CGT race apr 2016 low rez from James Douglass on Vimeo.
Race: The 9th and final race of the CGT Kayaks and Paddleboards Winter Time Trials series.
Date it happened: 24 April 2016
Location: The Imperial River at Riverside Park in Bonita Springs, Florida
Distance: 5.1 km
Conditions: High, smooth water with a moderate downriver current. Warm and sunny but not killer hot.
Participants: I skipped this race because I had to get to an appointment later in the morning. But I had just enough time to stop by and film the other racers. (See video above.) A few others of the usual crew, including Murray Hunkin and Mark Hourigan, also had to miss it. But most of the CGT race team/tribe were there, along with some new folks.
Results: Mark Athanacio won race #9 with ease in 33:29, bringing his series average time to 34:05. If not for the time in February that he raced with the flu his average would be 33.something. My average time 33:38 wins me the series (whoopee!) but not by a lot. Second place man was Justin DiGiorgio, who got a solid personal best time of 35:36. Third place was Matt Kearney in 36:53. First place woman Kate Pagan blazed to an incredible personal best time of 36:58, more than a minute faster than the previous fastest womens' time. Kate has been training hard with Mark Athanacio on the water and in the gym, and it's showing in her speed and attitude. She has also switched to a sleek 12'6 x 22" 2016 model Riviera RP raceboard, which seems to be a great match for her. Second place woman Meg Bosi had a solid performance, tieing her personal best time of 38:56 on her 12'6 x 24" Hovie Comet. Beth Schadd, riding a 12'6 x 26" BlkBox UNO, got 3rd with a very respectable 40:44. (Beth is a super fast runner and is going to be tough competition in a combo 5k RUN / 5 k SUP race coming up May 21st in Sarasota.) The full results for CGT race #9 and the series as a whole are on the CGT Time Trials page.
Other race intrigues: There were a lot of great "grand finale" performances in this race. Joe Gladieux took big chunks off his previous personal best time to get 42:14, which was almost 10 minutes faster than his time in the first race of the series. Practice pays off! John Weinberg beat his best by more than a minute and entered the category of "serious sub-40 minute" racers by getting 39:08. Donna Catron also showed steady improvement, dropping another 43 seconds off her previous personal best time to get 43:38. Heather Olson, who says she's just doing it for fun was looking a little more seriously competitive with a quick 45:52 time on a 24" wide raceboard. Not to be outdone, Heather's friend big-haired David Eisenberg pushed his 10'6 surf-style SUP to its limits and got 45:31. It'll be interesting to see what he can do when puts in that kind of effort on a raceboard.
David Eisenberg warms up.
What's Next: I'm getting nervous already for the Key West Classic (12 mile long race all the way around the island of Key West) this Saturday, April 30th. From the CGT race team we'll be representing with Devin Turetzkin, Matt Kearney, Murray Hunkin, Saralane Harrer, and myself.
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