Well, a couple of sentences actually, and a photo.The new June issue of SeaKayaker Magazine has a feature article titled "A Lap Around the State". This is Warren Richey's (SharkChow) article of his Watertribe Ultimate Florida Challenge (UFC) race held last March 2006.
The UFC was a 1200 mile circumnavigation of Florida, including a 90 mile upriver paddle on the St Mary's River, and a 40 mile portage to the Suwanee River in order to cross over the state at the Florida Georgia border. The 1200 miles must be completed within 30 days, requiring an average of 40 miles per day of travel.
Warren won the race in 19 days, 6 hours, and 48 minutes. And race it was for the top 3 finishers who all came in within 5 hours of each other. The next 2 racers came in a week later, the remaining 2 finished 3 days after that (taking the full 30 days). I was one of these last finishers.
This article about Warren's race, sprinkled with a few adventures experienced by the other challengers (including my encounter with a Manatee) is a great read and really captures the essence of what the UFC was about, and what all WaterTribe events are about.
I am extremely proud to have been one of the 10 challengers, and 7 finishers of this race. Certainly an adventure of a lifetime, though not one that is just completed and then forgotten. This past March, 6 of the 10 UFC challengers, including Warren and myself participated in the 300 mile, 7 day, WaterTribe Everglades Challenge, Warren's and my 4th Watertribe event. In fact, all of the 10 UFC challengers were Watertribe alumni who had previously completed many previous Watertribe events. Once experienced, these challenges become an adventure in your life that you crave every year. The 2008, 1200 mile UFC already has 8 registered challengers, 5 of them repeaters. I'm still thinking about it.
Watertribe challenges are an incredible adventure and personal challenge for any paddling or small sailboat enthusiast. My UFC experiences are documented on my challenge website, which eventually became this blog. The March 2006 postings on this blog contain almost daily UFC race reports from my husband (March 2007 contain race reports of this years EC). Other earlier postings contain information on my training and preparation for the challenge, including my daily UFC training log.
There are still many short clip videos and slide shows (set to music) of the 2006 EC and UFC available for viewing on the WaterTribe Viewer. Enjoy.
3 comments:
One minute of fame and a lifetime of glory!!
Actually several month of training, 30 days of hard slogging, one minute of fame and then it's a lifetime of glory, plus added bits each time something, like the article, remainds you of your accomplishment! Sounds like the life worth living to me! I'm looking forward to reading SeaKayaker!
What you have accomplished will never be duplicated again with the proposed rules change for the UFC 2008 by any competitor or any woman for that matter. Another notch in your paddle!! you're paddling resume is looking pretty damn good from where I am sitting.
Post a Comment