Surf Monkey '09 Clocks Top Performance

Despite of an impressively friendly atmosphere, athletes put in top-notch performances across all divisions, including both the 4 and 8-mile track for the standup paddle division, with some of the world's best on hand.

SAN DIEGO, CA -- One would think that in a race with about 400 registered competitors, including professional athletes, contestants would time their performance to the milliseconds, using time to pace themselves and gauge their showdown. That was surprisingly not the case at the 2nd Annual Surf Monkey Challenge, an endurance sports competition, featuring a run and swim but also a paddle and stand-up paddle division. After paddlers strode along the final stretch, some with and others without paddle in tote, few (or, more accurately, virtually none) could state their time. Putting aside how pesky that can be for a reporter, this odd commonality underscored the reversal of priorities among the athletes, with fun, not placement, taking the first seat.

Corporate executives, alongside fierce professional athletes, lined up at the water’s edge South of the Oceanside Pier, under cloudy skies and light south winds on Saturday morning. Divisions were broken up into basically a 4-mile and a 8-mile stretch, where orange buoys delimited the path and often times became the site of paddle jousting, as racers inched off for the top position while maneuvering around the orange floats. But once setting foot ashore and crossing the finish line, even the most competitive at heart joined in on the bonhomie of the rendezvous.

In the stacked 8-mile stock division, Russ Olyer came at an incredible 58:45 min, slightly ahead of Ben Vaughn (1:02:03). That is not to say that there weren’t some impressive performances. Both in the 4 and 8-mile races, there were jaw-dropping paddle speeds. In the 4-mile unlimited class, riding a 19 ft. Ohana board, Rob Rojas came at 37:52 min, trailed by Todd Drake (46:18 min) and Dave Kalama (47:25 min). In the 4-mile stock (i.e., 12.6” and under) division, Dennis Cameron came at 48:42 min, minutes ahead of a tight pack of Denis Poroy (55:06), Dave Anderson (55:22), and Mike Kubeska (55:26). In the stacked 8-mile stock division, Russ Olyer came at an incredible 58:45 min, slightly ahead of Ben Vaughn (1:02:03), but with a substantial lead over EJ Johnson (1:27:29) and Byron Kurt (1:27:40). And only a few minutes behind them, the women in the open 8-mile race had Brandy Baksic (1.31.31) and Elsa Harrison (1:45:09) arriving first and second, respectively.