Paddlefest 2011 was another success for the River Jackals as their championship title will stand for another year. My new front man, cousin Nick, performed with excellence as this was his first canoe race and to say it was punishing would be an understatement. Water levels were far from ideal as the drought has taken its toll on the river flow. We actually started by dragging our canoe for at least the first 100 yards from the starting line. This gave us an excellent start, as I think it caught everyone off guard, and once again, no one even came close to us by the end of the race. I don't think I would be exaggerating by saying, in total, we probably had to pull our boat for a full mile, which was definitely reflective in our finishing time of 1hr. 45 min. We both knew the course was going to be difficult but no where near as strenuous as it turned out to be. It seemed like every time we would build up a head of steam we would have to jump out once again. Alas, we did prevail and had the second place team beat by nearly 10 minutes. A hard fought victory for sure which turned out to be a test of who could really endure the physical and mental strain the longest. At the finish line, when the second place team showed up and we were congratulating each other, they made mention that "we were animals". The way I see it that goes right in line with being "too hard core". Either way if feels good to be a Jackal. Another quality end to an amazing floating season.
I am both amazed and inspired by this recent feat of strength by Team Jackal. When August came and went without so much as a hint of rain I thought to myself, "Paddlefest will surely be cancelled so no worries there." Little did I know that "Gravelfest" as it has been called would go on, but result in a repeat victory. I am especially proud to have our cousin Nick in as a major contributor to our Jackal brand of domination. It just goes to show that when Jackals unite get ready for a show. I already smell a three-peat coming on.
ReplyDeleteI hope Cousin Nick attempted to "Bo Jackson" a paddle on his head in celebration.
ReplyDeleteI think they need to start making a trophy for first place and the character at the top should be Nick with a paddle snapping on his skull. That image should be immortalized somewhere. I'm smell a design for next year's River Jackal t-shirt.
ReplyDeleteNo, Nick did not athletically attemp to dent his skull in celebration, but he did temporarily dissappear. I found him shortly after I followed the shrieks of terror coming from up river as he was "VC"ing an unsuspecting boat of small children.
ReplyDelete