The 2nd Annual Stand 4 Something (SUP 4 Cancer) kicked off with 30+ mph winds, big swell, and strong currents in the Columbia River for 30 competitors on Sunday. The 8-mile downwinder started at Viento State Park and finished at the Hood River Event Site, with hundreds of windsurfers, kiters, and one large island in the middle. Check out Skyport Productions’ video of the race.
Competitors started standing in knee-deep water with their boards in lines of two and three. At the start, competitors jumped on their boards and took off. Leaders opted to follow the shoreline over riding the swell, hoping for the eddy push.
The Start of the race.
Karen Wrenn took the lead for most of the race until the last 1 1/2 mile stretch when racers had to make a risky decision of paddling the longer starboard side (inside shoreline) of Well’s Island or the more direct port side (in the Columbia River current) of the island. Karen took the outside, while co-leaders Doug Hopkins (Amundson SUP) and Mark Ribkoff took the inside of the island.
Mark Ribkoff, on what seems to be a solo session of the race in the beautiful Columbia Gorge.
Doug Hopkins takes a sneak back to check his lead.
At the finish line all competitors had to carry their boards about 10 feet up to a grassy area, then run up across the Full Sail finish line with their paddle. The SUP 4 Cancer finish was tight down to the hundredth of the second.
Mark Ribkoff and Karen Wrenn race it out for 2nd and 3rd at the SUP Endurance Race
Approaching the shoreline Doug Hopkins had the lead, Karen Wrenn was in 2nd, and Mark Ribkoff in 3rd place. A slight board fumble from Karen Wrenn when she came out of the water moved her into 3rd place as she and Mark ran up to the finish line. The finish was tight with Doug Hopkins coming in first at 1:26:07, Mark Ribkoff a close 1:27:05 and Karen Wrenn a snug 1:27:06 behind Mark.
The top 3 finishers
Complete Results:
Overall:
1st – Doug Hopkins, 1:26:47
2nd – Mark Ribkoff, 1:27:05
3rd – Karen Wrenn, 1:27:06
Men:
1st – Doug Hopkins, 1:26:47
2nd – Mark Ribkoff, 1:27:05
3rd – Rod Parmenter, 1:28
Women:
1st – Karen Wrenn, 1:27:06
2nd – Keely Kelleher 1:40:53
3rd – Victoria Hopkins 1:44:19
Overall Times:
1:26:47 – Doug Hopkins
1:27:05 – Mark Ribkoff
1:27:06 – Karen Wrenn
1:28 – Rod Parmenter
1:30:16 – Steve Gates
1:30:22 – Dave Hazenboom
1:40:40 – Cyril Burguiere
1:40:53 – Keely Kelleher
1:44:01 – Rick Graves
1:44:03 – Tom Hanny
1:44:19 – Victoria Hopkins
1:44:57 – John Wrenn
1:45:20 – Jeff Bigler
1:45:51 – Jeff Castleberry
1:46:06 – Glen Mulvey
1:46:11 – Rob Dies
1:48:00 – Heidi Ribkoff
1:49:08 – Becky Bishopp
1:54:58 – Tatiana Lensenn
1:59:15 – Lori Capra
2:02:46 – Kelly Watermeyer
2:06:27 – Pam Galvin
2:06:46 – Stacey Castleberry
2:15:35 – Audrey Davis
2:16:00 – Tee Wolf
2:16:25 – Kevin Francis
2:18:04 – Jessica Peterson
Paddle for life, survivorship July 11, 2010
The 2nd Annual Paddle 4 Cancer (SUP4C) will have its own dedicated day this year with a 7 mile Downwinder, Full Contact SUP contest, relay races, demos, clinics and more.
SUP Demos & Lessons!
This year,the SUP lessons & clinics will take place on Saturday, July 10 and the main races on Sunday, July 11. Come out and race for prizes, the cause or just to learn the fun watersport of standup paddlesurf (SUP)!
Registration 8-9:30 am: Hood River Waterfront Event Site in Hood River, Oregon. View Large Map of Hood River and waterfront area.
Launch 11 am: Viento State Park
SUP Distance Race : Open to two SUP craft categories:
SUP 13′ + CLASS:
- · Length – 14’ ft maximum (426.72 cm)
- · Board Weight – No Weight Restriction.
- · Fins shall be fixed in place.
- · Board Design is Open, multi hulls are not allowed.
- · Rudder(s) are not allowed.
- · Foil(s) are not allowed.
SUP 13′ and under CLASS:
- · Length - 13” ft maximum ( 381.0 cm )
- · Board Weight – No Weight Restriction.
- · Fins shall be fixed in place.
- · Board Design is Open, multi hulls are not allowed.
- · Rudder(s) are not allowed.
- · Foil(s) are not allowed.
Rider Categories:
Men
Women
The Course: Downwinder from Viento State Park. This is a 8-mile downwinder through strong current, chop and some of the biggest swell of the Columbia River to Nichols Boat Basin in Hood River. There are a couple of buoys in the middle and a possible obstacle course at some point along the course.
SUP Full Contact Race : is a fun and challenging contest of balance, strength, and determination! Braced with boxing gloves on the handle side of the paddle, racers paddle head to head in heats of 12 competitors, with the goal to knock others off their boards and into the water. The last competitor standing wins the title.
SUP 4×4 Relay Race : consists of 4 teams of four racers each, racing one lap from the Columbia River into the Nichols Boat Basin, back out into the Columbia in front of the Event Site, tagging their team mate for the relay.
Eligibility: Open to men and women at least 18 years of age.
SUP4C Schedule: Times may be subject to change so bookmark this page for updates!!
Friday, July 9th — Athlete pre-registration, athlete’s Fuel Feast, and Kickoff Party!
Saturday, July 10 — SUP Lessons by Amundson SUP and Big Winds.
Sunday, July 11th – SUP Demos by Jimmy Lewis SUP. Endurance Race, SUP Full Contact Race, 4×4 Relay Race
7:30-9:30 am: Registration
10:30 am: SUP Endurance Race start at Viento State Park
2 pm: Full Contact SUP Race
4 pm: 4×4 SUP Relay
6 pm: Awards
All Day: SUP Demos by Jimmy Lewis SUP at Nichol’s Boat Basin
Funds raised from Paddle 4 Cancer will benefit SUP/Kiteboarding Survivorship Camps for Young Adults with Cancer that our organization is starting in 2010.
Registration is OPEN!
Register as a fundraiser (minimum of $100 raised gets you in all SUP races)
Register to race only ($55 after July 1)
SUP4C Call for Art for City-wide Art Show in Hood River!
- Just before his cancer came back, my brother painted this for my birthday.
Paddle for Cancer and Kiteboard 4 Cancer invite artists of all mediums to submit entries for a city-wide exhibit in Hood River as part of our annual fundraiser.
Paddle 4 Cancer is dedicated to embracing the healing power of wind and water with the determination of the human spirit to benefit those affected by cancer through funding of advocacy, prevention, and survivorship programs. Paddlers race in an endurance race, relay race, and full contact SUP race on the mighty Columbia River to raise funds for the cause of cancer.
SUP4C 2010 is Saturday, July 10th and Sunday, July 11th, 2010. The art exhibit will take place in multiple venues throughout the Hood River area during the months of June and July.
Submission Guidelines: “The healing power of wind and water”
The piece(s) should incorporate some aspect of the exhibit theme: “The healing power of wind and water.”
- The exhibit is open to all 2-D media, from traditional to contemporary work, using a variety of techniques and imaginative interpretations.
Artists may enter up to 3 pieces of art for consideration. - Submit one JPEG per entry via e-mail to art@kb4c.org.
- Include the artist bio, description of works and retail sales price.
- Submission deadline is Monday, May 10th, 2010 at 6PM.
- Artists will be notified of acceptance results by Saturday, May 15th, 2010 via email.
- Accepted artwork must be exhibition-ready (Unframed art must have edges that are professional in appearance and staples cannot be visible. Hanging wire is required on all pieces) and delivered to the office of SUP4C in Hood River by Tuesday, May 25 (9am – 4pm).
- Individual delivery arrangements prior to this date may also be made, including arrangement possibilities in Portland, Oregon.
Exhibit dates and location: May 28-July 11, 2010, various venues throughout Hood River.
Art Sale Details:
- All work must be for sale.
- 40% of the sale price will be retained by Paddle 4 Cancer. Tax receipts will be made available.
- All (unsold) artwork must be picked up from Hood River on Sunday, July 11th between 4pm-7pm or Wednesday, July 13 between 9am-4pm, or alternative arrangements made to pick up in Portland, Oregon the weekend of July 17.
- The artist agrees that images of artwork may be used in publicity materials.
For additional information contact SUP4C’s sister organization, Kiteboarding 4 Cancer at art@kb4c.org or www.kb4c.org.
- One of Scott’s many masterpieces created while at Children’s.
SUP4C adds own program with Young Adult Survivorship Camps
Paddle 4 Cancer is in the planning phase of hosting our own Survivorship camps for young adult (ages 18-40) cancer survivors. These camps aim to foster self-confidence and strengthen survivorship through kiteboarding, standup paddling, and other outdoor adventure skills.
SUP4C’s survivor camps will take campers on an experience of a lifetime that will both challenge and inspire each person involved. With a team of professional kiteboarding instructors and experienced watermen and women, we will safely embrace some of the great powers of nature — wind, swell, and water — to overcome any physical or pschological limitations one may think they have.
- KB4C Joins Team First Descent in 2009 for some SUP-ing
Camps will run for 6 days, and will take place in locations that can accommodate a safe learning environment while offering some variety in recreational and cultural activities. And most of all, make it FUN!
If you are interested in helping us put on these camps, we would love to hear from you. We are looking for locations and accommodations that are on or near the water, maybe a camp or cabins setup, with safe access to the beach. We are open to locations in North America at this time. In addition, we are looking for volunteers for the following positions:
- Oncology team for medical application process
- Medical staff volunteers
- Lead kiteboarding instructors, Level 2 +
- Level 1 + certified kiteboarding instructors
- SUP instructors
- Camp volunteer EMTs
- Camp volunteers
- Cooks and assistant cooks
- Logistics coordinators (drivers, shufflers, gear managers)
We are also seeking monetary and service donations. For more information and to get involved, please email tonia@kb4c.org.
An inspiring post from Skate 4 Cancer New Zealand…
I’m on the tweet highway with Skate 4 Cancer and I have to say, I love this org! Based out of Ontario Canada, their mission lends to awareness, and prevention that each of us can control through healthy living and knowledge! They represent something so close to what KB4C represents… I love Rob Dyer’s genuine, honest passion to express the struggle that those with cancer must battle every day. I’m inspired by their latest post while on their latest tour in New Zealand/Australia, which I’ve included below. This is just another reminder that cancer is global and we all share the same struggles and hurdles to overcome it.
Chapter 6: The Joy of Struggle
It’s funny. When I first explained to people what I would be participating in this year, the majority of them were skeptical at best. Some outright ignored me when I presented the idea of going with the S4C team to skate across New Zealand and then Australia. Upon arrival to NZ, the locals essentially dismissed the possibility based on the road conditions and frequency of mountains. My Mom was especially stressed with the idea of trucks hitting us and serial killers being magnetically drawn to wherever we slept.
The criticisms were vast, the practical suggestions even more abundant. Doubt was tangible, an energy that was omnipresent and unwavering. This couldn’t be done. And if it could, it certainly shouldn’t be done.
Fast-forward two weeks (this is where it gets funny). Fourteen days into the skate and the only e-mails we get are positive. The calls we receive force us to hold phones away from our ears as the stoked callers blast out encouragement. Doubt is no longer a thing. It has been replaced with certainty.
One of the things we do here with Skate4Cancer is try to assure people. Sure some ideas require struggle, sometimes to the point where their success seems almost unimaginable. But those are the things that must be pursued with that much more vigour. We have to be relentless; we have to expand the notion of what can be done.
The energy it takes to skateboard across a country, or two, or even four is massive. Most wouldn’t want to even if they could overcome their cynicism. But if someone champs through it, they prove the possibility of accomplishment. And as soon as that precedent is set a floodgate is opened through which endless achievement can rush with white-water intensity.
Cancer can’t be cured? Really? We beg to differ, because we know that anything can be done with enough commitment to absurdity. Listen. If you get stupid and try doing the impossible, what’s the worst that can happen? Even sweeter, what’s the best that can happen?
Hopefully your goals are achieved, but the true success is in the means, the struggle. And if anyone tells you different, let their pessimism fuel you. As Cartel wisely put it: They say we’re wasting our lives. But at least we know that if we die, we lived with passion.
Burn bright.
Daniel + The S4C Team
Children’s Healing Art Project Donation Program Report!
Ok, not sure if that title makes sense, but that’s really what this is… a program report from CHAP from all of your donations! This is the quick and dirty version — I’ll have a complete progress report up in a few days.
If you don’t already know what CHAP does, here’s the scoop: CHAP brings the healing power of art to those children (and their parents and siblings) in crisis with cancer. You saw them at KB4C – they are the most visible ones on the beach! As if there wasn’t enough color on the beach and on the water with 200 kites, CHAP brought the painted car and a full staff of artists, kids, and tons of tarp, paint, and art attire!
- I love this! She’s painting her feet! Why didn’t I think of that? So much easier than a paintbrush!
CHAP projects are helping to fill the voids in life that cancer often results from.
CHAP projects educate the public regarding what it is like for a child to go through cancer treatment.
CHAP gives people a way to be heroes, by supporting their work.
Cancer results in hair loss – CHAP comes to the rescue with Power Helmets.
- A KB4C athlete recruits a CHAP artist to help decorate his board for the Slider 4 Cancer contest.
Cancer results in fear and uncertainty – CHAP responds with Bacon Boy, a kid who believed he could not only beat cancer, but also help save others from cancer too. CHAP brings B-Boy’s message of hope to the children by helping more kids create their own cartoon characters to help them understand their thoughts and feelings about cancer.
The $24,000 donation from the John Wayne Cancer Foundation and KB4C funded part of the 3,000 hours of CHAP art services for child cancer patients! Thank you JWCF and to all the donors at this year’s KB4C for making this enormous difference in these kids’ lives.
- Kids at the CHAP studio in downtown Portland
2009 Kiteboarding 4 Cancer Raises $63,000 and Cancer Awareness
Just when we thought KB4C couldn’t get any better, it did. Participants pumped up their kites and the clouds parted as 125 kiteboarders and about 20 standup paddlers took to the windy conditions and swell-blanketed waters of the Columbia for the 3rd annual event. Through athlete fundraising, silent and live auctions, a raffle, and beer and food sales, participants raised over $58,000 for cancer programs: Celilo Cancer Center, The Next Door Inc., Children’s Healing Art Project, John Wayne Cancer Foundation, and Children’s Hospital Seattle.
Thank you to our sponsors…
John Wayne Cancer Foundation, Dakine, Liquid Force Kiteboarding, Amundson Designs, Transcend Apparel, 2nd Wind Sports, Gorge Performance, Windance, Mystic, Oregon Screen Impressions, NSI, Real Watersports, Best Kiteboarding, Elemental Herbs, Full Sail Brewing, Apple Valley BBQ, Express Color, Progression, Ben Wilson Surf, Gorge Delights, Water from the Hood, Cascade Kiteboarding, Spleen, Slingshot, SDS Lumber, The Slider Project, South Bank Kitchen, Big Pappa’s, Gorge Catering, Freelance Imaging, and GoPro.
And Silent Auction donors…
COR Cellars, Palapas Ventana, Urban Flora, ikitesurf, Twiggs, Discover Bicycles, Lexx’s Auto Detailing, White Mountain Wellness, Zella’s Shoes & Fashion, Windance, Cascade Eye Center, Naked Winery, Slingshot, Hanna’s Great Dog Store, Native Eyewear, Apple Valley BBQ, Walmart, Les Schwab, Progression, Promotion, The Next Door Inc., KeriWear, Living Green, Garret Zallen, Cookshack Smokers, Jerry Tomasek, Henry Rico, Quenett Winery, Columbia Laser Skin Center, Ben Wilson Surf, Cascade Accupuncture, Skull Candy, Brian’s Windsurfing/Kiteboarding, Big Pappas, Celilo Cancer Center.
Setting up in the morning before the start.
Photo by Henry Rico
Painting cars and tarp at Children’s Healing Art Project tent.
Photo: Colby Otero
Children’s Healing Art Project crew. Photo by Henry Rico
Cynthia “Cynbad” Brown proudly wears her “Stop Cancer” shorts
1st Place Fundraiser Jason Wynn. Riding for Irv Stein. Photo by Colby Otero
The Eyes of Cancer. Art by Nathan Hannah. Photo by Henry Rico
Photo by Colby Otero
SUP Endurance Racers charge downwind at the start of the race.
Portland Band Mere Mention on stage. Photo by Henry Rico
Dylan Thompson on the Slider. Photo by Henry Rico
Irv Stein, Cancer Survivor and 2nd place winner of 2008 KB4C, with son, Ari.
Lots of love at Kiteboarding 4 Cancer
SUP Endurance Race Winners Doug, Ozzie, and Craig
The organizers of KB4C and SUP4C.
How much are you willing to donate for a “Frankatini?”
The top fundraisers show off their prizes.
Top 3 Kite Endurance Race Winners: Carl Davidson, Grom, Alex Bloechinger
