Stroke the Slough 2013

Sunday July 16th we woke to a perfect summer day in the pacific northwest and great weather for the Sammamish Slough Stroke the Slough SUP race.  After the Urban Surf event on Saturday I was looking forward to another great SUP event.  I decided I would ride my bike to the event so that I could pace the racers along the slough.  It almost finished before it started for me as trouble with one of my peddles caused my back to complain and once on the bike it complained even more.  I turned round to head home but could not miss the event so I took a gamble that the back would loosen up on the ride to the event.  It did and the game was on.

The event was a race and a recreational event organized by http://stroketheslough.com.  In this blog I will summarize the race with lots of pictures of the whole event on my photo gallery @ http://shuttermack.smugmug.com.

Starting at Luke Mc Redmond Park all the participants got together for the pre race briefing.

After the briefing the Elite racers headed down to the start line gathering in the water in anticipation of the pending start.

 

 

 

The race started and the group powered away from the line heading out past the Redhook Brewery on to Wilmot Gateway turning point followed by the final up stream push to the finish line at Redhook.

The leaders set a blistering pace right off the start line stringing out the field as they powered down the river.

At the first bridge of the race a leading group had firmly asserted themselves matching each other stroke for stroke.

 

As they past the wineries on the way to Redhook two leaders pulled away from the pack stamping their authority on the race.

At the Wilmot Gateway turnaround the two leaders where neck and neck but out of the turn there was a decisive attack at the very start of the up stream section to the finish creating a 3 board length gap.

The leader powered home leaving clear water behind as he won the race. 

 

After the event the hosts put on an after party for all the participants and I am sure a great time was had by all.  As a non participant and having afternoon plans I could not stick around. I enjoyed my ride back to Marymoor park  When I got back to the car and looked in the mirror I found that a piece of blueberry from breakfast had stuck fast in my braces.  With all the cheering and riding it made a mess of my mouth, it must have been a right sight for all the people who saw me, lol.  It was great to see everyone having such a good time at such a well organized event, and me I had a wonderful afternoon at a BBQ and enjoyed the sun.

Here is a taste of over 814 pictures you can find in the full gallery - enjoy