Race Recap: 2021 Chesapeake Stand Up Challenge
The Chesapeake Stand Up Challenge is always one of our favorite races of the season. It never fails to live up to its name with wind, boat chop, and busy waterways keeping everyone on their toes. But that’s definitely not why we love this race. Every year, the guys at East of Maui Annapolis plan and execute a thoughtful, fun event and this race and its after party truly embody the stoke and spirit of the paddling community. Here’s our recap.
Meredith’s Race
I chose the 3.5 mile course since this is only my second race of the season. My biggest takeaway from the race is that not only do I have some work to do to get back into physical race shape, but I’ve got to put in some legwork to get back into mental shape too. You really need both to get through a race as painlessly as possible.
I didn’t think conditions were as rough as we’ve seen in some years past, but nonetheless, it was a challenge. About halfway through my race I knew I wasn’t going to be able to catch the powerhouse women in the top three spots, so my goal became keeping me fourth place position. By the turnaround buoy I was pretty tired and sore, and we had wind and tide to battle on the way back. That’s when I started letting the voices in my head take over.
“Do I even care where I finish in this race?”
“If I slow down, the person behind me is speeding up. I gotta keep going!”
“Oh hey, there are my friends on their boards spectating. Should I just bail and go paddle with them?”
"This pain is really only temporary. I’m going to recover so quickly and then be mad that I didn’t try harder.”
“I feel like puking. Why do I feel so awful?!”
My thoughts were all over the map. Luckily, the negative ones didn’t win over and I was able to finish my race and keep that fourth place spot. And bonus: I only fell off my board once because of chop (a big improvement from my last race). Bottom line: These races are meant to be fun, so be nice to yourself and say some nice things to yourself no matter how you feel on that race course. I know I’ll be practicing more of this after this race.
Scott’s Race
After my performance at my last race, I decided to step up to the 7 mile course. I feel that if you’re regularly winning your races, it’s time to let others experience the podium, and one way to do that is to step up to a new challenge. The long course is what I’ve always raced in years past, but with so few races under my belt in the last two years, it was a definite challenge this time around. About halfway through I sustained a minor quad injury that left me pretty incapacitated in the conditions. I ended up paddling most of the second half of the course on my knees and asked the race director to DQ me. If you know me, then you know how unusual that is and how seriously bummed I was. But, I ran into some friends paddling and ended up chit-chatting with them on the way back to the finish line and that really helped my mindset. That plus the overall vibes of this race reminded me what these recreational races are really all about. My takeaway: Never take yourself too seriously in these races. They’re the perfect example of what the sport is all about and we should be embracing the experience and growing this awesome community.
Big thanks again to East of Maui Annapolis for planning this stellar event, which was so missed last year during the pandemic. Did you race? Any lessons learned from your experience? See you at the next race!
