Sugar Creek was a bit on the low side Saturday, but that just made it more entertaining – and you couldn’t have asked for a much nicer day. It was just a touch cool – the way you want it for racing. I opted to run the 4 mile short race (shoulder preservation), now called the “Stwalley Short” in honor of Bob Stwalley who founded this race (I think – I know he ran it ever since the dinosaur era!) Bob had originally planned to paddle Sugar Creek this year, but a somewhat recent surgery compromised those plans as his doctor told him not to paddle for a couple months. And Bob said he was going to fully follow his doc’s recommendations. But he was there to launch the race with a bullhorn!
I raced with friend Craig Schaffer in C2, while his wife Lori raced kayak. Terry Pontius also joined us in his C1, along with a few recreational folks. Not too much drama for us on our short race; we did have to read the water, as there were lots of rocks and shallows, and for the most part we did okay. We did bounce off a rock or two, and ground out in shallows at one point, but we stayed dry. Or almost. Coming up to a sharp bend with an overhanging tree, we watched as a father and son in a recreational canoe (not our group) overturned and had the boat, shoes, and paddle start drifting down the river away from them. So we pulled over, and I waded out to get their canoe, while Lori grabbed their paddle and Craig grabbed their shoes. We got them all set as Terry came along to also give them a bit of help getting going. I believe this was their first time in a canoe. Beyond that it was pretty scenery and a fun paddle!
As we got near the short race takeout, along came the long race group, with Tom Thomas in the lead and Jon Henderson hot on his trail. Tom told me recently that he was heartbroken that he wouldn’t be able to paddle Sugar Creek this year due to shoulder issues; apparently the draw was too much. I’m not sure much in this life would keep Tom away from Sugar Creek; certainly messing up his shoulder didn’t! But alas, Tom wasn’t able to hold off Jon for the win. Jon apparently went down Sugar Creek in my old SEL the same way I used to: with 3 “unplanned” and two “planned” boat departures (these last two were to portage the boat across shallows; the first were from hitting rocks). He apparently put on a heck of a race, as he still managed to squeeze out a win by 44 seconds. Looks like it must have been quite a race for first, as Jon, Tom, and Skeet all came in within less than a minute between Jon and Skeet! Larry, Matt, Kyle, and Vicki followed in that order, and all surprisingly close for such a long and challenging race. Someone named Kevin came in substantially later; I’m not sure who he was, but I suspect he must have been paddling a recreational kayak. At any rate, finishing this race is a worthwhile accomplishment in and of itself!
Many thanks to Cindy Woodall and the Friends of Sugar Creek for putting on an excellent race! Not to mention having hamburgers and hotdogs available, plus hats, shirts, and other swag for the racers. They really went all-out to do a wonderful job!
Results below.
Steve
4 mile Race: “Stwalley Short”
1st. Aaron Craven and Tracy Mobley 47 min 14 sec
2nd Steven Horney and Craig Schaffer 49 min 12 sec
3rd Terry Pontius 49 min 45 sec
4th Michelle Redmom 58 min 20 sec
5th Logan McCandless 58 min 52 sec
6th Carla McCandless 59 min 30 sec
And Lori Schaffer paddled for practice and to honor Bob Stwalley (she was also first overall)
15 mile Race
1st Jon Henderson 2 hr 34 min 34 sec
2nd Tom Thomas 2 hr 35 min 18 sec
3rd Skeet Craig 2hr 35 min 30 sec
4th Larry Swift 2 hr 40 min 17 sec
5th Matt Conrad 2 hr 44 min 58 sec
6th Kyle Willis 2 hr 49 min 35 sec
7th Vicki Tillotson 3 hr 12 min 26 sec
8th Kevin Condreay 4 hr 38 sec
