Women's SUP EVENT A smashing success

Aloha friends, sponsors and amazing volunteers,

As Tommy and I and YOU recover from the thrills of the over head high, nail biting, heart-pounding beach break, Wilmont’s beautiful blessing, the beach workout, the chills from the inspiring words of our guest speakers, with the groovy tunes still spinning in our heads, the hula dancing, I’ve been trying to capture in just a few words the WOW that’s buzzing about!

Not possible. The emails, photos and calls are pouring in!

The sheer amazement of how everyone hustled and worked so hard to make everyone’s day SAFE, fun and one to remember is simply unbelievable. It was 6am, and the teams were arriving, setting up in the dark, a little sleepy but ready to charge. Tents, up, tables up, stage up, as the sun was rising. The waves were the biggest I’ve ever seen on the West side, as our crew in the safety boat was ready and poised.

Soon there was a sea of boards and I could feel the adrenaline pumping to the music as the big question on everyone’s mind… “hmm I don’t know about this surf today. Should be interesting.” Only two boards broke. Hats off to Loch and Tommy for recruiting such a strong team of caddies.

The hero’s of the day were truly all of you, but as Tommy mentioned and I’m sure you’d all agree; were the board caddies sacrificed limbs and all and took a pounding to safely escort the girls in and out of the water. I’ve never seen so many charged up women in all my life. The board caddies also carried the boards for some down the long stairway across to the launching area. Thank you!

The amazing prizes supplied by the sponsors, the calm, welcoming smiles at the registration tables, our pro riders Tiffany and Anne-Marie, Tiare and to Ken who so kindly kept the beach clean. The drinks and Luna Bars and fresh fruit from Kula Fields kept everyone going for hours.

I’m in the process of going through thousands of photos, also tallying up the numbers of registrants who showed out of the 320 final count, also counting $ for donations to the American Breast Cancer Foundation. I just spoke to their headquarters in Maryland and the Hawaii region spiked over the weekend!

Today, there will also soon be photos on the official website: www.standuppaddlingfitness.com to enjoy. In addition, I will have a photo tab for the registrants to see photos of themselves that they can purchase. All sponsors/supporters will also receive photos of their products showcased with participants and winners who received your products. Your generosity was amazing.

I hope I didn’t miss anyone. Please feel free to send me your story or snap shot of the day. I will not have a formal debriefing, but your comments/suggestions are welcome. ( please send privately directly to me or Tommy ).

And lastly, for the all the wonderful volunteers, we’ll be hosting a very casual pot lock barbeque next Sunday afternoon. We’ll supply burgers and beers. Location time to be announced.