Pawtucket Race 2007 Write-up
[Photo by Chien Mei Chang 2007]
So, I've been delinquent, but I wanted to thank everyone the came down to Pawtucket! For those of you that weren't there:
We all rolled into Pawtucket at 7am and boarded the quid-essential yellow school buses to the site. The race portion of the event was organized by 22 Dragons from Montreal and ran smoothly along, and even proceeded ahead of schedule. Like at many of our venues, our first race of the day was a little messy. The first time in the giant Taiwanese style boats, many thumbs were smashed into the gunnel and there was much surprise at the size of the boats. We pulled a 1:49 and ADK caught her first flag of the day, and we came in 2nd behind MAD. The first two races, determined our ranking, and which final we'd be placed in.
So, our second race was at 11, so after a little rest, refocusing, and reenergizing, we were out on the water again. This time, a more focused, more confident DBCB hit the water and we had a much better feeling race. We pulled ahead of our competition and took first with 1:53. Our awesome time placed us in the B division, which meant we were racing in the 2nd to last race of the day, which was at 2:30. So, with 3 hours to kill in the sticky hot heat, Igor showed the climbing wall who was boss, Michael and Cristina worked on their juggling routine, the team ate 9 pizzas, and consumed gallons of water. The Hash House Harriers represented their 80 glam rock roots and the races went by.
Then as our final race approached, our surprise secret weapon Jen Chiu arrived on the scene with co-secret-weapon, Bandit! We hit the water, determined and focused. We faced Living Root and The Loose Screws. The Loose Screws were a rowdy bunch and I was proud at the discipline DBCB showed on the water. Jeering and hollering their way to the start, DBCB hardly blinked with every eye on the race. Having gotten our jitters out in the first race, and regaining our form in the 2nd race, we were ready to win, and we jumped out ahead of the pack on the start. All the way through we pulled ahead and finished clear ahead in first with a time of 1:40!
At the end of the day, we got 1st place in the B-division, a $1000 prize, and pulled the 2nd fastest time of the entire event. Great job guys! That last race felt great and you guys really put in some serious strength there, shaving 10 seconds off your time! I had a great time! So congratulations to all the DBCB Paddlers! And congratulations and thanks to our friends from Dudley who jumped on and joined us for the fun!
