Brandon Nelson

Archive for the 'Races & Events' Category

NW Ergomania: Indoor Rowing Championships

On Saturday, I ventured down to Seattle University for the NW Ergomania Indoor Rowing Championships. If you’ve ever tried a Concept 2 rowing “Ergometer” at your gym, that’s what I’m talking about.

These fitness (read: ‘voluntary torture’) machines can be calibrated in groups, synched up to a fleet of digital boats on a movie screen, and if it weren’t for the lack of salt-spray and seagulls overhead, you’d swear you were sculling for gold in the Summer Olympics!

My wife Heather and I added a Concept 2 rower to our quiver of training tools just before Christmas, when it was too icy cold to paddle a surfski. Over the past 6 weeks, I’ve grown to love the intense, full-body workout the machine delivers.

So when I heard there was an actual Ergometer rowing race in our backyard of Seattle, I was there. The NW Ergomania event has grown at a logorhithmic rate over the past few years, with this year drawing the biggest crowd ever. From freshman high schoolers to 70-year-olds and up, the sport draws a passionate and extremely fit crowd.

Over the course of the day’s races, my friend Dale McKinnon and I watched male and female athletes push themselves so hard as to literally collapse off their machines. We watched 71-year-old Luanne Mills break the world record for 2000 meters in her age group (one of two world record performances for the day, another occurring in the 20-29-year-old women’s race).

I raced in two events, the 30-39-year-old Men’s 2000 meter, and the Open Men’s 1000 meter. I credit a winter of weight-training, surfski and stand-up paddling, and the past six weeks of in-the-garage Erg training for my surprising (to me) victories in both events.

For access to my top secret “ninja race strategy” and other lessons learned, visit the story on our family adventure blog, Ultramarathonpaddling.com.

And treat yourself to the 43-second video of the start of Luanne Mills’ world record-breaking 2K race. Her form and strength are impeccable — a true thing of athletic beauty.

Ski to Sea Goes it Alone

For the past 3 Ski to Sea races here in Bellingham, Heather and I have served as Awards Chair-team, having the honor of presenting all the awards to the various division winners and Top Gun athletes from each sport. As someone who’s been to well over 100 different races over the years, I can tell you with no un-certainty that the Ski to Sea is truly a World Class event.

As many as 440 teams of 8 athletes cover approximately 90 miles of terrain on snow, land and water, from Mt. Baker to Bellingham Bay, while some 50,000 fans cheer them on. It is surreal in its awesomeness.

And for nearly 40 years, it’s been “owned” by the Bellingham Chamber of Commerce. The event itself has been orchestrated and executed by a team of 30-or-so passionate volunteer chairpersons, and literally hundreds of week-of and day-of volunteers. The Chamber has managed the financial components of the race. You can decide for yourself whether that arrangement caused some tension between the two groups.

But those days are over. After years of discussion and nearly a year of actual negotiation, the Ski to Sea has cut its ties to the Chamber and is now “owned” by a newly formed, non-profit entity called “Whatcom Events.” Whatcom Events was created by volunteer race director and RE/MAX agent Pete Coy primarily for the Ski to Sea, but also with the idea of bringing in other local events. Any profits generated will be channeled to committee-approved local charities.

Over the years, I’ve watched a number of events out-grow the capacity or spirit of their original founder or organizer and take on a life of their own. The Ski to Sea is perhaps the greatest example of this phenomena, and the “right thing to do” in my honest opinion, is always the same: “Get out of the way!” I am thrilled about this new development for the race. I have no doubt it will allow the Ski to Sea to bust out of its britches and become all it can be to the community in Whatcom County.

Best of luck, Ski to Sea. Congratulations on your new independance, and may you continue to grow and thrive forever!!!

Bellingham SUP Explores Deception Pass

It’s one of the most technically challenging pieces of water in Puget Sound. It’s situated  between Whidbey and Fidalgo Islands, flows like a river at up to 8+ knots, and is spanned by two steel arch bridges rising 180 feet off the water. It’s smack in the middle of the most visited State Park in all of Washington. And it’s known as Deception Pass!

This December, for the 4th year in a row, over 100 kayaks, outrigger canoes, surfskis, and because of today’s exploratory outing, now Stand Up Paddleboards (and “prone” paddleboards — the kind where you lay on your tummy or kneel and paddle with your hands) will line up and see who can make it from Bowman Bay, through the Pass and back to the beach the fastest!

Today was the exploratory outing to see if SUP’ing the Pass was feasible for the race. Heather and I and 7 other paddle boarders were joined by 10 safety sea kayakers for the 6-mile challenge. We feared conditions like last year’s race, which included head-high waves, heavy winds, near-freezing temperatures and an almost 50% racer drop-out rate!

What awaited us, though, was glassy calm water, blue skies, T-shirt friendly air temps and a specatacular day all around. Bellingham SUP racer Beau Whitehead set the pace and clocked a 1hr 14min finish time. It wasn’t a race, though, and the bulk of the group took their time, shot some photos, stayed together for safey and enjoyed the world class scenery in all its glory. It won’t necessarily mimic the conditions of race day in December, but it was enough to open the doors for SUP entry to the race — race day weather permitting!!!

IF YOU’RE A HIGHLY EXPERIENCED PADDLER and want to try the race, you can read more about it and sign up at the Outdoors Adventure Center website. If you’re not into mid-winter, extreme kayak racing but want to watch the intrepid souls who are, all from rock-solid grounds of the surrounding State Park, click HERE for plenty of info to get you there.

[View with PicLens]

Lake Padden Paddle for Food Relay

What: An all-paddlers-welcome relay race around Lake Padden, held to have fun AND gather food and cash donations for the Whatcom County Food Bank. (Teams are assembled by “judges” right before the start!)
Where: Lake Padden, Bellingham, WA. West parking lot…. look for all the boats and a growing mountain of canned food.
When: Saturday, October 17th, 2009, 10:00 a.m. start. Get there at 9 or so…
Who: Anyone who’s got a boat, a paddle, and some canned or boxed food as the “entry fee.”
Why: Read on… and check out the photos below…