupStLouis</span></a> , </b>my ever-growing paddle boarding outfitter business<b>. </b>Fast forward the summer season : SupStLouis had an amazing season that provided my family a great income, allowed me to work a flexible schedule to spend time with my kids, and fulfill my dream of working full time in the SUP business. I was starting to make progress on my recovery. My 40 year old temporary Alzheimer's lessened and physically the headaches decreased.</div>
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<b>The Dream office. Working on a beach</b></div>
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(T<b>he old gal that hauls)</b></div>
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(At a ripe old age of 20, the van needed a lot of love before becoming the main hauler for <a href="http://supstlouis.com/"><b><span style="color: red;">supstlouis</span></b></a> Her previous years were served as a church van then a carpet van.)</div>
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(<b>The overstuffed truck. </b>)</div>
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<b>We run 2 fleets for our 2 locations</b></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><b><u><span style="font-size: large;">Here's the Bad side of my year.</span></u></b></span></div>
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So if I was able to fulfill my dream of going full time SUP then why was it such a bad year (besides the head injury)? Here's the dark side of the year. The SUP season ended in September and now I was truly unemployed. However, I had enough money from the business to sustain me a while. Post-season there's always a bit of summer withdrawals, but 2015 was different. Everything was different. The reality of not pulling off the 750 mile race I trained 6 months for, not having a job, not pulling my weight for my family and not being in control of my life set in. in. Sitting idle at home, I fell into</div>
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a very dark place. I spent two months depressed, alone at home. I didn't want to do anything. I spent my days on the couch, unable to motivate myself to do anything. The only thing I looked forward to was heading to my basement to drink alone and watch Netflix at night after my wife and kids were in bed. I ended up drinking away two months, causing my life, and the quality of life for those around me to suffer.</div>
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My depression and drinking culminated on Christmas Eve when I decided to drink a half bottle of Gin while watching Trailer Park Boys. Not thinking right, I picked up my mother in laws' car keys and started to drive the 200 yards out of her subdivision to a bar that was in walking distance. Before I even made it out of the subdivision, I received several texts from my wife, asking me to come home. I reluctantly went back to the house and went to sleep. Her insistence, and that decision, probably saved my life.king me to come home. I reluctantly went back to the house and went to sleep (a decision that probably saved my life).</div>
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The following days lead to many talks and one hardcore conversation with my wife. She drew a line in the sand and told me I needed to make a choice: The family or the alcohol. Never in my life have I been punched in the nuts so hard! Until that moment, I hadn't realized how far I had fallen. The depression and drinking had taken away the one thing that had kept me going: my family. It rocked my universe to think of not having my family with me.</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Here's the good side</u></span></b></div>
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As I write this, March 2016, I haven't touched alcohol for 2.5 months. I can't spend more than 30 minutes on a couch, and if I'm in the basement watching Netflix I'm standing on my Paddle one SUP Ergometer getting some training paddle miles in. I work as a Substitute teacher for all levels elementary, middle, and high school. And <b>most important, I have my family. </b></div>
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Subbing allows me to take off for meetings regarding SupStLouis. I get to continue to work in the SUP field as I'm teaching.</div>
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Currently I'm prepping for the 2016 SUP season. I have a couple of big paddles scheduled, Nothing I can mention now except one that involves that 80 year old I mentioned earlier, Dale Sanders (and yes he'll be on a SUP). For the Business, On top of our 2 current lake locations, I've acquired 9 additional contracts for pool SUP yoga with local recreation departments. I'm working on a concept of manufacturing boards here in St. Louis with a new local SUP brand that's 100% made in the USA. </div>
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And Last year wasn't all bad. Some good happened. a couple highlights would be:</div>
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<b> Boone adopted us in August and became an </b></div>
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<b> amazing friend and running partner (He got big)</b></div>
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<b> In May I bought a 1971 VW bus that was pulled out of the woods In Jackson,MS</b></div>
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<b> It sat there for 16 years</b></div>
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<b> It's slowly coming back and will be part of Supstlouis this summer </b><br />
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<b> And spent some on water time with my family</b></div>
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So the year was the worst due to getting hit by a tree, having memory loss, suffering through depression and alcoholism and almost losing my family.</div>
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And The Year was the best that It indirectly lead me to follow my goals and to pursue one of my dreams of Full time SUP. </div>
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Going forward I've made and will be making a lot of changes. I've parted ways amiably with my sponsors. I left <span style="color: red;"> </span><b><a href="http://www.glidesup.com/"><span style="color: red;">Glide SUP</span></a> </b>to pursue other options.<b> </b>They are a great bunch of guys with a great product and I enjoyed my time working with them. We still keep in touch. </div>
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I've become less focused on promoting others with a national presence and more focused promoting companies with a local presence. I feel I need to focus on the Midwest more and promote what's happening locally. </div>
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I look forward to sharing my continuing journey with all of you. Thank you for your past support and and for the days to come. In the words of the great Missourian Mark Twain, "<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px;"><b>Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do..."</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px;"><b><span style="color: #444444;"> </span> </b>I don't regret how life has happened for me. It's lead me to where I am now, mistakes and all.</span></div>
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Shanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07647959321046367083noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333513867374550124.post-23239857884783187322015-02-15T09:06:00.001-08:002015-02-15T09:17:38.765-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><u>2014 SUP Year in Review</u></b></div>
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St. John USVI June 2014 (Linda Point)</div>
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Life being as busy as it gets left me without writing about my adventures for 2014. So a quick reflection of the past year and what's coming in 2015.</div>
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January brought a cool adventure with the help of the Billy Lush Brand from Tennessee. I raced in a 24 hour Ultra-Skate in Miami at the Homestead speedway. 24 hours of skate boarding, well in my case land paddling. The board pictured below is called the "Orca". It's an amazing board in the sense it allows a person to stand with his legs parallel under his hips. Then you're able to land paddle on either side of the board with equal power, like stand p paddling on water.</div>
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In 24 hours I managed to land paddle 211.7. Out of 80 racers I ended up 5th becoming the first person to break 200 miles while using a land paddle. A claim I'l take. I also walked away with being inducted to the esteemed 200 mile club. At the time of the Ultra Skate in January I was ranked 18th in the world for distance in the 24 hour races. pretty cool. </div>
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To read a full write-up check out the <a href="http://billylushbrand.com/24-hour-ultraskate/"><span style="color: blue;">Billy Lush Blog</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">My Crew: left of me is Kenny Reed(Co-Owner Billy Lush Brand. Right of me is Good friend Daren Wolf</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DWy4ebJIsxo/VNf_VZQLu3I/AAAAAAAACtU/Zg6PQT-_-AE/s1600/IMG_3014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DWy4ebJIsxo/VNf_VZQLu3I/AAAAAAAACtU/Zg6PQT-_-AE/s1600/IMG_3014.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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You can see the size of my board compared to everyone else (to the right)</div>
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Next up came another 24 hour event. This time one created by me. I set out to claim the 24 hour flatwater distance record. I found it fitting that I teach all my lessons for my business <a href="http://supstlouis.com/"><span style="color: blue;">SupStlouis</span></a> at Simpson lake in Valley Park, Missouri so Attempting the 24 our record on the same lake was great. I after not ideal conditions with gusting winds, lightning, and rain I managed to paddle 95.6 hours in 24 hours. Not too shabby for a guy from the midwest. Although I established a world record I till knew I could break 100 miles. Was to be continued in the fall...</div>
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To read about the exploits check out <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/excursions/post/sup-athlete-sets-24-hour-record-in-nasty-conditions/">GrindTV's article on my 24 hours</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Board used for 24hrs: 14' Glide rocket 14'x25"</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Setting up boards for SUP Yoga lessons at Simpson</span></div>
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Next up brought me to the USVI (US Virgin Islands) in June. The <a href="http://www.verticaloar.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Vertical Oar</span></a> Guys J.P. Presare and Rafael Mercado brought me to the VI to team up with J.P.'s long time friend Chirag Vyas, Co-Owner of St. John Brewers. With their help I attempted the first SUP navigation around St. Thomas and St John. Leaving Cruz Bay I paddled west to St. Thomas crossing through Drake's Passage. I paddled the South side of the island and circumnavigated around and back to Cruz bay. left Cruz bay and paddled around the north side and circumnavigated the island. After 33 hours and 57 minutes I cleared 71 hard earned miles battling 16-20mph head winds. For a full story check out <a href="http://www.verticaloar.com/news/ultra-marathon-stand-up-paddleboarder-shane-perrin-circumnavigates-st-thomas-and-st-john"><span style="color: blue;">Vertical Oar's write up</span></a></div>
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Also a very cool Video of the expedition: <a href="http://vimeo.com/99932121"><span style="color: blue;">Drake's Passage video</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Looking down at a bay from Linda point, St. john</span></div>
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Paddling across a channel fully loaded 12'6" Glide Quest with GSS coating</div>
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August brought me to the OR (outdoor retailer) show in Utah. Utah Being the home base for Glide SUP I had the opportunity to spend time at the factory with the guys and get to go to the industry's biggest Outdoor show. In Between the show we were able to enjoy some river time on Glide boards.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/E3lw9FQh1LA/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/E3lw9FQh1LA?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You never know what you'll see at the factory. Brian Flanigan and Shalee Booker doing Acro-yoga</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Day 1 at the Outdoor show</td></tr>
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One of the best things that happened at the show was me being introduced to Zac Kaufman of Sawyer Paddles. I found a paddle company that's U.S. made and works with it's athletes. I went on a month later to use their TSR paddle to break my world record.<br />
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September Brought me to Austin, Texas. A good friend and sponsor, Casey Gotcher, owner of SUP Gladiator hosted me at his house over a weekend to paddle another 24 hour attempt to break my world record set earlier in May at 95.7 miles. Andy and Slim at Austin Paddle sports hosted us on their dock at Ladybird lake in Austin. It was a good fall weekend with little wind. I battled for 24 hours to make 101 miles in 24 hours. Not an easy task. Here's the video of the attempt:<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/npi3RtulR3w/0.jpg" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/npi3RtulR3w?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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I was planning for a light season as I had to re-committ to family for 2104. It's a difficult balance of work, training, expeditions, and family. At the end of the year I didn't feel I accomplished much, but Now it seems like a pretty good year to me. Looking forward to 2015 I had a few ideas of what I wanted to do. But nothing could have told me that I would be eye balling a 750 mile race. Yep, That's not a typo. 750 miles! And ow I've committed to it. Entry fee is paid. Glide is building a custom board for it. Sponsors are being acquired. More to come...</div>
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Shanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07647959321046367083noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333513867374550124.post-26814195381335490322014-04-29T03:58:00.000-07:002014-05-03T06:17:03.122-07:00<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><u>24 hour Guinness world record still on May 10</u></b></div>
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<u>Catalina island Expedition Postponed</u></div>
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<u>M</u>ay 10th I will still be attempting to set the Guinness World Record for "Greatest distance by paddle board in 24 hours, Flatwater". What does this mean? Well I will be paddling at Simpson Lake in St. Louis, Mo in a 1.2 mile loop. Yup sounds mind numbing. But the reasons for it are That Simpson is a small lake that is woodlined and blocks the majority of wind when it's at its minimal gusts. Also it is the lake where I perform 80% of my business for <a href="http://www.supstlouis.com/" target="_blank">SUPSTLOUIS</a> my sup business.<br />
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I'm shooting for 100 miles. Not an easy task. This means that I will have to keep 4mph or above the entire 24 hours. I will have a crew there that will be handing me supplies and encouraging me the entire time. On top of the attempt it is opening day for my business. I will have my team performing lessons while I am out there paddling. 9am starts the paddling on May 10th. 9am May 11th concludes it. Temp wise I'm looking at 70 during the day and 50 at night, perfect conditions.</div>
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During the event my team will be selling Live Love Sup bottles and wristbands that when bought gets a person a 1.5 hour sup lesson with it. Not a bad deal for only $24. (24 hour guinness attempt - $24 for the bottle, wristband, and lesson.) I've donated my fleet of <a href="http://www.glidesup.com/collections/flatwater" target="_blank">GLIDE SUP</a> paddle boards for the day. All money Goes to Live Love Sup's Campaign: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fmy.charitywater.org%2Flive-love-sup&h=xAQGijTxr" target="_blank">Charity:Water - Live Love Sup</a> . If you can't make it out on the 10th, you can still by the bottle and wristband for $16. I can ship it too.<br />
Check out <a href="http://www.livelovesup.com/">Live Love Sup</a> and see what they're ll about.<br />
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<span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333232; font-family: Proxima-Nova-n4, Proxima-Nova-1, Proxima-Nova-2, 'Proxima Nova', sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 26.100000381469727px; text-align: center;">800 million people don't have access to clean drinking water. That’s 1 in 9 of us</span><br />
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<u>Why the Catalina expedition was postponed: The story</u><br />
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As you know I have been planning on paddling the Catalina channel islands and touching down on</div>
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all 8 islands unsupported. There have been a ton of logistics and factors that keep changing the expedition. So I wanted to update you on the expedition, how it has changed, and where it's at to date. </div>
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The first obstacle came when I came in contact with an expert on the islands, conditions, etc and he advised me there was no chance of accessing san clemente and san nichlolas islands as they're military instillations. Even paddling near them and you'll be met by boats and or aircraft to intercept you. Then there's the fact that those 2 islands have their own conditions separate from anything else.</div>
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So I looked at a different approach and decided to paddle from the mainland to Coho and wait for the right conditions and then paddle to San Miguel where I would next paddle to santa rosa, santa cruz and anacapa. Then to the mainland 100 miles and then paddle out to santa catalina, santa Barbara and then finish on the mainland.</div>
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A day later san Miguel was closed by the military due to unexploded ordinances. The island was used as an active bombing range for wwII to the 70's</div>
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Next plan was island explorations base camping off santa rosa. Later I found out camping was closed off on the island until august 15th.</div>
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So on top of growing safety concerns and all the above, I discussed options with the team and I feel it's best to postpone the expedition. As of right now a fall expedition is possible but may not be able to happen due to current obligations.</div>
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Shanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07647959321046367083noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333513867374550124.post-15113667436673140392014-04-14T19:33:00.000-07:002014-04-29T03:38:33.404-07:00Expedition: 8 Catalina Islands<div align="center">
<strong><u>Expedition: 8 Catalina Islands</u></strong><br />
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<b><u>EXPEDITION POSTPONED!</u></b></div>
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<b><u>EXPEDITION POSTPONED </u></b><br />
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Through the fall and winter I've been asked what the next big adventure is. While I always have a few in mind it has always been in the back of my mind to get to the west coast. The Catalina Channel islands consist of 8 islands somewhat clumped together in clusters. To paddle continuously and touch down on all of them is something that no SUP paddler has been able to complete.</div>
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I'm looking to start at Oxnard, Ca and touchdown on all 8 islands while covering 270+ miles to finish at Dana Point, Ca.</div>
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So what makes this expedition different? Well, I had to create Stand Up Guy standards for the expedition:</div>
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<strong>-<u>Paddle the entire trip self-supported:</u></strong></div>
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I'll have no support boat. No way to refuel supplies, specifically water. I'll have to carry everything I'll need and be completely self reliant. This created a ton of logistics to figure out. First it was what board will hold all the gear I need to sustain and survive 5-6 days of paddling 265+ miles. Easy answer- such a board doesn't exist. There really is no expedition board out there that can hold all the necessary gear needed for a trip of this magnitude to handle open ocean. So I went to the board wizard, Ken Driscoll, Head shaper at <a href="http://www.glidesup.com/" target="_blank">Glide Paddle Boards</a>. What has emerged is the first of it's kind, the 15' Perrin Expeditioner. I'm working with Ken to build a board that has gear storage in all the right places (not just in back of your feet) and also physically can take a beating (Glide's patented GSS technology). The board is based off the existing Glide Quest, a 12'6" touring that is perfect to cruise on through rivers, lakes, and exploring.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xoXtWA05920/U0yGj72RSDI/AAAAAAAACaQ/7HGTVOMQ1JY/s1600/Nathan+170+019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xoXtWA05920/U0yGj72RSDI/AAAAAAAACaQ/7HGTVOMQ1JY/s1600/Nathan+170+019.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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(12'6" Quest)</div>
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Next is the Why?</div>
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<strong><u>Over 800 million people in the world still don't have access to clean drinking water.</u></strong></div>
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As an ambassador for <a href="http://www.livelovesup.com/pages/brand-ambassadors" target="_blank">Live Love Sup</a> I'm honored to be part of a team that is making change happen in the world. The team has raised $7,881 as of December 31st, 2013 and has helped build clean water well projects in Ethiopia, Kenya and Peru. 100% of <span class="color_15" style="line-height: 1.5;">donations go directly these clean water efforts. </span></div>
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<span class="color_15" style="line-height: 1.5;"> The creative minds behind the fundraising for this expedition came from Nick and Jen Yates, founders of Live Love Sup, and it came together in a very cool way. Going outside of their normal apparel items they use to raise funds they came up wit the idea of a stainless steel water bottle. </span></div>
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What's creative about a water bottle? As 800 million people don't have access to clean drinking water, you and I do. This doesn't mean we can neglect other areas of how we can make an impact. So forget that plastic water bottle that you'll use once and throw away. Purchasing this bottle gives more than others clean drinking water, it lessens our footprint and gives future generations a cleaner earth. </div>
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How's the bottle connected to the expedition?</div>
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The bottle sells for $16. Live Love Sup is also donating one of their bracelets with the bottle. $8 of the sale goes towards to manufacturing costs. The other $8 goes towards Charity;Water. My goal is to sell 100 of these bottles. and the math on that is $800 total to raise. </div>
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So the connection - 8 channel islands, $8 raised per bottle, $800 goal (100bottles). There is also an option for straight donations as well. </div>
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(Live Love Sup wristband)</div>
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<strong><u>This will be the scariest expedition to date for me.</u></strong> As most of you know I'm a river guy. You see they have these big fish out in the ocean. And these fish have lots of teeth. They scare the crap out of me. If something goes wrong It will be a while before help can get to me. With one of the stretches being 70 miles island to island there's a lot that can happen. I did loads of research on sharks and found only one true human made deterrent by an Australian based company called Shark Shield. It's an electronic unit proven to deter sharks.. The unit will be my only safety against these monsters of the sea. The science is fascinating behind it.</div>
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<a href="http://www.sharkshield.com/view/scientific-overview-of-shark-shield-the-only-scientifically-tested-shark-deterrent-technology/Howitworks">http://www.sharkshield.com/view/scientific-overview-of-shark-shield-the-only-scientifically-tested-shark-deterrent-technology/Howitworks</a></div>
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<u><strong>So what could make this expedition more difficult </strong>besides paddling 5 days straight, day and night, sleeping an hour a night while being self-sufficient?</u></div>
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May 10-11 I will attempt to set the men's Guinness World Record for "greatest distance by paddle board in 24 hours." This means I will paddle for 24 hours straight here in my hometown of St. Louis, Missouri from 7am may 10th to 7am may 11th. Then board a plane at 9am and fly out to California. The next morning on May 12th I will begin the Catalina islands expedition.</div>
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Your support is greatly appreciated! </div>
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<a href="http://www.livelovesup.com/collections/fundraising/products/shane-perrin-s-charity-water-expedition-water-bottle">http://www.livelovesup.com/collections/fundraising/products/shane-perrin-s-charity-water-expedition-water-bottle</a></div>
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And as always, if there are companies out there looking to help out through sponsorships, please contact me.</div>
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<strong><u>(1/20/14 )</u></strong></div>
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<strong><u>24 hour Ultra Skate </u></strong></div>
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<strong><u>Stand Up For Raelyn</u></strong></div>
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So here's the scoop on the 24 hour Ultra skate:</div>
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On 1/20/14 There's a longboard race "pushing" the board in a traditional skate style. They are letting me in racing via land paddling. I'll be on my Billy Lush board using a Perrin-Elite carbon paddle. The world record was set last year at 261.8. My goal is to reach 300 miles and change skaters thoughts of Land Paddling. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t3bTceamm10/UqUGB8be5TI/AAAAAAAACQc/pBsbCAGlt44/s1600/24hr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t3bTceamm10/UqUGB8be5TI/AAAAAAAACQc/pBsbCAGlt44/s320/24hr.jpg" width="240" /></a><span itemprop="description"><span class="fsl">24 hour Ultra race:<br /><br /> rom the race website -"Skate a little or skate a lot, it's up to you. How far can you go in 24 hours? Set a personal best or go for the World Record!"<br /> <br /> Join the Century club- 100 miles.<br /> Make the Elite 200 group- 200 miles (only 20 members world wide)<br /> Become the World record holder - 261.8 Male -186.9 Female</span></span></div>
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<span itemprop="description"><span class="fsl">(**Stay with the story. You'll see how SUP leaders of communities fit into the equation**)</span></span></div>
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Here's the reason why this race has become personal to me. Just a couple weeks ago I talked to a fella in California who I have never met. Our topic of conversation that brought us together, his daughter Raelyn. Her story is something that hits home for every parent. It moved me as a dad and having a daughter myself. </div>
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Greg is a sup person. He is Ohana. I didn't really know what that was until this year when all my stuff was stolen from me in the Florida Everglades challenge. When I was at my lowest, My Ohana took care of me. Now it's our turn to take care of one of our own.</div>
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Here's what Greg (Raelyn's father explains about his daughter,</div>
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"Raelyn was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in Feburary 2012 at age 2 ½ and is currently undergoing monthly chemotherapy treatments at CHOC (Children’s Hospital) in Orange County. In addition, she takes daily chemotherapy pill, steroids and other numerous medicines that helps fight infections and other side effects from the chemopherapy. </div>
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Recently Raelyn has developed steroid psychosis which is an rare side effect from the high doses of steroids that she takes to increase the effectiveness of the chemotherapy.<br />
I only see the “daughter I had before her diagnosis” 4 to 5 days out of the month. There are not adequate words to describe the behavior that we see due the steroid psychosis."<br />
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As you can imagine, this has taken a toll on the Beckler family in many ways. The medical bills are immense. Greg (Raelyn's father) stepped down from his job to be Raelyn's full-time care taker. They've had to move a couple times. It's alot to take for a family. <br />
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*** Here's where YOU SUP LEADERS are standing up for Raelyn. In the next couple weeks I want you to create an event. It could be anything. SUP, Skate, Hike, Walk, anything. Recruit people for your event. <br />
Here's the idea: Let's say you're in warm weather still like my friends Paige and Brian with Hooked on Sup in Florida (they've already agreed to stand up for Raelyn). You can do a 10 mile fun paddle. Get 10 people to attend. each person that comes to the event pledges $1 per mile. At the end of the event the Host/Sup leader collects the funds and mails it out to the Beckler family. $100 closer to paying medical bills. Get it?<br />
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What if you're in cold weather like Holly Evans in minnesota with Wai Nani surf and paddle tribe. She's Standing up for Raelyn. It's pretty cold in Minnesota if you don't know. But She's figuring it out. She's creating an event for 1/20/14 to stand for Raelyn.<br />
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Here's the kicker: Stoke Radio is helping out and and promoting this event! (more to come)<br />
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Your event needs to take place on 1/20/14 MLK day as I will be racing the 24 hour race. Make sure to film the event. I'll be putting together a video of my exploits which includes yours from the day.<br />
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Email me at <a href="mailto:shaneperrin@gmail.com">shaneperrin@gmail.com</a> if you want to Stand up for Raelyn and be a leader for more detailed information.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YBafXzhb1OE/UqUUWazbHpI/AAAAAAAACQ4/4ymzYxkPK7c/s1600/greg+mustache.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YBafXzhb1OE/UqUUWazbHpI/AAAAAAAACQ4/4ymzYxkPK7c/s320/greg+mustache.jpg" width="320" /> <span style="color: black;"> It is the Mustache that binds us</span></a></div>
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Shanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07647959321046367083noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333513867374550124.post-42010229091693961362013-07-05T06:59:00.002-07:002013-07-05T10:07:54.585-07:00It's official. I've found a new team! <div align="center">
<strong><u>A new era begins with Glide Paddle Boards!</u></strong></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kxTy5XfZb0Q/Uda-RzEfevI/AAAAAAAAAzI/ZAqSnrjyr7M/s240/glide+logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kxTy5XfZb0Q/Uda-RzEfevI/AAAAAAAAAzI/ZAqSnrjyr7M/s240/glide+logo.png" /></a></div>
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Yesterday marked our day of independence as a country as it marked a freedom and triumph personally. After making the choice to leave my last board sponsor this past April I had decided to ride out the season independently without a new board sponsor. This was the plan. </div>
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Yet , fate stepped in and thought differently. Or should I say Erin from<span style="color: #073763;"> </span><a href="http://supconnect.mylocallineup.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #073763;">Supconnect</span></a> decided to change the game (very much appreciated). </div>
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I had messaged Erin and asked if Supconnect could help promote Expedition: Iron Athlete (a 640 mile expedition starting July 20th). As ususal, she said they'd be happy to. As she read my blog I sent her with the expedition info she messaged me back and asked, "Are you without a board sponsor?" I explained to her the situation and she replied with ,"You need to check out <a href="http://glidesup.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Glide</span></a>."</div>
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As I was in the process of researching the company I received another message. This time form Ken Driscoll Co-founder of Glide and VP of Design, stating "Erin form Supconnect thought we might be a good fit for each other". After a few conversations later with Ken Driscoll, Scott Knorp (VP of Operations) and Ken Apperson (VP of Marketing for Glide) I signed on as a Team Rider for Glide.</div>
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<strong>Here's why:</strong></div>
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*They make all their boards In the U.S. and have their own factory in Utah - All U.S. sourced materials</div>
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*They're river people - And yah, I'm a bit of a river person myself</div>
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*They created <a href="http://glidesup.com/about/glide-surface-shield/" target="_blank">Glide Surface Shield</a> - an indestructible coating. People have witnessed their boards being run over by a car and walloped with hammers and mallets and coming out unscathed. -perfect for conditions on the river I put boards through. Can you say Texas Water Safari 2014?</div>
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* After the first conversation with the guys I felt at home. Down to earth, good people</div>
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Can you do this with your epoxy board? Didn't think so.</div>
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Glide's exclusive Surface shield technology makes boards bomb proof!</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8TwoUCo8GnQ/UdbQiWWXMaI/AAAAAAAAAzo/UYwWE9PxWug/s1200/glide+rock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8TwoUCo8GnQ/UdbQiWWXMaI/AAAAAAAAAzo/UYwWE9PxWug/s320/glide+rock.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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So as I move forward with the Glide team I have a fellow Midwesterner helping us out, Matt Campbell out of Oxford, Michigan with Blk Box Surf. With the time constraints we have for the Expedition, Matt has taken on the task of building the Unlimited SUP that I'll be using on the expedition. Out of the 3-4 top unlimited shapers in the country Matt was my first choice. He's been in the biz a decade and knows design. His knowledge and design is top notch.</div>
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The board stands out a little in his shop! 17'8"x24.5</div>
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Here the board's bottom is finished</div>
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So with 10 days left of training before the expedition, everything's falling into line. I feel strong at a bold 171lbs. My cardio is way up and mentally I'm focused. My Expedition team is together and ready to roll.</div>
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Board company: <a href="http://glidesup.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #073763;">Glide - Paddle The Planet</span></a></div>
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Paddle: <a href="http://www.wernerpaddles.com/paddles/stand_up/performance_core/grand_prix_s1000/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #073763;">Werner Paddles</span></a></div>
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Land Paddle: <a href="http://billylushbrand.com/shop/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #073763;">Billy Lush Brand</span></a></div>
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<strong><u></u></strong> I also want to thank and welcome my newest sponsor for the expedition, No Coast Stand Up. </div>
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Take a listen to my interview with Katie G. Owner of No Coast on Stoke Radio last week.</div>
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<a href="http://stokeradio.com/2013/06/26/the-distance-with-shane-perrin-nocoast-standup/" target="_blank">**Click Here **</a></div>
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Shanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07647959321046367083noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333513867374550124.post-68403882283965818022013-06-20T18:41:00.001-07:002013-06-20T19:14:15.489-07:00Iron Athlete Expedition update<div align="center">
<u>Iron Athlete Expedition update</u></div>
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<u>540 SUP miles</u></div>
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<u>100 SULP miles (stand up land paddle)</u></div>
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<u>3 states ( NY, MO, IL</u></div>
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<u>7-8 days</u></div>
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<u>Starting July 20th</u></div>
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As training progresses so does finalizing logistics and sponsors. I've been fortunate to have Some key sponsors step up and support me. It is impossible for me to accomplish this expedition without the right people involved. Can't tell you how happy I am to have these guys and gals on the team.</div>
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<u><strong>My title sponsors:</strong></u></div>
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<strong> <u>Shaka Surf</u> </strong></div>
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Based in Saugatuck Michigan. Co-owner Elizabeth Burns was a client of mine last year for my business <a href="http://www.supstlouis.com/" target="_blank">SUPSTLOUIS</a>. Well, she caught the SUP bug and it built up inside her. She bought a board this year and went out with her friend. Over casual conversation she said to her friend, "Why don't we start a SUP business here (michigan)." So they did! They are officially open. Their website is under construction but you can find them on Twitter @shakasurf1</div>
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<strong><u>Billy Lush Paddle Sports</u></strong> </div>
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Based out of Knoxville, TN these boys didn't hesitate to be part of the expedition. They're all about paddle sports and are heavily involved in the community not only in Knoxville but nationally. They were just in Oregon last week! They offer SUP 101 classes, paddle fit, sunset tours, and run a meet up group, and sales. Check them out here --> <a href="http://billylushbrand.com/" target="_blank">billylushbrand</a></div>
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When I told them I was land paddling 100 miles pulling a trailer to carry my inflatable SUP and gear, they told me they had the board for. And did they. One hand crafted in Tennessee U.S.A. </div>
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The "Orca" </div>
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Now there's no trailer needed. The Orca will carry it all!</div>
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<strong><u>Crew Update</u></strong></div>
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For the 100 mile paddle portion of the expedition I recruited Kelly Kasten. She's one of the few Die hard SUP'rs around St. Louis paddling through winter with me. This year she started racing with a 10 mile race in march and most notable a 28 mile race in Tennesse in April. Then in May she raced a 20 mile race in Chicago. Always the only girl to take on these long races, I can relate to the pressure she has to succeed. She's tough as nails and will make a perfect crewman.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0w5lRat3JQw/UcOw5gYBgeI/AAAAAAAAAxs/3r7bZjyvvVo/s1600/kelly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0w5lRat3JQw/UcOw5gYBgeI/AAAAAAAAAxs/3r7bZjyvvVo/s320/kelly.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Then for the MR340 paddle portion I scored an old friend who has been crewing for athletes for the past 3 years, Denise Damon, I've known her since about 2006 and have been on many paddles with her back when I used to sit and paddle. She's an outdoorswoman that is an ace at crewing. She loves that dog Andy too.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IRONzFwSdWc/UcOx8oF0ynI/AAAAAAAAAx4/2SosNkiHIik/s1600/denise.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IRONzFwSdWc/UcOx8oF0ynI/AAAAAAAAAx4/2SosNkiHIik/s320/denise.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Then for the toughest portion. Land paddling 100 miles while carrying all my gear and then SUP'ng 100 miles carrying the land paddle. I was trying to figure out who would be the right person for this although I already knew who I wanted. Dwayne Vanhoose. This guy is a one of a kind. An endurance athlete himself he knows the game as an athlete and as a crewman. He was my crew for my first big race in 2011. Watch it here --><a href="http://vimeo.com/57296541" target="_blank">Stand up Guy - The documentary</a></div>
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<u><strong></strong></u> So as crew for this portion he will be riding his Bike with me as moral support. This portion is literally 10 minutes from his house so I left him with no excuses to not come along.</div>
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Couldn't be happier to have him on. He's one of my truest friends in life.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aE2qUkqCbio/UcOzrcyYqLI/AAAAAAAAAyI/fNxxzUvcJ0s/s1600/dwayne.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aE2qUkqCbio/UcOzrcyYqLI/AAAAAAAAAyI/fNxxzUvcJ0s/s320/dwayne.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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So the wheels are turning. Now all I need is a board. So far this is what I have:</div>
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If there are any companies that would interested in sponsoring the expedition, please email me at <a href="mailto:shaneperrin@gmail.com">shaneperrin@gmail.com</a></div>
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Shanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07647959321046367083noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333513867374550124.post-15547155787360439352013-05-28T20:16:00.000-07:002013-05-28T20:16:06.244-07:00A new direction<div align="center">
<strong><u>A new direction</u></strong></div>
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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. </div>
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Post expedition I was fortunate enough to be offered my own show on <a href="http://www.customchannels.net/streaming/stoke_radio/" target="_blank"> Stoke Radio</a> called "The Distance". It's on Wednesdays at 11am, 4pm, and 10pm cst. Then Thursday on the it's available on demand</div>
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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.</div>
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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, <a href="http://www.wernerpaddles.com/" target="_blank">Werner Paddles</a> . 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.</div>
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Here It is:</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><u>“Iron Athlete”<o:p></o:p></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On July 20<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> I will toe the
starting line of the 100 Mile paddle(</span><a href="http://www.100milepaddle.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.100milepaddle.com/</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup> in the SUP
division. (100 miles total distance)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That evening of the 21<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup>
I<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>will drive approximately 24 hours back
to my home state of Missouri where on the evening of the 22<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup> I will
attend the safety meeting for the MR340 race (</span><a href="http://rivermiles.com/mr340/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://rivermiles.com/mr340/</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a non-stop race 340 miles on the
Missouri river from Kansas City to St. Charles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the morning of the 23<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup> 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,. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then the evening of the 26th I will begin
a 3<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup> expedition, one that has never been attempted before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will land paddle 100 miles of Illinois
roads while towing a SUP behind my skateboard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The entire experience will be filmed as a
documentary titled, “Stand Up Guy – Iron Athlete”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will be an experience that will redefine the
possibilities of stand up while promoting<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Stand up sports.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sponsors will received their
logo on the SUP during all events as well the logo can be on my race
jersey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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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.</div>
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More to come</div>
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Shanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07647959321046367083noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333513867374550124.post-76569846194363658732013-03-21T18:54:00.002-07:002013-03-21T18:54:58.967-07:001 week after The Everglades Challenge<div align="center">
<strong><u>1 week after The Everglades Challenge</u></strong></div>
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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. <br />
During the expedition my wife would send me pictures and videos of the kids. It was the highligh of my day.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6knErhyV-3c/UUugBpPOzlI/AAAAAAAAAso/7vyg6a8yT5E/s1600/DSCN0637.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6knErhyV-3c/UUugBpPOzlI/AAAAAAAAAso/7vyg6a8yT5E/s320/DSCN0637.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Family vacation in Tennessee fall 2012</div>
But pictures aren't the same thing. Having them close to hug and love on. Now that's what I need.<br />
During the race I had pictures of my family taped to my deck bag. It's really what brought me through the race.<br />
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". <br />
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.<br />
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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 <a href="http://shaneperrin.blogspot.com/2012/06/texas-water-safari-part-1.html" target="_blank">Texas Water Safari</a> 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.<br />
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 <a href="mailto:shaneperrin@gmail.com">shaneperrin@gmail.com</a>. 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. <br />
Some of the things I'll talk about: the people I met along the way:<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DO43C9jj5-Y/UUupbVoXg8I/AAAAAAAAAsw/dC_52St1xPU/s1600/suncoast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DO43C9jj5-Y/UUupbVoXg8I/AAAAAAAAAsw/dC_52St1xPU/s320/suncoast.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
Pre-race. JoJo and Joe at Suncoast Surf shop. A huge help. very cool shop<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wCYwMrASApI/UUuqeaS8chI/AAAAAAAAAs8/UJbepU1anYQ/s1600/dad+and+mam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wCYwMrASApI/UUuqeaS8chI/AAAAAAAAAs8/UJbepU1anYQ/s320/dad+and+mam.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
A surprise visit from My dad and Grandmother at Sanibel island<br />
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Paige with Hooked on SUP who manned the or "Womanned" checkpoint 1<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X6WNXGxsL2s/UUu4UCxZn6I/AAAAAAAAAtQ/kYJJjWuIihM/s1600/key11.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X6WNXGxsL2s/UUu4UCxZn6I/AAAAAAAAAtQ/kYJJjWuIihM/s320/key11.JPG" width="239" /></a></div>
The Journey<br />
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And Much Much More!<br />
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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<br />
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Shanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07647959321046367083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333513867374550124.post-79382521810892413522013-03-16T06:24:00.002-07:002013-03-16T06:24:55.585-07:00Florida Everglades Challenge Experience<div align="center">
<strong><u>Florida Everglades Challenge Experience</u></strong></div>
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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.</div>
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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. </div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5333513867374550124#editor/target=post;postID=7938252181089241352" target="_blank"> Florida everglades Challenge Interview</a></div>
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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.</div>
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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. </div>
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Leaving Marathon Key 3/10/13</div>
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Shanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07647959321046367083noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333513867374550124.post-67116773388206591812013-02-15T03:56:00.001-08:002013-02-15T03:56:02.836-08:00Expedition Update - Werner paddles<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><u>Werner Paddles Sponsors the Expedition!</u></strong></div>
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<u><strong>This is a Game changer!</strong></u><br />
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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, <a href="http://www.alpineshop.com/" target="_blank">The Alpine shop</a> 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 <a href="http://www.wernerpaddles.com/paddles/stand_up/performance_core/grand_prix_m1000/" target="_blank">Grand Prix Bent shaft</a>. It'll make your paddle feel like a heavy pig!</div>
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My first use of a Werner paddle came June 2012 at <a href="http://www.wernerpaddlesblog.com/blog/2012/06/shane-perrin-completes-texas-water-safari-on-sup-board.html" target="_blank">The Texas Water Safari</a>. A race that's 260 miles traversing 3 rivers and ending with a 5 mile bay crossing. Pure Hell! But I loved it. </div>
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The race start- Aquarena Springs</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8_3itGEO4ec/URt6mZ5vZ5I/AAAAAAAAAqY/keilolVjUqE/s1600/tws+start.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8_3itGEO4ec/URt6mZ5vZ5I/AAAAAAAAAqY/keilolVjUqE/s320/tws+start.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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Coming out of a low water bridge</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Wp6WsU8lmYQ/URt62Kk84vI/AAAAAAAAAqg/pyuwLXGeU8Y/s1600/wernersup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Wp6WsU8lmYQ/URt62Kk84vI/AAAAAAAAAqg/pyuwLXGeU8Y/s320/wernersup.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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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.</div>
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In my homeland, St. loius, MO</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Cjf-iJtZSIA/URt9ucK85xI/AAAAAAAAArA/_3yyPZMxrLw/s1600/Arch+werner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Cjf-iJtZSIA/URt9ucK85xI/AAAAAAAAArA/_3yyPZMxrLw/s320/Arch+werner.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Start of the MR340, check out the ergonimcally shaped shaft </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I_kY-g35ONk/URt99acWSHI/AAAAAAAAArI/RDDgG-tbIDQ/s1600/mask2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I_kY-g35ONk/URt99acWSHI/AAAAAAAAArI/RDDgG-tbIDQ/s320/mask2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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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.<br />
<br />
Still time to donate to the expedition<br />
<a href="http://www.gofundme.com/10-days-400-miles">http://www.gofundme.com/10-days-400-miles</a><br />
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Shanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07647959321046367083noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333513867374550124.post-11496507442885253162013-01-27T08:25:00.000-08:002013-01-27T08:38:49.794-08:00The backstory: A 10 year view from my wife<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a0VK1Mu-OoQ/UQVNdTVP2TI/AAAAAAAAAow/wkjHdD_m90A/s1600/001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a0VK1Mu-OoQ/UQVNdTVP2TI/AAAAAAAAAow/wkjHdD_m90A/s320/001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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-The day we met in 2001-</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS";"> 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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS";"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS";">February 2001<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS";">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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS";">Off to the doctor
he went.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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 <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>six </u></i></b>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS";">Upon his arrival
he checked in and began his work up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS";">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZRSr8EQPvn4/UQVNzCH_-5I/AAAAAAAAAo4/PWDfdb0haLQ/s1600/001+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZRSr8EQPvn4/UQVNzCH_-5I/AAAAAAAAAo4/PWDfdb0haLQ/s320/001+(2).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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-Us in Key West 2003- (yes, he had hair at one time)</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS";">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)). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xOVKnleB0mg/UQVUPrHARTI/AAAAAAAAAp4/EsljgAJtk9c/s1600/121103PerrinFamily432_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xOVKnleB0mg/UQVUPrHARTI/AAAAAAAAAp4/EsljgAJtk9c/s320/121103PerrinFamily432_3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qZ-55RljYEI/UQVQK_9HEiI/AAAAAAAAApY/r15E8yfsrx4/s1600/sup+article+011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS";">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!! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Help Shane to spread his
passion and his zeal for life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS";">Thank you,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS";">Elissa Perrin</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS";"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<div id="gfmwidget9920">
<a href="http://www.gofundme.com/">Crowdfunding</a></div>
<script type="text/javascript">var rand=Math.random ();var widgetproto = ("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https:" : "http:"; document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='"+widgetproto+"//funds.gofundme.com/index.php?route=widgets/typeb&d=9920&c=0&url=/10-days-400-miles&t=2&v="+rand+"' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));</script><br />Shanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07647959321046367083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333513867374550124.post-87795212983198630602013-01-26T10:33:00.000-08:002013-01-26T15:54:09.049-08:00Thank you to Supconnect for all their support<div align="center">
SupConnect</div>
<br />
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: <br />
<br />
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Click here: <a href="http://supconnect.mylocallineup.com/Sup-Journeys/live-supconnect-interview-with-shane-perrin.html" target="_blank"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">SupConnect</span></strong></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NT3TD7_Be0o/UQQhN7qFNqI/AAAAAAAAAoQ/69KvreUuUgs/s1600/leaving+cheapside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NT3TD7_Be0o/UQQhN7qFNqI/AAAAAAAAAoQ/69KvreUuUgs/s320/leaving+cheapside.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Pretty cool That they took it upon themselves to write the story and pull this unterview up from a little while back. </div>
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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. <a href="http://supconnect.mylocallineup.com/SUP-Other/sup-man-open-nomination-winners-the-final-begins.html" target="_blank"> OPEN ROUND WIN!</a></div>
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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. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Here's their <a href="http://supconnect.mylocallineup.com/SUP-Other/jamie-mitchell-is-supconnect-sup-man-of-the-year-2012.html" target="_blank">MENTION</a>, </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
"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."</div>
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Thanks SupConnect! <br />
And thanks for promoting the upcoming expedition: </div>
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</div>
<div id="gfmwidget9287">
<a href="http://www.gofundme.com/">Crowdfunding</a></div>
<script type="text/javascript">var rand=Math.random ();var widgetproto = ("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https:" : "http:"; document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='"+widgetproto+"//funds.gofundme.com/index.php?route=widgets/typeb&d=9287&c=0&url=/10-days-400-miles&t=2&v="+rand+"' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));</script><br />Shanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07647959321046367083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333513867374550124.post-63509108627984053742013-01-21T18:00:00.001-08:002013-01-25T03:35:36.829-08:00$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.<br />
<br />
<br />
You can become a sponsor here: <a href="http://www.gofundme.com/10-days-400-miles">http://www.gofundme.com/10-days-400-miles</a><br />
<b></b><br />
<strong>Abu Dhabi - </strong><br />
<strong>Jen Scully </strong>with <a href="http://www.livelovesup.com/">http://www.livelovesup.com/</a>#<br />
<br />
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</str>
<strong>Connecticut</strong><br />
<strong> Nick Sezenias, Kim Aubin ( The woman who donated her kidney to me)</strong>
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<img border="0" height="244" separator="separator" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qU8sAhBz3so/UP1d9TIDJvI/AAAAAAAAAi4/_h-K1YzbC9I/s320/shane%2Ban<div class=" style="clear: both; text-align: center;" />
</div>
<strong></strong><br />
<strong>Illinois:</strong><br />
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<strong>LaGenia Bailey</strong><br />
<img border="0" height="197" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W9JqaMzmubw/UP3uB5ONe4I/AAAAAAAAAl4/t1JbqPcQ568/s320/lg.jpg" width="320" />
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<strong></strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong>Florida:</strong></div>
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<strong>Melissa & Tim Jay, Corrective care chiropractic</strong><br />
</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x-haXp4xKqQ/UP1flLg67RI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/MgmeZrJpqpA/s1600/088.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x-haXp4xKqQ/UP1flLg67RI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/MgmeZrJpqpA/s320/088.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<b></b><br />
<b>Ohio-</b><br />
<strong>Bill Cochrane</strong>-owner of Nalu Sup and Surf
(on my left) and <strong>Brian Wilse </strong>(on my right),<br />
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<strong>Monica Opdycke, Phil Budowanec, Jill Jankowski</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HNxGLqRBjuw/UP1LPfubN6I/AAAAAAAAAiU/mppshSmCMIQ/s1600/bill%2526brian.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HNxGLqRBjuw/UP1LPfubN6I/AAAAAAAAAiU/mppshSmCMIQ/s320/bill%2526brian.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong></strong> </div>
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<strong></strong> </div>
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<strong></strong> </div>
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<strong> Maryland: </strong></div>
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<strong>Mac balatico</strong></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yPaqVaPE-rA/UP1gX679LwI/AAAAAAAAAjg/RJbLn2khS6A/s1600/mac.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yPaqVaPE-rA/UP1gX679LwI/AAAAAAAAAjg/RJbLn2khS6A/s320/mac.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<strong></strong> </div>
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<strong>Missouri:</strong><br />
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<strong></strong> </div>
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<strong>Gary Stokes, Andrew Goold, Sandy Habeck, Kelly "Hondo" Larkin, Chris Clinton, </strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<strong>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</strong></div>
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<strong>Minnesota:</strong><br />
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<strong>New York:</strong><strong>Erica hamilton</strong><br />
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<strong>Texas:</strong></div>
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<strong>Donna Cannon, Katie Schumacher, RIO SUP, Jason Black, Devin Gates, Donald Garcia, Bill siersdorfer, Lindsay Stillman, Carlos Mata, Mike Dey</strong><br />
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<strong>Washington:</strong><br />
<strong>Matt Myers</strong><br />
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<strong>Wisconsin:</strong><br />
<strong>David Schultz with Longboat kayak</strong><br />
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<strong>Unknown origins of Sponsors: anonymous, Jeff and Mistie Rhomberg, Lisa Applegate, Anne Nischke, Jeff Gibson, Joe Vohs, Craig May, Theresa Nicholson, anonymous</strong><br />
<strong>^ </strong>Email me if your name appears on this list so I can add you above</div>
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Shanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07647959321046367083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333513867374550124.post-18600856255801611592013-01-06T11:50:00.004-08:002013-01-14T18:30:52.289-08:00GoFundMe campaign kicks off January 15th!<div align="center">
<strong><u>GoFundMe campaign</u></strong></div>
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In less than 2 weeks I will start a fundraiser campaign that will allow you to be part of a 400 mile ocean expedition. I'll be paddling From Tampa, FL. to Key Largo in the Florida Everglades challenge. I'll have 8 days to cover the 300 mile distance of the race. Once completed I'll attempt to paddle on to make it to Key West. All with a time of 10 days. All to promote organ and tissue donation. </div>
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When the campaign goes live on January 15th, you will be able to become a sponsor of the project. As a sponsor you will receive daily video sent via email during the expedition</div>
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What you can do now to help is promote this video by copy and pasting the link below: <br />
<a href="http://www.gofundme.com/10-days-400-miles">http://www.gofundme.com/10-days-400-miles</a></div>
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to your facebook and twitter.</div>
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Thank you, from the crew</div>
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Michael, me, and Karen</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E6UScDqdgvk/UNe_DCdDNuI/AAAAAAAAAfI/LNYaYAh2WcI/s1600/340starts12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E6UScDqdgvk/UNe_DCdDNuI/AAAAAAAAAfI/LNYaYAh2WcI/s320/340starts12.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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About the race:<br />
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<strong>What does expedition-style mean?</strong> It means that you need to be self-sufficient and carry all the supplies and equipment that you would expect to carry on a major kayaking or sailing expedition. This is not a “round the buoys” race with an empty boat and someone watching out for your safety. <u>You are on your own.</u><br />
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The physical demands of the race, combined with sleep deprivation, heat, cold, water, dehydration, and exhaustion, often cause participants to become disoriented. Amnesia, hallucinations, hypothermia, and other debilitating conditions are not uncommon. Such effects can impair judgment, a condition especially dangerous for the solo paddler or sailor. </div>
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<div id= "gfmwidget5020"><a href="http://www.gofundme.com/">Crowdfunding</a></div><script type="text/javascript">var rand=Math.random ();var widgetproto = ("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https:" : "http:"; document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='"+widgetproto+"//funds.gofundme.com/index.php?route=widgets/typeb&d=5020&c=0&url=/10-days-400-miles&t=2&v="+rand+"' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));</script>
<div id= "gfmwidget5020"><a href="http://www.gofundme.com/">Crowdfunding</a></div><script type="text/javascript">var rand=Math.random ();var widgetproto = ("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https:" : "http:"; document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='"+widgetproto+"//funds.gofundme.com/index.php?route=widgets/typeb&d=5020&c=0&url=/10-days-400-miles&t=2&v="+rand+"' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));</script>Shanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07647959321046367083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333513867374550124.post-21238310244320082852012-12-23T19:19:00.000-08:002013-01-14T18:24:47.920-08:00400+ mile ocean expedition - March 2013<div align="center">
<strong><u>My 400 mile ocean expedition - March 2013</u></strong><br />
To promote organ and tissue donation</div>
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The idea for a 400+ mile ocean expedition started after finishing the <a href="http://www.supthemag.com/features/perrin-continues-to-push-the-boundaries-of-endurance-sup-racing/">Texas Water Safari</a> ,<br />
june 2012. During the TWS, as the Safari is called by those that have experienced it, I paddled some miles with a guy named Bill Siersdorfer. What I liked about this guy right away is that he races with an unconventional craft, like me. Bill uses a front rowing system where he's able to use his legs or arms to paddle with. Sort of like a rowing configuration.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uhuO_mWL_8Q/UNhcvtxkFwI/AAAAAAAAAhA/Y1g7fNtujHQ/s1600/day.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uhuO_mWL_8Q/UNhcvtxkFwI/AAAAAAAAAhA/Y1g7fNtujHQ/s320/day.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Me during the Texas Water Safari 2012</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W_gPrVHRJew/UNhfHwSObnI/AAAAAAAAAhc/sC5q9_gth_U/s1600/bill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W_gPrVHRJew/UNhfHwSObnI/AAAAAAAAAhc/sC5q9_gth_U/s320/bill.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Bill during the Texas Water Safari</div>
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Post race Bill and I kept communications through facebook. We talked about future races we were both doing and he mentioned he was thinking on the <a href="http://www.watertribe.com/events/evergladeschallenge/default.aspx">Florida Everglades Challenge</a>. It's a 300 mile self supported expedition race from Tampa (Fort Desoto) to Key Largo, Florida. </div>
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There are a few die hard canoe and kayak paddlers that enter, but predominantly it's raced by sail powered water craft. </div>
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Like the Texas Water Safari, I look at the toughest, most challenging races out there. The EC (everglades Challenge) will be my toughest yet. I have little knowledge of tide changes, currents, under tows, and channels of the ocean. Also mangroves, fingers, and navigation by gps and charts to deal with. The crazy part is, I've never paddled a SUP in the ocean! </div>
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To catch me up to speed I am relying heavily on a great friend, Dwayne Vanhoose. He's been a sailor and a paddler for many years. He once lived on a boat for some years! He's schooling me on ocean navigation, chart use, and gps use for the expedition. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GBY5VSs2AdY/UNfOcWV9uRI/AAAAAAAAAgk/MXxA9Xc87AU/s1600/dwayne.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GBY5VSs2AdY/UNfOcWV9uRI/AAAAAAAAAgk/MXxA9Xc87AU/s320/dwayne.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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From left: Dwayne's epic kayak, Dwayne Vanhoose, </div>
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Ben Mcnabb (ground for dwayne's 2012 MR340)</div>
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So the idea to enter a 300 mile self-supported ocean race is crazy enough. Yet, it gets better. No matter what the conditions, you get 8 days to finish! But I guess not enough for me. Once I've finished the race and made it to Key Largo, I'm planning to continue on and try to make it to Key West. I'm hoping for 400+ miles. The odds are stacked against me attacking a race of this magnitude, add in I'm trying to become the first person to complete this race on a stand up paddle board. </div>
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The biggest obstacle is I have limited time off from work. so far I have 7 days vacation. By race day I should have about 9 days off. The crew and I are leaving on February 28 after work and driving straight through to get in Tampa for the check-in by friday 5pm. Race day is Saturday march 2nd. So I'll have 10 days to cover 400+ miles before we have to drive home so I can get back to work.</div>
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I'll be relying heavily on my crew to drive through the night From St. Louis to Tampa and post race back from Key West to St. Louis. I'm fortunate enough to have the same crew from the <a href="http://www.supthemag.com/news/mr-340-340-miles-100-degree-heat-two-standup-paddlers/">MR340</a> helping for the Everglades challenge.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3Fm4Eik8puM/UNe8Eq83xgI/AAAAAAAAAes/GueEQFDGexE/s1600/crew.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> </div>
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My amazing crew for the 2012 MR340 and now for the 2013 Everglades expedition:</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W5w4Qb67Khs/UNfDS1__WYI/AAAAAAAAAfk/NUqHuhcKfF8/s1600/DSCN0536.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W5w4Qb67Khs/UNfDS1__WYI/AAAAAAAAAfk/NUqHuhcKfF8/s320/DSCN0536.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Michael "Rokos on the Rocks" Rokos </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8uF49qxOAu8/UNfH_GfSUYI/AAAAAAAAAgA/mHswjQ5kCKw/s1600/karen+paddle.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8uF49qxOAu8/UNfH_GfSUYI/AAAAAAAAAgA/mHswjQ5kCKw/s320/karen+paddle.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Karen "Amazonia" Schubert</div>
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For the last piece of the puzzle, I'll be relying on my family, friends, and <u>SUP</u>porters. I'll be doing a kick starter program to make it all happen (check out <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/">kickstarter</a> to get an idea how it works.) It allows people like you to be part of the expedition. By becoming backers of the expedition, you'll receive exclusive rewards from the expedition. Some rewards include daily videos from me during the expedition emailed to you, or full dvd of the expedition, or expedition T-shirts. A select few will receive my actual race shirts from the expedition. And there will be more.</div>
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This expedition will be used to raise awareness of organ and tissue donation. Having a kidney transplant in 2001 myself, I believe the easiest thing we can do is have that little box checked on our driver license that says "Organ Donor". Through the gift of organ donation, people like myself are given a second chance at life to achieve great things!</div>
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So for now, happy holidays. Be safe. </div>
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keep in mind that Mid-january the Kickstarter program starts and only lasts for 32 days to become part of this epic journey!</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dhfWC7i96B8/UNfIVzQAZBI/AAAAAAAAAgI/POpevVnJFGo/s1600/luke+tree.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dhfWC7i96B8/UNfIVzQAZBI/AAAAAAAAAgI/POpevVnJFGo/s320/luke+tree.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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That little yellow decoration standing at the base of the tree is my son Luke! Big tree.</div>
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Shanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07647959321046367083noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333513867374550124.post-38869242682738632852012-11-21T03:50:00.000-08:002012-11-21T03:50:25.334-08:00Wsupa SUP instructor certification<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Over the Weekend I flew down to Tampa, Fl. to stay with a friend of 16 years. It was great to catch up with him, but I flew to Tampa for a very specific purpose, to get my SUP Instructor certification from the <a href="http://www.wsupa.us/">WSUPA</a> (World Stand Up Paddling Association).<br />
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Why is this important? <br />
I've been doing stand up for 4 years now and been racing for 2. You'd think a guy like me knows what there is to know about SUP. Wrong! That's the beauty of the sport, you never stop learning. <br />
Master instructors <a href="http://www.star-board-sup.com/2012/team/profile.php?dan-gavere">Dan Gavere</a> and <a href="http://www.urbanoceansup.com/">Harmony Dawn</a> headed up the lesson. The day started at the <a href="http://www.thesaltyrim.com/">The Salty Rim</a> restaurant. Not open for business, but the back deck was open for eager SUP people. After sign in and basic knowledge such as SUP history, stroke, loading a board etc. (given by us the students), Dan began teaching dry land basics including stroke technique via an inflatable SUP on bosu balls.<br />
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Dan Teaching stroke work</div>
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After 2 hours of land knowledge we broke for lunch. Mmmmm fish tacos! A quick half hour later it was time to slather the sunscreen and suit up for the water portion of the class. We started with stroke work on the water and had to demonstrate we we know and have learned. I learned little tips in my technique that helped quite a bit. Small tweaks make a difference in teaching a client and demonstrating properly. "paddle to reflect your instruction". In other words, at all times you're with clients, demonstrate proper technique as your clients will watch you and copy what you do. If you use bad form while paddling, they'll see it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j728e0xF1iQ/UKMFsMdj4yI/AAAAAAAAAcA/OrG8J8vWTnU/s1600/Wsupa+class.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j728e0xF1iQ/UKMFsMdj4yI/AAAAAAAAAcA/OrG8J8vWTnU/s400/Wsupa+class.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ASI class in Treasure Island, FL 11/11/12<br />
From Left to Right<br />
Harmony, Bailey, Maddison, Marc, Glen, Me, Cubi, Prestcott, and Dan</td></tr>
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Towards the back end of the class we had a little race. Now it looks like i've jumped out ahead of everyone, but the truth is, there was some sabotage. Marc popped Bailey off her board with a paddle to the rails which caused a cluster of un-balance. I managed to finish way ahead of everyone and when I cam in I told Dan, That's my new race strategy, let everyone crash in the beginning and then I can win!</div>
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The purpose of the race was to explain to us that it's one thing to have good form while teaching. But it's a whole other to keep good form while going 100%. While teaching clients, make sure you slow down and explain and demonstrate at a speed that's easy to follow.<br />
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A nice shot on the water. We learned rescues to distressed paddlers using our boards to tow and push others.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RO1D4yrnRe8/UKMF9vZ2AaI/AAAAAAAAAcI/1I-t-9WmTUc/s1600/sup+class.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RO1D4yrnRe8/UKMF9vZ2AaI/AAAAAAAAAcI/1I-t-9WmTUc/s400/sup+class.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Post class Pic. We are all certified ASI instructors.<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Now, home in St. Louis, Mo. I am able to bring my new knowledge to my business </span><a href="http://www.supstlouis.com/"><span style="font-size: small;">Supstlouis</span></a>. <span style="font-size: small;">I am more confident in my abilities to instruct clients properly and feel thie certification offers alot. I am currently the only ASI certified instructors in the state of Missouri and proud to say that. Next I'm looking for further certifications from the ACA and once I've logged enough hours, I will get certified by the Wsupa with a level 2 cert. </span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xJuT_E4spf4/UKMGPuj33NI/AAAAAAAAAcQ/zDpQhBBtvVA/s1600/arch..JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xJuT_E4spf4/UKMGPuj33NI/AAAAAAAAAcQ/zDpQhBBtvVA/s320/arch..JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.supstlouis.com/"><span style="font-size: large;">Supstlouis</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">If you're ever in St. louis and want to get out on a board, just get a hold of me. I'd be happy to take you out whether on a lake for your first time, or the big river as pictured!</span></div>
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Shanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07647959321046367083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5333513867374550124.post-10111448974914720912012-09-19T17:47:00.000-07:002012-09-19T17:47:02.954-07:00DAY 4 – Thursday, August 2nd<br />
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<u>Chamois, MO</u><br />
<u>Not a checkpoint, but still 245 miles into the race</u><br />
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<span style="color: red;">View from the crew</span><br />
<span style="color: red;">As told by Karen:</span><br />
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It was a rough drive to this dot on the map (is it SHAM-mee or sham-WAH?). After dodging some backyard fixtures, we doubled back and found the access road. Upon arrival, we immediately went to sleep. I ended up somehow draped across the front seats with seat belt buckles poking me, and Michael slept in the grass again. At least he got smart and completely wrapped himself up before lying down so the bugs wouldn’t eat him up. It looked like a body bag on a hill. In any case, we only got a couple of hours of sleep again. <br />
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Shane had texted me at 3am that he was falling asleep on his board and was going to stop and sleep for a while. Dwayne hadn’t decided to stop there, but Joe did, so Madeline showed up after sunset (which was beautiful over the river). Eventually Shane made his way in, tired but in good spirits. He made requests for food for the next stop (always a good sign, none of the racers wanted to eat in the brutal heat), and I actually got him to do some personal hygiene. He brushed his teeth and took a shower—with soap! But then he put all his gross racing clothes back on. Sigh. It’s like a dog rolling in the dirt after you give him a bath. Can’t win them all, I guess. Elissa had sent a short video of the kids that I showed Shane, and I heard a few “awww”s out of him.'<br />
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"The vids and pics from my wife are what get me through races"<br />
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<span style="color: lime;">Shane:</span><br />
<span style="color: black;"> The window of every long race that is the toughest for me is between 2am to about 4:30 am. I literally have fallen asleep while paddling. When I start to dip to one side and my balance is off, I startle myself awakw then try not to fall off. This year, surprisingly I didn't fall off. Maybe I've gotten smarter. But after texting Karen I paddled about 5 minutes and found a sand bar and pulled the board up and on. I put on a windbreaker and pulled the hood on. The take my floppy Columbia hat and drop it on my face to shield from bugs. I took a short nap of about 15 minutes which is longet than my usual 8 minute nap. I was feeling pretty crappy on top of sleep deprived. The first night took alot out of me from being sick and basically peeing out my butt for hours. Then I couldn't eat for a few hours. I got behind on my hydration that nigh so I had to catch up through the next day.</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;">Karen:</span><br />
After Shane shoved off once more, Michael and I piddled around again, taking some more crazy pictures. Someone came by and asked if knew what the name of the city was about. Michael immediately came up with a story about John Chamois in the 1800’s, and how he made a towel out of a leather hide or something ridiculous, but he sounded really sincere and knowledgeable. Our jaws dropped. “Is that true?” the man asked. Michael started laughing, “No, I just made it up.” I think he could’ve gotten away with it if he hadn’t cracked a smile. We finished up and piled back into the car, bidding adieu to Madeline. Hermann, here we come!<br />
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<b>Hermann, MO Checkpoint 7</b><br />
<u>269 miles into the race</u><br />
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We knew we were getting close to being done when we made it to Hermann. It was a short trip down the river since we broke it up by stopping in Chamois. We stopped at a store to get the food Shane requested, then hit Hermann. Shane was closing in on the Hermann Checkpoint as told to us by His wife via text. It was drizzling now, thankfully cooling things off a bit (if the 90’s can be “cooled off”). I saved half my rib-eye sandwich, thinking Shane would like it. We were trying anything we could to make sure he was eating good solid food. When he did show up, the first thing I offered was the rib-eye, which he gobbled down. His feet were terribly sore. It had been a battle all race long. He had gotten some new shoes from the local Comumbia Shoe rep, Mark Panu, and hadn’t broken them in. His wide feet were rubbing along the edge of his shoes and the outside of his feet were extremely sore. We had tried icing, wearing flip-flops, anything and everything we could. But he was in a good mood since he found out Pau Hana, one of his sponsors, had released a trailer of a documentary about him and it was getting a lot of response already. <br />
<a href="http://youtu.be/8t9aREmRXqI">La Ruta Maya Trailer</a><br />
After eating, he decided to take an “eight-minute” nap. He went up on a bank and passed out, right there in the grass and dirt. Sure enough, eight minutes later, he gets up, refreshed.<br />
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We decide to break up the next leg of the race again and stop at another access point. After Shane leaves, we point Jane towards Washington, MO.<br />
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<span style="color: lime;">Shane:</span><br />
<span style="color: black;"> One thing that I've yet to figure out is footweat. The Columbia drain maker's I wore for this race were great, except they weren't wide enough and I didn't break them in. They tore my feet up terribly.</span><br />
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Being on my feet for so long, under my feet got rubbed raw and then later scabbed up. Then the rubbing of the toes ended with my toe nails falling off.<br />
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<b><u>Washington, MO Not a check point</u></b><br />
But 292 miles into the race<br />
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<span style="color: red;">Karen:</span><br />
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Washington may be one of the biggest non-checkpoints in the race, and a great place to stop on the second-to-last leg. The weather swung between being sunny and humid and being overcast and humid. Time dragged on. A larger motor boat (don’t know if it was an official spotter boat or not) pulled in from up the river and we asked if they had seen Shane—he’s not that hard to miss. “Oh yeah,” one of them said. “He was on a bank, totally passed out, then all of a sudden just popped up and got on his board and paddled.” I later got out my camera and showed the picture I took at Hermann of him lying in the dirt and grass. “Did he look like this?” I asked. They laughed, “Yup, that was him!” <br />
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<span style="color: lime;">Shane:</span><br />
<span style="color: black;"> At this point I was still in good spirits, but physically pretty beat up. The heat was 102-106 degrees each day. It really sucked the life out of me. I was told alot of people had dropped out due to the heat. I just dealt with it. Once a day I'd hit a point where my body just needed to shut down. I've learned through racing thet 8 minutes is my lucky time frame. After 8 minutes of laying in the dirt I'd jump up with the alarm and just get on the board and go.</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;">karen:</span><br />
AsShane was paddling up to the boat ramp. There was nowhere to really dock the boat without destroying the fin underneath, so Shane told Michael to take it to the dock nearby. “You want me to carry it?” “No, just paddle it over.” Didn’t have to ask Michael twice! His moment of glory: paddling the board 25 feet to the dock. Shane’s feet were still a mess, and we decided a new strategy. We took Michael’s foam pad, whicj he had been sleeping on, and folded it a few times, duct tapied it to the board so Shane could stand on it barefoot. Shane scarfed down half the sandwich, talking to Ben and some others there while I ran to the car at least four times. It seemed I didn’t have any of the things Shane needed and every time I went to the car, I always forgot something. Was I really this unprepared? Or are we just changing things on the fly? <br />
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<b><u>Klondike, MO The final checkpoint</u></b><br />
311 miles into the race<br />
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It was Thursday evening, and we could feel the end coming.<br />
Soon the time came for Shane to come in. Madeline had pulled in, and went down to the boat ramp with us. When I had asked Shane a few weeks earlier what to get at Walmart, one of his more sarcastic answers was “assless chaps”. I actually found a pair at the party store. I put them on, along with a cape, and the El Agua Escorpion luchador mask. Sure enough, when he pulled in, he burst out laughing. He nicknamed me “La Agua Pequena”—The Little Water. I guess that’s like a petite flower.<br />
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After 20 minutes at the checkpoint, I sent him off with the same battle cry I had given at every stop (except Waverly): “Rock the water!!!”<br />
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<span style="color: red;">Shane: </span><br />
<span style="color: black;"> Non-racers may not understand it, but racers do. When you pull into a checkpoint the best thing you could receive is not tangible. It's just seeing yor crew. For me, it's everything. Familiar faces and voices do heaps for me. It energizes me more than any food or drink. Just a few minutes with them gets me going.</span><br />
This year, the costumes karen wore just changed it all. I was laughing my butt off for hours after I'd leave a checkpoint. The costumes were inside jokes that most people didn't get. I think that's what made me laugh even more!<br />
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<u><b>Moving into DAY 5 – Friday, August 3rd</b></u><br />
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<b> <u>340 miles!</u></b><br />
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When we drove over to The finish, we found Jill (owner of <a href="http://www.piddle-paddle.com/">Piddle Paddle LLC</a>) had made it from KC to St. Charles to see the finish, a pleasant surprise we hadn’t known about. <br />
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Jill with Shane at an Earlier Checkpoint<br />
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The wait began. It was hard to see anything, but we were on pins and needles, eager to see Dwayne. I thought I saw him and started cheering him on, “Bring it home, Dwayne!” After a moment someone said, “I think that’s a rock.” Michael tested it out. “Marco!” He stopped and listened. No answer. Boy, was I embarrassed. Dwayne finally came around the last wingdyke and pulled in to our clapping and cheering. He officially was 17th, although at the time we thought he was 18th in men’s solo. Top 20! A HUGE accomplishment! Go Dwayne! He took a well-deserved shower and hung out with us on the beach, waiting for Shane and Joe and getting absolutely slap happy with Ben. <br />
Dwayne (grey Shirt) and Ben <br />
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We continued to wait. I had figured on roughly a 1:30am finish time for Shane, but starting seriously watching the shoreline for him at 1am. His time the year before was 1:39am, and he was hoping to beat it. However, factoring in the heat and the fact that the river was flowing slower than last year, we figured he blew away his time from last year, relatively speaking. Elissa texted that he was under the 364 bridge. We glued our eyes to the darkness, looking for lights to come down the river. Every time we saw one, our excitement soared, only to find out it was another kayak or canoe. Finally—FINALLY—we saw the lights that could only belong to a stand-up paddleboard. I got my phone turned on to video and we started cheering. We could faintly see the outline of him, paddling for all he was worth, finishing strong and trying to break his record. And then everyone saw it—the cape and the mask. Huge laughter from the bank. With a grand flourish, El Agua Escorpion ran off his board and onto the bank---then turned right around and went back into the water to grab his board which was floating away. He dragged it onto shore to applause and cheers. And his time: 1:41am. SOOOOO close! We were so incredibly proud of him. <br />
. We let Shane do the rounds while Michael and I loaded the board on top of the car and everything else into the car. Shane wandered over eventually and climbed in, lying on the backseat. Both boys fell asleep as soon as I turned onto I-270. I honestly don’t know how we got home, I was so tired. We finally made it to Shane’s house, throwing everything in the garage. Elissa came out and I showed her the finishing line video. Shane went in to bed, hoping to catch a few hours of sleep before work, and Michael and I left for home. I was a little more awake on the drive home, and collapsed into bed at 4:30am Friday morning. I woke up somewhere around noon later that day.<br />
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My first thought: “That was awesome! When do I get to do this again!” Then I took out my phone and looked through the pictures for the hundredth time. <br />
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My Awesome crew: Michael and Karen. A huge thanks to them for this one!<br />
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<span style="color: lime;">Shane:</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">The finish was a relief and a let down. I was happy to be back to normal life and to see my family soon, but sad I wasn't going ot be on my board the next morning. I missed beating my last year's time by 3 minutes. Considering the river was flowing half the rate as last year, I'll consider it progress.</span><br />
It was a tough race and a definate proving ground for ultra distance on a SUP. A proving ground I'd like to invite any other brave Stand Up Paddle boarder to try. Just let me know and I'll help in any way I can. <a href="mailto:shaneperrin@gmail.com">shaneperrin@gmail.com</a><br />
Check out rivermiles.com for more info. Registration starts January 1st.<br />
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I'd like to thank some folks for their hand in making me successful:<br />
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My wife and mother in-law Patti for all their support. They take care of the kids and hold down the fort while I'm training or racing.<br />
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Pau Hana <a href="http://pauhanasurfco.com/">http://pauhanasurfco.com/</a> for making a fast and sleek board in the 14' Crossfit!<br />
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Maui Jim: <a href="http://www.mauijim.com/">http://www.mauijim.com/</a> For their "canoes" style shades<br />
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Surfco Hawaii: <a href="http://www.surfcohawaii.com/">http://www.surfcohawaii.com/</a> For the rubberized proteck fins and ez plugs to hold gear to the board<br />
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SlickSup: <a href="http://slicksup.com/SlickS_UP/SlickS_UP.html">http://slicksup.com/SlickS_UP/SlickS_UP.html</a> For making an affordable and effective co-polymer wax that makes the board slick and faster <br />
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Radio Chum: <a href="http://distressedmullet.com/radio-chum-2/how-to-listen-to-radio-chum-the-worlds-first-247-stand-up-paddle-radio-station">http://distressedmullet.com/radio-chum-2/how-to-listen-to-radio-chum-the-worlds-first-247-stand-up-paddle-radio-station</a><br />
For 24/7 SUP news and cool musicShanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07647959321046367083noreply@blogger.com1