Seventy-two paddleboarders and canoeists braved snow flurries and icy northwest winds Jan. 23 to race through Wrightsville Beach’s waterways for the eighth annual Cold Stroke Classic.
The 7-mile elite course took paddlers on two strenuous laps through the choppy water around Harbor Island. Recreational division entrants completed one lap.
Charleston, South Carolina, paddler Jeremy Whitted won the Elite Men’s 14-foot category for the second time in three years, finishing in 1:23:53. Whitted reclaimed the top spot after losing by seconds to fellow Charleston racer Corey Taylor last year.
Karen Wilson won the Elite Women’s 12.5-foot category and Grace Metzgar finished first in the Elite Women’s 14-foot. Erik Bigsby won the race’s newest “Run what you Brung” division, a category introduced to include crafts like Bigsby’s one-man outrigger canoe.
A handful of Cold Stroke participants took advantage of the new category to race their outriggers, commonly called OC1s. Race director Katie Elzer-Peters said she and race sponsor Coastal Urge created the category to accommodate not just outriggers, which are growing in popularity, but also kayaks and surf skis.
“We wanted all of them to be able to participate,” she said. “It’s basically anything that floats, that you can self propel.”
The Cold Stroke Classic typically lives up to its name, but the combination of wind, current and freezing air temperatures created especially brutal conditions this year. Despite that, racers’ grimaces became grins as they were met at the finish line by cheers and high-fives from a dedicated huddle of friends, family and fellow paddleboarders.
Many of the Cold Stroke participants — not just the winners — left with a sense of accomplishment. Every racer took home a prize, and some of the less-experienced paddlers like Mike Fox and Sarah Spiegler from Beaufort, North Carolina, were proud just to finish.
Spiegler said the race started with a grueling stretch against the wind and current.
“You would be paddling as hard as you could and going backward,” she said as she and Fox gathered their equipment to follow the stream of racers seeking warmth inside the Blockade Runner.
The second half of the race, after they rounded the northern side of Harbor Island and turned south into the Intracoastal Waterway, was much easier, Fox added.
Instead of dwelling on the difficult aspects of the race, Fox said he was focusing on the positives, like the fact that he managed to shield himself from the worst of the elements with layers of Under Armour, neoprene and waterproof clothing.
And the camaraderie of the paddleboarding community injected fun and warmth into the frigid event, he added.
“I know the conditions aren’t ideal, but everybody is so nice and encouraging,” he said.
Proceeds from this year’s race benefitted St. Baldrick’s Foundation, which funds research to find cures for childhood cancers.
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