The Sound Rowers Bainbridge Island Marathon race is one in which only the strongest rowers and paddlers participate. Heading around Bainbridge Island, located on the west side of Puget Sound, against tidal currents, winds and whatnot for a distance of some 26 miles certainly makes for an exhausting workout!
That is why this year I decided to do the Half Marathon instead. Ok, I also planned to return home relatively early to relieve the baby sitter, which was the excuse I gave everyone who asked since I had done the entire marathon several times in years past.
The forecast for Saturday was light rains or showers in the morning turning to partly cloudy in the afternoon. Highs were to be in the low to mid 60's, and winds were out of the SW at 10 to 25 mph. 25 mph?! That would mean the water would be just a little rough since Bainbridge is longer in the north-south direction, with somewhat of the shape of a pear. However, it could also mean I'd have a good, strong tailwind for much of the half marathon since it starts at Fort Ward State Park at the south side of the island and ends near the northern tip at Fay Bainbridge State Park.
In order to leave my house at shortly after 7:15 AM in order to make the 7:55 AM departure of the ferry to Bainbridge Island, I had left my Cadence strapped to the roof of my car. It had rained a little overnight, but that wouldn't be a problem for a boat. The one problem I did have, however, was that the waterproof housing for the digital camera had still not arrived from the distributor. Topping that off was that I couldn't seem to find the home made housing I used for the San Juan Challenge two weeks before! Hopefully there would be someone at the race who would be willing to snap some photos while I was on the water.
En route to the ferry terminal I listened to weather radio over the VHF. "Wind waves 2 to 4 feet" was the report, with the forecast for somewhat less as the day progressed. This should be interesting.
Waiting in line for the ferry I found Traci, the web mistress for the Sound Rowers. She hammed it up a bit for some photos and showed off her Miata convertible with its new roof rack. In line were a couple of other folks I recognized, but there were nowhere near the numbers I would have seen for less strenuous races.
The ferry ride over to Bainbridge was pretty smooth. The waves were in the range reported with some whitecaps here and there. The water seemed to get quite a bit calmer close to shore, with Blakely Rock seeming to be on the dividing line between calm and rough.
Once at the island we drove as in a caravan down the highway to Fay Bainbridge.
After helping Steve, the race director, unload his truck I registered and received boat number 1 (one). It pays to carry a pen sometimes! After taping a few signs to the tables I ambled around taking shots of the beach and the marathon racers making their preparations. It felt rather strange to not be getting ready along with them.
Steve said the half marathon race was scheduled to start two hours after the marathon departed. This would give the marathon people time to meet the half marathoners and have everyone finish at about the same time. Unfortunately this also meant that I would not be relieving the baby sitter any earlier. Rats!
Deb was there with her Maas Aero. Since she had successfully completed the entire San Juan Challenge two weeks earlier and had completed this marathon in previous years she had planned to do the full marathon again this year. When she saw the conditions and heard I was only doing the half marathon she changed her mind, though somewhat reluctantly.
A gentleman who runs a kayak rental store near Eagle Harbor (where the ferry terminal for the island is located) offered the use of his truck and boat trailer to haul the half marathoners and their boats to Fort Ward. Seven of us took him up on his offer and began loading things.
While undoing the straps for my boat I noticed that quite a bit of water was sitting in the cockpit. In fact, even the seat was under water! I shoved the boat over slightly on the rack so the bailer could be opened. Unfortunately, I couldn't reach the bailer without opening the car door and standing on the seat. So, after opening the bailer, quickly jumping off the seat and slamming the car door shut I managed to get a shot of my Cadence car wash.
With the help of the gentleman owning the trailer the Cadence was loaded.
Hmm, what's that sloshing sound inside the boat?
Opening the front hatch revealed several inches of water inside. I guess it got there via the cockpit and the rivets used to hold the bottom of the seat in place. At least I discovered this well before the race and didn't end up carrying all this water for 12+ miles!
The use of a kayak pump removed most of the water in just a few moments.
Meanwhile the marathoners were preparing to launch. They stepped gingerly through the low tide muck out to the water. Luckily the water near the shore was quite calm and made it fairly easy to get in and out of the boats. Less than 100 feet out from shore, however, it was a different story as we saw a couple kayaks plow their way back and forth testing the waters and warming up for the race.
The boats kept fairly close to shore as they more or less lined up to start. One kayak stayed pretty far to the rear when the starting signal was given, with the waves knocking everyone about. The double rowing shell containing Rainer and Adrian, which was closest to shore in the calmest water, took off immediately leaving the others far behind. That lead was short lived, however, as they soon encountered some rough water. It would be a long race!
I handed the camera over to Jeff Knakal and instructed him on its use. He was going to follow us over to Fort Ward for our start and then head back to Fay Bainbridge for the finish, so he was in a perfect position to take photos. Thanks, Jeff!
A bunch of us piled into the truck while several others took Shane's van over to Fort Ward.
Conditions were considerably quieter there as we set up our boats for the 11:20 AM start. I probably should have eaten something while we were waiting. Instead, I drank a juice box while watching a group of Boy Scouts work on an Eagle Scout project building and installing some benches near the boat ramp. They did a nice job, too.
After what seemed an eternity of waiting we finally got word that the race would start in 15 minutes. We eagerly hauled our boats down to the water, in my case with help from one of the Scouts. Hiking up my leg warmers and putting on my water shoes I walked into the water. Gee, that water sure was cold!
It was not really all that bad once I got used to it.
Right beside the bow of the boat I spied an especially large snail shell. Fist-sized, it looked like all the other rocks lining the shore. I offered it to the Scout, but he declined. So, after washing the gunk out of it I stowed it inside my front cargo compartment. The kids would enjoy it!
I pushed the boat to be parallel with the shore and got it. After removing the water shores, washing the grit from my feet and putting on some high tech socks I put the water shoes back on. There would be no clipless pedals and bike shoes for this race! Nope - I had replaced the clipless pedals with the OWC factory standard plastic pedals. With all the wave action and the possibility that I'd have to get out of the boat at sometime during the race I decided to forego bike shoes.
It was fun warming up and not having to be bothered with taking pictures, too. I could see Jeff standing on the shore holding the camera and snapping away. It would be interesting to see the race from his point of view.
We lined up and got ready to go. For some reason I ended up relatively far from shore when the signal was given to start. That was not the wisest move, though it did keep me away from the shallows where weeds could be lurking.
Shane, in an HPK, immediately took the lead with Geoff, in an OC-1, close behind. I headed towards them, getting a bit closer to shore. We were heading to the east-southeast through Rich Passage, with the wind from our right and an irregular chop more or less also coming from the right. This meant that it required a little effort from time to time applying body english to keep the boat from tipping too far over. Perhaps it was best I didn't have to worry about the camera after all!
Finally I caught up to Shane, with the OC-1 off to the left side. We were traveling close to 8 mph, according to the GPS, with my pulse around 160 bpm. My bow was right on Shane's stern with a gap of perhaps a couple of inches. With all the wave action I dared not get any closer as I did not want his stern to rise and hit my bow, and vice versa.
Shane noticed I was right on his tail. Knowing my one weakness, he headed closer to shore to get closer to the weeds. Rats! I snagged one!
It took but a moment to clear the prop, but that was enough to create a gap that enabled Geoff in the OC-1 to fill. I dropped behind Geoff, following him closely - but not so close as to collide with his bobbing stern.
To my surprise, the OC-1 did not maintain his speed behind Shane. I decided to accelerate and pass, trying to catch Shane.
Slowly the gap narrowed. Shane took a course between the pilings of a pier leading to a nearby fish farm. Both the OC-1 and I followed, as the waves were quite subdued by all the structures. Back out in open water I got to within 20 feet of Shane when I decided that this much effort so early in the race would only lead to disaster.
"Go get him", I told Geoff as I reduced my speed to 7 mph. Geoff decided to go his own pace, too. We played cat and mouse for a while, threading between the pilings of another pier and finally another where Geoff decided the waves were too rough. He went around the pier while I went through. It was definitely too narrow for the outrigger canoe to safely fit!
I was getting pretty hot so I removed the Sound Rowers GXSC baseball hat and put on a sweat band. The sun was not getting in my eyes too badly, and it was certainly cooler without the hat. Even so I had to dip my hands in the water from time to time to reduce the sweating.
We were still fairly close by the time we reached the southeastern most part of Bainbridge, Restoration Point. Shane could be seen taking a fairly long detour around and over Decatur Reef. Geoff took much the same route as did I, not wanting to hit any submerged rocks.
Now we would reap the benefits of a strong tailwind!
It was wonderful! The wind was strong enough that it still provided excellent cooling even with our fast 7+ mph pace. The waves appeared to have muted somewhat from their heights earlier, but there were still quite a few that provided excellent surfing opportunities. The bow of the Cadence would slightly submerge into the back of a preceding wave while the stern was lifted up the wave front. Gravity caused the boat to slide down and forward, making it easier to pedal. I pedaled much faster for 5 to 10 seconds, as the speed of the boat increased to 8, 9 or even 10 mph before the wave ended. Whew!
Geoff took a course closer to the calm waters near shore as we approached Blakely Rock. Shane was way out in the middle of Puget Sound. I decided to stay to the east of the rock in order to take advantage of the wind and waves.
Unlike the Great Cross Sound Race in August there were no weed mats to speak of. The wind must have pushed them somewhere far away. Hurray! I love this weather!
For the most part this section of the Sound was fairly devoid of vessels. There were a couple of small pleasure craft far off in the distance, plus one or two sailboats and a couple of humongous barges being towed into Elliott Bay, but otherwise we pretty much had it all to ourselves. Well, for a short time, anyway. A ferry was starting to leave Eagle Harbor on its way to downtown Seattle. I knew I would have to keep up the pace if we were not going to interfere with each other.
I took advantage of every opportunity to surf that I could. I could see that Geoff might have troubles with the ferry, being much closer to the shoreline route taken by them. Ha! Maybe that would cause him to drop behind! One could always hope, anyway.
Once I passed the ferry turn buoy I took a short break. I dug through my bag of snacks and extracted another juice container, sucking it dry in short order. Ah, that was good. Time to clear the prop (just in case) and continue.
Shane could still be seen just beyond the northern shore of Eagle Harbor, still way out in the Sound. I was still roughly parallel with Geoff, and a quick glance to the rear didn't reveal anyone else. Where were those guys?
Upon reaching the northern side of Eagle Harbor I remembered a friend telling about a large bed of kelp located there. Uh, oh...with the long, sunny summer that kelp bed probably has grown into monstrous proportions! With that in mind I kept further away from shore and only found a few kelp in my way.
Just after this as I was approaching Yeomalt Point a strange thing happened. The wind changed almost exactly 180 degrees! That's right - we now had a strong headwind, and we were now heading into the waves!
I could hardly believe it. It appeared that one moment we were going great guns with Mother Nature helping us along on a very fast race. The next moment a natural practical joke was being played to which we took the brunt. I wondered what the marathon folks would think of it!
It was still fun, though. The bow of the Cadence would ride high on a wave and then plow either onto or slightly into the next wave. As the wind was almost directly in my face the waves associated with it were also mostly bow on; no balance issues were involved. A couple of times I decided to open the drain to let out what little water actually entered the cockpit, though it was more out of a desire to change the routine of continuous pedaling than to remove serious quantities of water.
Like last year it seemed to take a very long time to cross the extent of Murder Cove. Geoff remained near shore and seemed to be making headway, so I started angling closer to shore, too. Far ahead of me Shane could still be seen, though he was almost out of site. Somewhat closer was a sailboat. It had come west across the Sound and was now headed north in the same direction as I was going. Hmmm, it also seemed that I was gaining on it. Hey - let's see if I can catch up to it!
It was a long, long haul. I finished off the contents of a water bottle, cleared more weeds and continued pedaling. At least the weed cutter seemed to be doing its job! Closer and closer I came to the sailboat - and to Skiff Point. Just ahead Geoff had passed the sailboat and made his way past the Point - would I make it to the boat before it had to tack?
Just when I thought the boat was going to hit the bottom and just before I caught it they tacked to the east. We said hi to each other, commented on the weather and went our separate ways. Mission accomplished!
I continued past Skiff Point into Rolling Bay. This place is fairly shallow for most of its length and a great place for weeds, so I decided to stay further from shore. This meant that I was fighting the waves more than Geoff, which enabled him to gain further distance. Oh, well. With Shane in first place and Geoff in second I wouldn't mind third!
The houses on the shoreline ahead indicated that Fay Bainbridge would be pretty close. I was getting quite famished, it being about 2 PM and not having eaten anything since 7 AM, so after digging around in the snack bag I found a bag of crunchy exercise-related stuff made from a loose mixture of soy nuts, chocolate chips, peanuts, etc. I took a few nibbles when I noticed another racer off to the left side. Uh, oh - competition!
I started pedaling a little faster, but my legs were getting pretty tired.
We stayed even with each other, separated by a hundred feet or so. Who was this guy?
I pedaled faster, figuring that it would be better to create some distance earlier than later. He seemed to be dropping behind a bit. Good!
Eating a little of the energy snack seemed to make me feel better, so I had a bit more. It was pretty good. Oops! Gotta clear the weeds again - and the guy caught up again.
The beach of the park was just ahead, and the finish line air horn could be heard indicating that Geoff had crossed the line. It was time to put the pedal to the metal.
Unfortunately, I was pretty well out of energy. Over two hours of high output coupled with no real refueling during that time prevented me from putting forth much output. My heart rate was in the 140's to 150's, but my legs were not very cooperative.
The guy in the kayak kept up the pace, staying very close to shore. I stayed further out hoping to cross the line at least at the same time. Unfortunately, when we passed the officials (at about the same time from my point of view) and the horn was sounded I noticed that the buoy they were using to mark the outer end of the finish line was actually skewed north from the position of the officials. This meant that I would have to travel further to cross the line. Rats!
When I figured this out I gave up the chase. A couple of seconds later the horn went off for me, too, but by that time I didn't really care. I had my bag of munchies, a bottle of water, and the race was over. My time was 2:10:23. The heart rate monitor said I was in the target zone (130+ bpm) for almost exactly 2 hours, with an average pulse of 140. The GPS indicated I had traveled about 12.1 statute miles during the race. Enough with the statistics, already!
I was rather surprised to see Bela in his kayak coming back south. It turned out that it was he who had been pacing me the final stages of the race. He claimed that he was absolutely destroyed by the effort of the race and about ready to collapse - but I think he was trying to make me feel better. Regardless, he certainly paddled an excellent race!
We went in circles looking back along the course to see where the next racers were. I didn't see anyone, so after finishing the munchies I put ashore. Steve helped me carry the Cadence up the beach and over the logs to the parking lot. With my body weakened by the race it was a bit of a struggle climbing over the logs holding onto a rather slippery hull, so we had to stop a couple of times. I breathed a sigh of relief when we finally put the boat down on the grass.
Stumbling over to the picnic tables I spied a container of fudge brownies, a cooler full of soft drinks, a platter of different kinds of breads and a big pot of clam chowder on the stove. Yum!
Life looked a lot better after brownies.
It was a while before the next racers arrived, so I rinsed off the Cadence and set out all the stuff that had been in the cockpit out beside my car to dry. With the help of another racer the boat was put back on top the car. I was getting a little chilled with all the soggy clothing, so I changed into some dry stuff. That felt much better!
The full marathon racers lead by Rainer and Adrian in their double scull began to arrive. Rainer claimed that the wind was against them for just about the entire length of the race. Coupled with the length this made it the hardest race he had ever done.
The other racers were in full agreement. Deb was so happy she had decided to do the half marathon, as she was completely exhausted from the shorter race. I was actually feeling pretty good, not completely and utterly exhausted as I felt after last year's marathon race. It would have been quite a different story had I done the full race this year.
After all the racers either arrived at the finish or were accounted for - there was one DNF (Did Not Finish) who went directly home - the awards ceremony was held. The first place finishers in each class were awarded beautiful hand made placques emblazoned with a wooden image of Bainbridge Island. The second and third places were awarded with ribbons. Each racer was also given a fine baseball cap embroidered with the words "Bainbridge Island Marathon". Such a deal - and all for $7.00!
After the ceremony I packed up and headed off to the ferry. It felt good to vegetate and read the Sunday paper waiting for it to arrive.
On board I sat with some of the racers who also caught that ferry and discussed the race. We related stories about how it went during various sections, how we each struggled and overcame the elements and pushed past one another during the event. What a day!
I would like to thank Steve and all the others who worked to put on this event. This was a very strenuous race but still quite a lot of fun. I also want to thank Jeff and his son Christopher for taking over the task of photography while I was out on the water and recovering back on shore. You guys did an excellent job! There are very few photos of me in a Cadence on the water.
Photos I took during the race can be found here.
My race course and statistics can be found here.