SKI TO SEA WAS SO FUN THIS YEAR!!!YES! The big race, the Bellingham Olympics, were back!By the end of race day, Sunday, May 29, my face literally ached because I'd been smiling all day during the first return of Ski to Sea since May, 2019!

EVERYONE. WAS. SO. DANG. STOKED!!!

Me on the left with Beaver's Tree Service paddler Jonas Ecker, Birch Equipment's Jeff Hillburn, and Boomer's Drive-In's open team Greg Redmond, as we waiting for our cyclocross riders to hand off the timing chip at Zuanich.

Being the kayaker for my team, I was at Zuanich Park for most of race day as all the rest of the team relayed from Mt Baker to the Bay.

It was an AWESOME race at the front, with Birch Equipment, Boomer's Drive-In, and Beaver's Tree Service jockeying for the win all day.

The timing and real-time updates by my friend Marc Blake and his team at Pacific Multisports kept us all glued to our phones during each transition.

Let me back up a bit and explain how I even ended up racing.I was a last-minute addition to the team.

For the first time since I began racing Ski to Sea in 2004, with just a week before race day I wasn't yet on a team roster.

I never doubted that something would work out, though, so my boat and paddle were nearby and I was mentally ready to throw down.

Then my friend Mischa Burnett, captain of Boomer's Drive-In's two teams, called.

He asked if I could step in for their regular paddler, the fiercely strong Nicholas Cryder, who was stuck in California after someone crashed into and totaled his parked truck.(Horrible news for Nicholas, to be sure, though no one was physically hurt in the accident.)It took me about 0.02 seconds to put my first in the air and scream into the phone, "YESSS!!!"

A week or so later, there we were on the race course and doing pretty darn good through the first few legs!

If you're not familiar, Ski to Sea is a race of (this year, over 350) 8-person relay teams who travel nearly 100 miles from the Mt. Baker ski area down to and across Bellingham Bay.

The teams include a:

1. XC Skier

2. Downhill Skier

3. Runner

4. Road Cyclist

5. 2-Person River Canoe Team

6. Cyclocross Rider

7. Kayaker

If you want to view a nice collection of photos & real-time updates from every leg of the race, Cascadia Daily News did an awesome job assembling that content here.

Photo below by Hailey Hoffman, Cascadia Daily News.

In the early afternoon, I took the hand-off from Boomer's Cyclocross rider Roy Colven, and just had to keep my boat upright as there was no one within minutes ahead or behind.I crossed the line in first place for the Veteran's division, and ended the day as 10th fastest kayaker overall.

I have been racing in various forms for about 25 years, and have stood atop my share of podiums here and abroad.

But paddling the final 100 yards into the beach at Marine Park in Fairhaven to hundreds and hundreds of cheering fans and fellow racers, running up the chute and ringing that finish line bell as the final act of an almost-100-mile team effort...

For an amateur athlete, that is about as good a feeling as I can imagine.

It's also a tremendous honor for BNP to be the official Ski to Sea kayak leg sponsor, and to loan our quiver of buoys and the BNP moving truck to the race organizers and AWESOME volunteers!

Bellingham Swimrun at Lake Padden!

Exactly one week after Ski to Sea, Heather and I were lined up to race the Lake Padden Swimrun hosted by Quest Racing.

I've shared my love for this sport in past blog posts, but just in case you're new here......

Swimrun is a combination of trail running and open water swimming.

Unlike triathlon, you don't have "transition areas" where you change your clothes or shoes.

In swimrun, what you wear at the start is what you wear through the entire race.

That means you're running in a wetsuit and swimming with shoes on!

And take my word for it: IT IS AN ABSOLUTE RIOT!!!

Heather did the long course consisting of 7 trails totaling 7 miles, and 6 swims totaling 2 miles of open water.

She swapped leads all day and ultimately finished 2nd overall and first woman.

I raced the short course, as I am not yet fully recovered from a pelvis inflammation injury I sustained doing -- guess what -- those two marathon-length swimrun races last fall.

But I felt great on the 3 miles of trails and 3/4 mile of open water the short course offered.

I finished 4th overall and first solo man.

My offer stands: If you have any desire to come out and try this insanely fun sport, join my friends Trevor, Isaac and I on a Friday morning at the Lake Padden swim beach.

We meet at 6 a.m. and are back to the cars usually by 7:30.

Thank you Quest Races for organizing, and Pacific Multisports for timing.

It's an honor for BNP to sponsor and support this awesome form of all-inclusive racing in our world class backyard wilderness!

"I am so grateful..."

Those words played in my mind like a skipping record as I raced these past two weekends.

The thrill of being part of a Ski to Sea team, one racer among over 2800 others pushing themselves to perform.

The "someone pinch me" blessing of Lake Padden, and the sport of swimrun with kindred spirits from here in Bellingham and from afar.A couple months ago I was still limping, and I doubted whether I should even set my sites on trying to race again.

But I worked with an incredible physical therapist named  Annie Molsberry, and her confidence never waivered.

Steadily, with her guidance, my strength and stability returned, and the discomfort faded.

Out there on Ski to Sea, and again at Padden, all I could think was, "I am so grateful."

And on top of that, the privilege of possibly exposing a young person to a rewarding career path......or giving her the clarity that it's not at all for her.It's all a gift.