Ultra Long Distance

What started as an ambitious idea is quickly becoming one of the Baltic region’s most talked-about SUP events. At the centre of it is Ansis Dobelis – Founder of Supfit.lv and Co-Creator of the SUP King Marathon – Salaca 100 – a challenge that has rapidly built momentum, already attracting over 100 registered paddlers. Launched […]

There are SUP stories I come across, often by chance, or through a kind of serendipity, that expand my understanding of the sport I write about. There’s also a distinctive trait in endurance and ultra-endurance athletes: a willingness to go deeper, to become vulnerable and to openly share the motivations behind some of the toughest […]

Living up to its tagline, both athletes from across the globe and organisers WENT LONG IN BORNEO. From 27 – 29 March 2026, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah made history, hosting Malaysia’s first-ever long-distance SUP race – Borneo International Stand-Up Paddle Marathon (BISM) – on the waters of the South China Sea. With paddlers flying in from […]

When covering long-distance races and endurance challenges, the goal is often to get to the core of why athletes choose the tougher, more extreme side of the sport. What stood out while working on the story with Ilze Ozolina was not just the physical challenge, but the meditative aspect of long-distance paddling. As she puts […]

As international names continue to be confirmed for the Borneo International Stand-Up Paddle Marathon (BISM), we caught up with Event Director Benjamin Golimbi and Managing Partner at Borneo Escapade Tours to discuss the growing momentum behind what is shaping up to be a landmark event for the region. From 27-29 March 2026, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah […]

Before the SUP 11 City Tour became one of the most legendary Stand Up Paddle races, there was a quiet, almost forgotten chapter that few people know. In 2008, long before start lines, live tracking or international podium battles, Anne-Marie Reichmann-Totah paddled the entire 11 Cities route alone. No race. No crowd. Just a board, the […]

Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, is set to make history as it hosts Malaysia’s very first long-distance Stand-Up Paddling (SUP) race – the inaugural Borneo International Stand-Up Paddle (BISM) Marathon. Taking place from 27 to 29 March 2026, this landmark event promises to bring together paddlers from across the region and world for a weekend of competition, […]

In 2024, many looked beyond the headline that read “the race won” when John Batson – the Flying Fish Board Co. rider, waterman with a background in windsurfing and kayak coaching and an accomplished endurance racer with podiums at events such as Chattajack, the Carolina Cup, and the Goat Boater Race Series – missed the […]

Allistair Swinsco and Alison Rennie are in their 50s and absolutely shredding – so what’s our excuse? Hailing from Loch SUP in Scotland, this seasoned endurance paddling duo continues to impress the SUP world with their grit, humour and unmistakable team spirit. Fresh off smashing the SUP 11-City Tour, they didn’t just participate, they dominated. Competing […]

At 41, Marco Teodosio divides his time between the waves of Foz do Arelho, Portugal, and the canals of Amersfoort, Netherlands, where he coaches at Lakeside SUP, sharing his knowledge and training the next generation of paddlers. Once a surfer turned ultra endurance SUP racer, Marco swapped crowded breaks for endless waterways—and thanks to the […]

This year the Crossing for Cystic Fibrosis was no easy feat. Not only do paddlers have to paddle 80 miles from Bimini in the Bahamas, to Lake Worth in Florida, they also have to navigate paddling through the dark, and rough waters. Those challenges did not seem to deter Lindsay LeBlanc from paddling hard, and […]

As the registrations are up for the second and final leg of the Double 10 Challenge, a pioneering concept in ultra-long-distance racing, pairing Les 10 Heures de Vassivière, organised by Christophe Bancelin and the Paddle Vassivière Club in France, with Belgium’s The Longest Day, spearheaded by Vincent Claeskens and the Belgian SUP Tour (BST). Together, they create the Double […]

Gregor Wacker’s story – former German military diver, ocean rower, and endurance paddler with a 5000km Atlantic Ocean Crossing under his belt* – hits differently. On one hand it’s about that unique ‘league’ of endurance paddlers and absolute legends in their own right taking on some killer, unsupported challenges and yet still slipping under the radar […]

This summer, British paddleboarder Jamie BartlettBundy will embark on one of the most emotional and physically demanding crossings of his life: a 26.5-nautical-mile paddle across the English Channel, in memory of his daughter Pearl. Jamie, 49, a carpenter from Hassocks in Sussex, lost Pearl to Ewing sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, in 2017 […]