by Ellison Smith, USA SUP Vice President - NorthEast Region

Pittsburgh, the Steel City. Famously known for it's industrial heritage. Once the steel capital of the world, responsible for producing the steel used in landmarks such as the Empire State Building and the Brooklyn Bridge. The city of bridges and ketchup origination has shifted it's identity to technology and healthcare.

What started last year as an inaugural race, Alex Zowacki has continued the PITT Paddle for it's second edition. The student, hard worker, marathon runner and now Blackfish Paddles ambassador is truly dedicated to the sport. The event takes you to the iconic convergence of the three rivers in downtown. Alex had spent a tremendous amount of time coordinating and planning to see that paddlers continue to have the opportunity to enjoy the city's waterways and recognizable features along the path to fun and competition.

This year, as well as last, a large contingent of the CHESUPEAKE community from Maryland made their presence known and showed up in a big way on the podium. The race day festivities began at the Three Rivers Rowing facility located on Herrs Island in the Allegheny River. The race started slightly north of the point from the previous year. The course was designed to go up around the park at the north end of the island, down along the southside enroute to Park State Fountain where the three rivers meet. From there, it was back up the river, past Acisure Stadium and PNC Park to return to the finish for the 10K. 15K participants including myself continued to the Ohio River which was my second time competing on the waterway this summer.

There we circled Brunot Island to make it two circumnavigations prior to finishing. I wasn't able to take in much of the 12 bridges or the cityscape but was aware of the fantastic setting with the occasional quick look up. Fighting the current on the return portion of the race was no joke. I hadn't experienced a current that strong since the the St. John's River in Jacksonville early last year. It wasn't as challenging as that but nonetheless, it was so much so that I was convinced I was dragging aquatic vegetation or debris of some sort behind me. Hugging the island and shoreline proved to be the best track to take while being mindful of the minefield of swirling eddies which could spin you into the river at any point. The Monongahela River wasn't included on the tour but perhaps it may make the cut in an even longer course in the future. It was a lot of fun racing and trading places with Gregg Peters, Natalie Shurigina and Aaron Paquette during the tough trek. After accomplishing 23 miles in my previous race, the 12 didn't seem as daunting.

I finished third overall and no worse for wear. I had a great time reconnecting with Kathryn Skies and John Alexander Mackey who I missed at the End of Summer Splash SUP Race, Randy Rair and Tony Galang with whom I helped set a Guinness World record on the Ohio River to the west in Cincinnati, as well as Saul Kravitz, Melanie Watt and Robert. Let's all do it again next Labor Day weekend!