Miles and miles
SUP 11 Cities Tour
Words: Wilma Zwikker-Killgallon and Matthew Killgallon
The SUP 11 Cities Tour in
Holland is a gruelling
endurance race covering
220km crossing the
northern Dutch province of
Friesland. The race consists
of going through 11 cities
(small towns) and ringing
five bells. To make things
more interesting, the last
bell on each day has a cut
off time (normally 5pm).
There is a 15-minute break
at around the halfway
point to re-provision water,
food and quickly devour a
banana and some pasta
before taking off again.
Photo: Mayola Dijksmman/
SUP11 City Tour
Photo: Mayola Dijksmman/
SUP11 City Tour
The race is divided in different classes: nonstop, tour, race ladies, race men, master’s
men, elite men and team. The non-stop
version this year attracted 12 people who
try to complete the whole 220km overnight
with little sleep and rest.
Originally this was an ice skating race held
in the winter when lakes, rivers and canals
are cold enough to freeze. This year was the
eighth 11 Cities SUP race which follows the
same route as the original. The SUP tour is
the brain child of Annemarie Reichman who
completed the first route in 2008 in 38
hours. Each year the tour has grown and
attracts more participants with over 160
participants covering 27 countries in 2016.
Unfortunately three people pulled out.
Caroline Seth-Smith stopped with 38km to
go after losing her support team and running
on no liquids for several hours. Florent Dode
finished in 25 hours and 36 minutes; with
the last paddler, Jorg Bossack, finished nearly
eight hours later in 33 hours and 35 minutes.
Joanne Hamilton-Vale finished in 29 hours
and 42 minutes. All should be commended
for their efforts.
The weather this year was perfect with clear
skies and blistering temperatures of 25C or
more with only a slight or no breeze most
days. This meant hydration and suntan
lotion were very important! Falling in the
canals became a welcome relief.
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