Considered a pioneer of ultra-long-distance SUP racing, the SUP 11-City Tour has once again brought paddlers from around the world to Friesland, the northern province of the Netherlands, for its 18th edition of the five-day competition and its 13th edition of the gruelling Non-Stop challenge.
What began as one woman’s vision has grown into a phenomenon far beyond a race. Founded by Anne-Marie Reichmann-Totah, the event has evolved into a global ultra-distance SUP challenge with a remarkably tight-knit community. Volunteers, supporters and fiercely loyal paddlers return year after year, drawn not only by the physical and mental demands of the course, but also by its history, camaraderie and unique spirit.
The format has remained true to its roots. The five-day challenge covers approximately 220 kilometres (136 miles) through the waterways and canals of Friesland. Then there is the Non-Stop Challenge: approximately 200 kilometres over two days, with a strict time limit of 36 hours for women and 34 hours for men.
And this year, the legendary event once again delivered its share of unpredictability. Strong headwinds forced changes to the Non-Stop course, while constantly shifting conditions tested even the most experienced paddlers. At the same time, new athletes stepped into the spotlight, adding another chapter to an event whose reputation continues to draw competitors back to Friesland year after year.
To explore the many layers of what makes the SUP 11 City Tour so compelling, we caught up with members of Team SUP Training Leeuwarden (The Netherlands) – Wietse de Boer, Grietje Hoekstra, Sonja Dijkstra, Johan Hoekstra and Ronald Wissman – alongside the Non-Stop women’s winner, Froukje Wichgers-Mariën (The Netherlands), and the youngest overall women’s winner, 15-year-old Marin Hoeboer (The Netherlands). Their experiences offer different perspectives on the challenge: from teamwork and preparation to endurance, competition, community and the sheer determination required to make it to the finish.
Alison Rennie and Alistair Swinsco | Photo Mayola Photography
What makes the SUP 11 City Tour so special is that every day, every stage and every challenge has its own heroes. From Scotland’s Team Al & Al – Alison Rennie and Alistair Swinsco, who once again took on both the five-day and Non-Stop challenges, to Joep van Bakel (The Netherlands), who won the five-day race while sharing the podium with his son, Mylo, competing for the first time. And Emmanuelle Marcon (France), who successfully defended her Grand Diva title while taking silver in the women’s overall category – to name just a few of the many stories that made this year’s event so memorable.
Joep and Mylo van Bakel | Photo Edwin Wekstra
And then there are the unsung heroes of the 11-City Tour – the paddlers who return year after year, quietly adding another chapter to their journey, collecting their fifth, sixth or even more crosses along the way.
Froukje Wichgers-Mariën | Photo Edwin Wekstra
After three participations in the Open Women race category, I decided it was time to do something different. In 2023, my husband participated in the non-stop, and I supported him along the way. Somewhere during those days, a seed was planted. It just needed three years to grow. I wanted to find out if I could do it too, paddle 200 kilometres non-stop. How would my body react? How would my mind respond? Was this something I was truly capable of? Those questions made me curious, and that curiosity eventually brought me to the start line of the non-stop.
The first 100 kilometres went surprisingly well. I had great support along the route and my support crew was absolutely on point. But after the night, things became much harder. I was exhausted, and more than my body, it was my mind that was tired. Sleeping wasn’t an option, though, because I still had around 70 kilometres to paddle. It was incredible to experience how quickly the mind can switch. One moment everything felt good, then I was completely exhausted and suddenly I became fierce. From that moment on, there was only one goal: get to the finish line.
Froukje Wichgers-Mariën | Photo Edwin Wekstra
This achievement means a lot to me. It showed me that I am capable of doing something I never knew I could do. It taught me that you can takeover your own mind when it starts working against you. But I also know that I would not have been able to complete this edition without all the support I received. There was a lot of it, and every bit mattered. A huge shoutout to my amazing support crew, everyone who supported me along the way, and of course, ikSUP. This one was not just mine, it was ours.
Marin Hoeboer | Photo by Rene Bruinsma
I finally accomplished my goal of finishing and winning the 5-day competition of the SUP 11-City Tour. I really enjoyed myself last week, although we had some tough moments too, especially on the first day. We had rain and quite strong headwinds almost the whole day. On the Slotermeer, there were big waves from the side, which made it challenging.
But for the rest of the week, we had nicer weather, with less wind and plenty of sun. I paddled most of the distance alone, and some parts with Emmanuelle Marcon. All of the supporters along the way made my experience even nicer.
I am now the youngest woman winner and competitor to finish the 5-day race, so I’m super satisfied with this result. The training and help from SUP.Training really helped me prepare for this challenge.
Marin Hoeboer battling it out with Emmanuelle Marcon | Photo Edwin Wekstra
What started as an idea turned into a very special weekend for Team SUP Training Leeuwarden. Our team – Wietse de Boer, Grietje Hoekstra, Sonja Dijkstra, Johan Hoekstra and Ronald Wissman – took part in the Non-Stop edition of the SUP 11-City Tour. There was already quite a bit of SUP 11-City Tour experience in the team, although for Sonja it was her very first time taking part in the event. Wietse even finished third in the men’s category during the five-day edition last year. For all of us, though, the Non-Stop format was something new, and that was exactly what made it so appealing.
Team SUP Training Leeuwarden | Photo by Mayola Photography
What we really liked about doing it as a team is that everyone paddles their own stage, but you still experience the whole adventure together. You can share experience beforehand, help each other when someone is nervous about a certain section, and support each other along the route whenever possible. Of course you also have to make sure you get some rest between stages, so you cannot be everywhere all the time, but you are still constantly involved in what the team is doing.
This year things turned out very differently from what we had expected. Normally the start and finish would be in Leeuwarden, but because of the wind they were moved to Workum. That meant we had to completely change our schedule. For Sonja, it meant that her very first SUP 11-City Tour stage was entirely in the dark. Ronald was already supposed to start at night, but now he had to do so on a route that was much less familiar to him.
Photo Edwin Wekstra
There was definitely a competitive side to it as well. Wietse was the first of our team to take to the water, paddling from Workum to Franeker. He had to paddle a large part of his stage into a headwind, but still managed to overtake quite a few paddlers. Between Workum and Bolsward there were also lots of fishermen along the side. Because of the wind, everyone was paddling on the left – exactly where the fishermen were. The first one cast his line into the water about two metres in front of Wietse. In the end, he went over two fishing lines and under two others. Oops 😉
Wietse de Boer | Photo by Mayola Photography
From Franeker, Grietje took over for the section to Dokkum. She had more favourable wind on her section, but what really pushed her was her determination not to let anyone pass. She ended up paddling harder than she ever had before. The Scottish tandem of Alison and Alistair did manage to overtake her, but with two paddlers on one long board they are always fast.
Grietje Hoekstra | Photo by Rene Bruinsma
Then it was Sonja’s turn, paddling from Dokkum to Leeuwarden. Her very first SUP 11-City Tour stage was entirely in the dark, which made it an even more memorable introduction to the event. We had a good battle going with Team Friends too. They overtook Sonja during the night, but because it was so dark they did not realise they had already passed her. So they kept paddling flat out for quite a while, thinking they still had to make the move.
Sonja Dijkstra | Photo Edwin Wekstra
After Sonja came Ronald, who started his stage in Leeuwarden and paddled through the night towards Sloten. His stage turned into one of the tougher parts of the weekend. As the night moved into early morning, the mist started to rise and the temperature dropped sharply. The cold air made breathing more difficult and pushed his heart rate up, which made an already demanding stage even harder. Still, he kept going and later described the whole thing as another fantastic SUP 11-City Tour experience, despite how tough it had been. And somewhere in the middle of all that, he even had an unexpected passenger when a small fish jumped onto his board in the dark.
Ronald Wissman
Ronald finished his stage in Sloten, where Johan took over for the next part of the tour. Towards the end of the event, Johan then had a tough section of his own. The Morra was difficult for him, and between Stavoren and Molkwerum he also had to deal with a lot of water plants. At the same time, on the final stage, Bruno Hasulyo pushed the pace even harder for Team Friends, which made it clear that we were not going to catch them again. Luckily, Johan’s section was also a part of the route where many of us could be there to support him.
One of the best moments of the weekend was between Molkwerum and Hindeloopen, where we drove alongside Johan with two cars and a van, hazard lights on, moving at roughly SUP speed – around 6 to 9 km/h – just to cheer him on and stay with him for a while. For us, it was one of the moments that made the weekend so special.
Johan Hoekstra | Photo by Mayola Photography
In the end, Team Friends, with team members from all over the world, won the mixed team competition, and we finished second in the mixed team category. The Scottish tandem of Alison and Alistair finished first in the tandem category. We are really happy with that result, especially when we look back at everything we had to deal with along the way: wind, cold, mist, darkness, water plants and a schedule that had to be completely changed at the last minute.
But the result was only one part of what made the weekend special. A familiar face on the side of the route, someone shouting encouragement, or a message from a teammate can give you a surprising amount of energy. Sonja said afterwards that she never felt alone, and that every familiar face she saw gave her another boost. That is also a big part of what we love about the SUP 11-City Tour. Of course it is about paddling and taking on a challenge, but just as much about the atmosphere around it, the volunteers, the supporters and the other paddlers. The SUP community is friendly, helpful and relaxed, and it quickly feels like one big family.
We also wanted to make it feel like a real team weekend. We had team hoodies printed – the women wanted fluorescent pink and the men agreed 😉 – and Johan created bright team stickers and small team flags through his company HJH Reclame, to attach to our leashes or wear on the back over our hydration packs. For each of us, the Non-Stop was a different kind of challenge, but doing it together made it an experience we will all look back on with a lot of enjoyment.
Women overall
1st Marin Hoeboer
2nd Emmanuelle Marcon
3rd Marliz Medendorp
Photo by Mayola Photography
Men overall
1st Joep van Bakel
2nd Mylo van Bakel
3rd Peter Mulhauser
Photo by Mayola Photography
Divas 40+
1st Marliz Medendorp
2nd Sietske De Wit-Steenbeek
3rd Dan Sloman
Grand Divas 50+
1st Emmanuelle Marcon
2nd Esther Pater
3rd Annabel Ewer
Emmanuelle Marcon | Photo by Edwin Wekstra
Masters 40+
1st Joep van Bakel
2nd Michael Ian Duelund Jensen
3rd Jens Hultquist
Grand Masters 50+
1st Peter Mulhauser
2nd Juerg Geser
3rd Mark Kruisheer
Tandem
1st Team Al + Al: Alison Rennie & Alistair Swinsco
Alison Rennie & Alistair Swinsco | Photo by Edwin Wekstra
Tour
1st Maarten van der Ploeg
2nd Philippe Ker Rault
3rd Hugo Vernhout
Marek Splichal | Photo by Edwin Wekstra
Men Top 3
1st Marek Splichal
2nd Job Moerings
3rd Richard Wiesner
Job Moerings | Photo by Edwin Wekstra
Women Winners
1st Froukje Wichgers-Marien
2nd Catherine Salinoc
Team Winners
1st Team Friends
2nd Team Al & Al – Alison Rennie & Alistair Swinsco
3rd Team Sup Training Leeuwarden – Wietse de Boer, Grietje Hoekstra, Sonja Dijkstra, Johan Hoekstra and Ronald Wissman
Photo by Mayola Photography
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