chicago shoreline marathon

[shapeshifter]

conditions look right for an attempt at the chicago shoreline marathon tomorrow saturday 08/28/2010... i'm getting ready to give this one a try.

our shoreline features of revetments, groins, and breakwaters make navigation tricky because waves bounce back and forth resonating chaotically. hopefully this will not be the case tomorrow.

[pdxmike]

Are you doing the whole long course, and on your board (versus OC)?  That looks like a challenge.  How are the winds?

In any case, that would be an amazing race.  The Chicago skyline just from land is one of the most amazing in the world.  It must be even better from the lake. 

[cjv141]

It is one of the best races in the country and it will be great to have a SUP there.   I'm doing it on a surfski, not ready for 25 miles of Lake paddling.

[shapeshifter]

great! good to see some other paddlers will be along for the ride. give us a holler if you're around.

was at leone beach this evening for the pre-race bbq shindig... met up with some old friends from when i did the two beach run in 2008. met up with someone who was going to attempt it on a full size amundsen (rental). was stoked to hear someone else was going to give it a go. told him he could use one of the bark 12'6" bop boards in the quiver, saving this old 16' bark carbon ultimate for myself. the officials were gracious enough to allow us to leave early so that we'd have a fighting chance at making the halfway point by the 12:30 pm cutoff time... doable otherwise but we'd have to beat ourselves up just to make the cut and still have to kill it for the finish. figured we might as well allow some time to save ourselves for the joy of finishing last!

practice runs looked promising. with the wind behind me and following seas, 5 mph was a breeze, if tomorrow gives us more of the same, we just may have two finishers tomorrow!!!

[stoneaxe]

Sweet!....have fun Alan....good luck.

[shapeshifter]

appreciate that bob!

talk about being in the mix... now i know how a strawberry feels like when the blender is set on frappe. don't know what i sas thinkin'? not taking into account that it was a saturday in rush hour... for boats!!! it was fun until we approached downtown at which point it was like riding a unicycle on the freeway. must've logged more vertical miles in ascent and descent than in forward motion. had to call it quits when it was too rough to remain on the board while kneeling. did 15 miles to north avenue. the other guy, chris, must have gone about 5 miles further before hopping on the safety boat.

wouldn't mind running that course in early spring or fall before or after all the boats are in the water.