GBROC 2021 Ladies Story

What’s it take to finish an Iron Marathon Paddle?

Insights from the winning Noosa Ladies Crew 1st Iron crew over the line in all divisions 4Hrs 18min 2021 Great Barrier Reef Challenge.

[Onboard video]

Cath:

GBROC 45klm Marathon was the most mentally challenging race I have endured! Despite being thoroughly prepared, thanks to an awesome training program, the heat/humidity was a game change. More so in the OC6 laden with insulating covers that weighed a tonne! I was extremely envious of the change crews jumping in the water; I so desperately wanted to do that! The mental games were unrelenting, from converting our steerer Paz’s distance calls into familiar courses we had done in training, to if I get out of this alive I’ll never ever paddle again!! Lol! Throughout we had coach Flea keeping the pressure on, calling if our speed dropped to an unacceptable single digit! We averaged 10.6km/h so no going into cruise mode, or worse still having a “Lay down Sally” moment!! I’ve never been so pleased to finish a race in my life. In saying all that, it was an amazing experience being part of a highly motivated, focused, experienced crew which all made for such a memorable journey. A character building race for sure.

 

Cecily:

I kept thinking refocus, refocus, keep it long! And I kept telling myself “I’m still feeling strong!!”Training was excellent with very a supportive crew and the best program for such a long race. Incorporating lots of time to recover after long paddle sessions . Over 60’s need that!! It was such a privilege to paddle with a crew of girls who I respect, admire and look up to. Some of the best mentors you could find in the sport of Outrigging. Big thanks to our gun steerer!!

 

Paz:

I had the pleasure of steering these strong determined women! I thank them that they were willing to paddle in the Masters division which allowed me to race with them. It was definitely the longest and most challenging race I have done to date (Hopefully not the last!!) We had an excellent lead up with a great training program which set us up for the race. We decided to put Ces in seat 5 as she had done the race several times before – to help me navigate and stay on track! Her best advice (which greatly helped) “Aim for the grassy Knoll” From 45klms away everything looked like a grassy knoll!!. Would definitely do this race again and to do it with such an experienced, focused group of ladies was awesome! Very hard to top that race! The only downfall being the ‘baby’ of the crew?  After getting back exhausted- our canoe had to be paddled another 3.5Klms to Port Douglas Club, I felt I had to take one for the team.

Thanks Ladies and thanks to everyone who supported us.

 

Rose:

Training sessions over the two months prior to the race. The early morning paddles with the best group of ladies I have had the pleasure of working hard together with.

 

Flea:

Leading into our training for Nationals, the Great Barrier Reef Ocean Challenge invite hit the social media feeds.
It was something that had crossed my mind to do on my OC1.The 2020/21 season with Covid, 50 odd 5am women paddlers from novice to experience and everything in between, had certainly tested our coaching team. Threw the idea out to Paz, Cec, Manu, Cath and Rose, who I believed capable of pulling off 45km Iron. Instant YES!

The season was about to conclude and we finished with great success for all those who competed at Nationals.
Perfect time to build our training up from that point leading into GBROC. Cec, an ex Port Douglas paddler had done it twice before and knew the lay of the land and lots of paddler connections up there too. Came in handy when we found ourselves rigging the Southern Spirit canoe we hired.  I had done Marlin Coast last October so had a good idea of the course too and the local area.

Our training was flawless and nobody missed a beat. Cec had a little set back with a nasty bronchitis, but fortunately with time to mend and ease back in. Our trusty club reserves, Nic, Gena (who was also racing with Paddlers Without Boarders) and Cara did an amazing job filling in for Cec in those times. Big thanks to them and the whole Noosa club who were still doing some casual training over winter, that let us sometimes take the more preferred canoes when our training overlapped with theirs. Some days over those couple of months were chilly, sometimes long, but never daunting.

The program was followed to perfection and I couldn’t have asked for more. The goal was to train smart, build up,taper properly, never plateau, never burn out and be totally and utterly race ready and injury free.

The expenses were high and many in our team were feeling the pinch, even while looking at flight costs. Some fundraising commenced and all of Noosa OCC got on board to purchase stickers, waterproof pouches and our popular beanies as well as family, friends and locals. That paid for our hefty race fees, canoe hire, uniforms and our van hire.

The race day was stunning, crystal clear water, a little (really little) push from the wind in our favour and we could tell it was going to be a hot hot day.  I knew we were ready for the distance, but the heat might be the only thing that will test us outside of what we could train for. We had a terrific race start and were hitting speeds around 12 to 13km/hr out of the gates to put us in our own nice clean line and first full female crew out front and held that for nearly 30km.  Only to be pegged by the non-iron, changes crews of 10 women jumping in and out of that lovely clear water and having rests on their huge support boats. Every other iron crew stayed behind us, waaaaay behind us!  45km and we averaged 10.6km/hr in a Southern Spirit OC6- that’s commendable and that’s what got us 1st Iron crew outright over the finish line!

It was a credit to the experienced paddlers in our crew. I never once doubted their paddling strength and strength of mind.

We also felt honestly blessed and someone was certainly watching over us at every turn, from training, fundraising, our race canoe and getting out of Brisbane before lockdown.

Would I do it again?  In a heart beat!  To have a club with the depth that we can draw from for races like this and the growing size of our new paddlers coming through, I hope we can have more paddlers ready to take on more challenges like this in the future.

Big congrats also to Des for winning his division on his OC1, Gena 2nd Masters in Iron for Paddlers without Boarders and Bill on his ski. Many thanks also to Hekili OCC and Sue Lockwood for an amazing event.

Stoked! x coach Flea

 

Manu:

The 2021 GBROC Marathon paddle I can honestly say was my mentally toughest race, and I am no stranger to marathon paddles. I have done countless long distance races.

My body was ready, I felt great and strong, but I underestimated the North Queensland heat! No wind and all the heat coming from under our storm covers!! As we battled on the voices in my head got louder, telling me what a loser I am, can’t even paddle in the heat, telling me to give up and that I didn’t deserve to be in this awesome crew. But of course I didn’t give up!! The heat was really getting to me, and I started fantasising about jumping in the water and at some stage I had to close my eyes to stay focused. The Jelly Beans I had three quarters through the race saved me. I felt on top of the world after the race, exhausted but happy. I recovered fast, this is what we trained for.

Would I do it again? Hell yes!!!!

Last but not least, a big shout out for the awesome 5 paddlers behind me, Cath, Rose, Flea, Cec & Paz The best team ever, om and off the water. I would paddle with these ladies to the end of the world and back. Love and gratitude for each and every one of them.

What’s it take to finish an Iron Marathon Paddle?

Insights from the winning Noosa Ladies Crew 1st Iron crew over the line in all divisions 4Hrs 18min 2021 Great Barrier Reef Challenge.

[Onboard video]

Cath:

GBROC 45klm Marathon was the most mentally challenging race I have endured! Despite being thoroughly prepared, thanks to an awesome training program, the heat/humidity was a game change. Most especially in the OC6 laden with insulating covers that weighed a tonne! I was extremely envious of the change crews jumping in the water; I so desperately wanted to do that! The mental games were unrelenting, from converting our steerer Paz’s distance calls into familiar courses we had done in training, to if I get out of this alive I’ll never ever paddle again!! Lol! Throughout we had coach Flea keeping the pressure on, calling if our speed dropped to an unacceptable single digit! WE averaged 10.6lm so going into cruise mode, or worse still having a “Lay down Sally” moment!! I’ve never been so pleased to finish a race in my life. In saying all that, it was an amazing experience being part of a highly motivated, focused, experienced crew which all made for such a memorable journey. A character building race for sure.

 

Cecily:

I kept thinking refocus, refocus, keep it long! And I kept telling myself “I’m still feeling strong!!”Training was excellent with very a supportive crew and the best program for such a long race. Incorporating lots of time to recover after long paddle sessions . Over 60’s need that!! It was such a privilege to paddle with a crew of girls who I respect, admire and look up to. Some of the best mentors you could find in the sport of Outrigging. Big thanks to our gun steerer!!

 

Paz:

I had the pleasure of steering these strong determined women! I thank them that they were willing to paddle in the Masters division which allowed me to race with them. It was definitely the longest and most challenging race I have done to date (Hopefully not the last!!) We had an excellent lead up with a great training program which set us up for the race. We decided to put Ces in seat 5 as she had done the race several times before – to help me navigate and stay on track! Her best advice (which greatly helped) “Aim for the grassy Knoll” From 45klms away everything looked like a grassy knoll!!. Would definitely do this race again and to do it with such an experienced, focused group of ladies was awesome! Very hard to top that race! The only downfall being the ‘baby’ of the crew?  After getting back exhausted- our canoe had to be paddled another 3.5Klms to Port Douglas Club, I felt I had to take one for the team.

Thanks Ladies and thanks to everyone who supported us.

 

Rose:

Training sessions over the two months prior to the race. The early morning paddles with the best group of ladies I have had the pleasure of working hard together with.

 

Flea:

Leading into our training for Nationals, the Great Barrier Reef Ocean Challenge invite hit the social media feeds.
It was something that had crossed my mind to do on my OC1.The 2020/21 season with Covid, 50 odd 5am women paddlers from novice to experience and everything in between, had certainly tested our coaching team. Threw the idea out to Paz, Cec, Manu, Cath and Rose, who I believed capable of pulling off 45km Iron. Instant YES!

The season was about to conclude and we finished with great success for all those who competed at Nationals.
Perfect time to build our training up from that point leading into GBROC. Cec, an ex Port Douglas paddler had done it twice before and knew the lay of the land and lots of paddler connections up there too. Came in handy when we found ourselves rigging the Southern Spirit canoe we hired.  I had done Marlin Coast last October so had a good idea of the course too and the local area.

Our training was flawless and nobody missed a beat. Cec had a little set back with a nasty bronchitis, but fortunately with time to mend and ease back in. Our trusty club reserves, Nic, Gena (who was also racing with Paddlers Without Boarders) and Cara did an amazing job filling in for Cec in those times. Big thanks to them and the whole Noosa club who were still doing some casual training over winter, that let us sometimes take the more preferred canoes when our training overlapped with theirs. Some days over those couple of months were chilly, sometimes long, but never daunting.

The program was followed to perfection and I couldn’t have asked for more. The goal was to train smart, build up,taper properly, never plateau, never burn out and be totally and utterly race ready and injury free.

The expenses were high and many in our team were feeling the pinch, even while looking at flight costs. Some fundraising commenced and all of Noosa OCC got on board to purchase stickers, waterproof pouches and our popular beanies as well as family, friends and locals. That paid for our hefty race fees, canoe hire, uniforms and our van hire.

The race day was stunning, crystal clear water, a little (really little) push from the wind in our favour and we could tell it was going to be a hot hot day.  I knew we were ready for the distance, but the heat might be the only thing that will test us outside of what we could train for. We had a terrific race start and were hitting speeds around 12 to 13km/hr out of the gates to put us in our own nice clean line and first full female crew out front and held that for nearly 30km.  Only to be pegged by the non-iron, changes crews of 10 women jumping in and out of that lovely clear water and having rests on their huge support boats. Every other iron crew stayed behind us, waaaaay behind us!  45km and we averaged 10.6km/hr in a Southern Spirit OC6- that’s commendable and that’s what got us 1st Iron crew outright over the finish line!

It was a credit to the experienced paddlers in our crew. I never once doubted their paddling strength and strength of mind.

We also felt honestly blessed and someone was certainly watching over us at every turn, from training, fundraising, our race canoe and getting out of Brisbane before lockdown.

Would I do it again?  In a heart beat!  To have a club with the depth that we can draw from for races like this and the growing size of our new paddlers coming through, I hope we can have more paddlers ready to take on more challenges like this in the future.

Big congrats also to Des for winning his division on his OC1, Gena 2nd Masters in Iron for Paddlers without Boarders and Bill on his ski. Many thanks also to Hekili OCC and Sue Lockwood for an amazing event.

Stoked! x coach Flea

 

Manu:

The 2021 GBROC Marathon paddle I can honestly say was my mentally toughest race, and I am no stranger to marathon paddles. I have done countless long distance races.

My body was ready, I felt great and strong, but I underestimated the North Queensland heat! No wind and all the heat coming from under our storm covers!! As we battled on the voices in my head got louder, telling me what a loser I am, can’t even paddle in the heat, telling me to give up and that I didn’t deserve to be in this awesome crew. But of course I didn’t give up!! The heat was really getting to me, and I started fantasising about jumping in the water and at some stage I had to close my eyes to stay focused.The Jelly Beans I had three quarters through the race saved me. I felt on top of the world after the race, exhausted but happy. I recovered fast, this is what we trained for.

Would I do it again? Hell yes!!!!

Last but not least, a big shout out for the awesome 5 paddlers behind me, Cath, Rose, Flea, & Paz The best team ever, om and off the water. I would paddle with these ladies to the end of the world and back. Love and gratitude for each and every one of them.