Macs 9-Miler

I raced my first kayak race of the season on saturday. It was a horrible race, but a great training paddle. The course is officially known as the Tupper Lake 9-miler, but is really a 7.3 mile course on a narrow, but deep river. I'd estimate the current to be about 0.3-0.5 mph. Prior to the race, the race director told us to be mindful of some giant rocks and ledges just under the surface. His advice was to stay b/w the green and red buoys.

After a 10 minute warmup, I was ready to race. It was too difficult to get a 'front position' on the starting line so I had to line up behind a mass of boaters. Nevertheless, I moved from the second line to first position within 3 minutes. I was now on clean, "fast" water and was putting time b/w myself and second position (perhaps b/w 30 seconds and a minute per mile). As I neared the 3 mile mark, I was moving into the first of three boulder strewn channels, marked with about 15 sets of red/green buoys. Recalling what the race director had said, I positioned myself b/w the first set of red/green buoys hoping to stay away from the boulders. Nearing the 3rd set of buoys, I felt my kayak heave hard to one side - I HAD HIT A BOULDER. [the buoys had apparently moved due to high water]. I tried valiantly, using whitewater technique, to keep the boat upright, but in the end I failed. I was upside down. I now had to swim to shore, empty the boat and get underway.

As I was swimming to shore, I saw the lead pack pass me. I also felt devastated as I saw the second and third packs pass me - I was now 'dead -last' and still swimming. As I was making my way to shore I noticed a touring class paddler getting into his boat - I learned after the race that he had hit the same rock.

Once I got to shore, I met perhaps the nicest 'little old lady' - she was watching the race from her dock. She offered to let me use her dock and also offered to help. I appreciated the offer of help, but didn't really want it nor need it. I knew I could empty my boat of water much faster than 'we' could. She insisted on helping (she even offered me a 'cold drink - lemonade, water, & cookies, etc' .. lol ) and after what seemed like an eternity, I had returned to racing.

I paddled hard, telling myself that I could catch the leaders b/f the finish. After about 2 miles, I had passed the third pack. Another mile and I'd chased down the 2nd pack. It wasn't until I turned the final corner and was pointed towards the finish that I came within sight of the leaders AND the finish line. I 'sucked it up' and sprinted the final 0.5 mile. The lead pack had broken up as people sprinted for the finish ... in sum, I passed all but three kayakers from the lead pack. Two paddlers belonged to the 'masters' class, so I came away with second place hardware and a chance to set the course record another day. I also came away with a very good training day as I had a very fast second half; I worked much harder trying to catch up than I would have if I'd paddled out front. Results are posted here.