Max First, winner of last year’s Catalina Classic Paddleboard Race, had a seemingly insurmountable, 400 yard lead at the halfway point in the Riviera Mexican Grill Round the R10 Paddleboard Race Saturday morning. Over 50 paddlers competed in the race, which starts at Torrance Beach, goes four miles out to the R10 buoy and returns to Torrance Beach.
Robert Parucha was in second when he reached the buoy. He finished 13th in the Catalina Classic last year. But this year Parucha has been training with First, and based on his R10 paddle, he will be at the front of the pack in this year’s Classic.
After rounding the R10, Parucha recognized that First was fading and began to reel him in. With less than a mile to go, Parucha pulled ahead to finish in 1:18.55, 26 seconds ahead of First.
Then, after grabbing a Riviera Mex burrito on the beach, the two training partners paddled out to the R10 a second time, making it back to the beach in time for the awards ceremony. The extra miles were in preparation for the upcoming, 32 mile, Catalina Classic on Sunday, August 30
Geoffrey Page finished third overall and first in the Kapuna (seniors) division in 1:26:54.
This year, for the first time, the nearly two decade old race was run in conjunction with the International Surf Festival.
Sunday morning, with Parucha absent, First easily won the Velzy Stevens Paddleboard Championships in 16:24, more than a minute ahead of second place finisher Mark Miyamoto, who finished in 17:39. Ryland Hart was third in 18:05. Miyamoto and Hart were both paddling 14-foot stand-up boards.
Nearly 200 paddlers competed in the Velzy Stevens race, which starts in the water at the end of the Manhattan Beach pier and finishes on the south side of the Hermosa Beach pier.
