For more years than I care to count, I’ve staffed a booth for work at Lake Superior Day, which falls annually on the third Sunday in July. When I wasn’t informing people about water quality issues and research, I was gazing wistfully at the groups of paddlers gathered for a race held in conjunction with the event.

The “Paddle for the People” competition welcomes paddleboarders, canoeists, and kayakers. The 4 K race takes them around Barker’s Island in the bay just offshore from the city of Superior.

Last year, a gray-haired woman won the event. She inspired me. I decided that in 2025, since I’d be retired and not staffing a booth anymore, I was going to enter the race.

This spring I sent in my entry. Once the ice went out on our cabin lake, I began training. Having never raced on a paddleboard before, I watched online videos for tips. Russ helped me figure out that two-and-a-half times around our lake equaled the race distance. Around and around our lake I went.

I’d circled Barker’s Island on my board a couple times in the past just for fun, but I did it one more time before the race to assess any hazards and to build my confidence.

Come race day, I awoke a couple hours earlier than usual (ouch) to make it to the start of the race on time. I felt good but had no illusions about winning. The weather cooperated: warm and sunny with little wind. The only problem was poor air quality from wildfire that had drifted from Canada, but it didn’t seem to bother me.

About thirty of us lined up in the bay on our various crafts behind an imaginary starting line. When the bullhorn blew, we were off! I got a good start, paddling with quick, short and powerful strokes and I didn’t crash into anybody. Soon, we paddled around one end of the island and were out on the unprotected side, but conditions stayed optimal.

I was about halfway around the island when an older lady who I’d spied before the race slowly passed me. I wondered if she was in the same “old lady” race category as I was. She was about a foot taller than me. Her technique wasn’t that good, but she was propelled by long-armed strokes. I decided to try and stay with her and pass her if I could in case she was my competition.

At one point, she slowed to (unsuccessfully) try and pick up a can floating in the water. Although I was impressed by her environmental concern, I thought this was my chance to pass her. Try as I might, I couldn’t catch her. I still felt like I was paddling strong when I watched in dismay as a couple of young people with small dogs on their boards passed me. Then came two overweight people who were sitting too far to the front of their boards. They virtually plowed through the water paddling with kayak paddles and also passed me.

I shrugged off my dismay and just dug in. The “other old lady” crossed the finish line twenty-five seconds ahead of me. At the end, I felt good about the effort I expended and the fact that I wasn’t last.

The race organizers held a short awards ceremony afterward and sure enough, I came in second in my category to the woman I had been chasing. I received a silver medal for my efforts.

Now I know what the race is about. But I don’t think I’ll do it again. Waking up early and then paddling hard for 45 minutes isn’t my idea of fun. But I’m glad I stayed true to my self-promise and participated instead of gazing at the racers wistfully from shore. What dreams have you pursued this summer?