Tanja Ecker’s Reign Continues: The Queen of SUP 11-City Tour on Her Latest Victory

For aspiring SUP riders, completing the SUP 11 City Tour once is a dream – but to have seven crosses (*SUP 11-City Tour medal) with podium wins and then crush the 204 km Non-Stop race in 30 hours is nothing short of a stratospheric achievement.  Tanja Ecker, the 11x National German SUP Champion, Ultra-Endurance Paddler, Coach and 404 and Hippostick, Europe Boss, not only conquered the Non-Stop challenge but also played a key role in supporting the event as the 404 Europe Official Partner, Photographer & media crew member.

TotalSUP caught up with Tanja to find out how (and why!) she consistently excels in such a challenging ultra-endurance format and which version of SUP 11-City Tour she recommends for first-time competitors.

Hi Tanya, first of all, huge congratulations on your incredible achievement—crushing the iconic SUP 11-City Tour NON-STOP race in 30 hrs! What motivated you to take on this challenge yourself?

End of last year I was a bit done with paddling, lost the motivation and I was told that I have an unsolvable knee-injury, so I wanted to do something different and focused more on ultra races. After participating in SUP Twelve and the Loire 725 early this year, I already had in my mind to do the SUP 11-City Tour Non-Stop. But 2024 was a very challenging year, with lots of setbacks, emotionally draining and losing my 10 months old dog in July, I was not sure if I would be able to take on the challenge.

Photo by Edwin Westra

I was mentally not well, but if you have two friends (Ella Oesterholt and Wietske Kuipers) offering you to be your support and get almost more excited about it than yourself, there was almost no choice to say no. I knew I would have the endurance and fitness, the only uncertainty was my mind. But sometimes you need an adventure like this to deal with the challenges life offers. It was the best decision I could have made. It’s totally underrated how our social surroundings impact our physical and mental performance and I’m very grateful for the support and friendship I receive!

Photo by Mello

We can confidently say you’re the undisputed queen of this event. For anyone unfamiliar, could you tell how many times you have competed in this race and why you keep coming back?

I have 7 of the renowned crosses now. So, 6 times I did the 5-days edition, one time the Non-Stop and once the Non-Stop in a team of 5. My first participation was in 2018 and since then I haven’t missed one edition. I come back every year because the event became something special for me. The connection you make with people around the world can be life changing. Meeting old and new friends, it’s like coming back to the SUP family. The paddling and work can be exhausting, but it gives you back so much energy as well.

Photo by Edwin Westra

Could you share more about your involvement with the event beyond being a defending Champion and Athlete?

Since 2020 I started working for the media team all year round with the social media content. From then on, I joined the media team during the Non-Stop and paddled the 5-days. But this year it was the other way around, paddling the Non-Stop and joining the media team during the 5-days. I was one of the official photographers and was responsible for the daily collections, working together with Edwin Westra and Yahnny Adolfo San Louis. Earlier this year I finished my Master Thesis about it and developed a sustainable concept for the SUP 11-City Tour.

Photo by Yahnny Adolfo San Louis

This year, 404 Europe was the official Partner of the event. Could you share more about how this collaboration played out?

As an owner of the 404 Europe, I had already sponsored the event last year with some rental boards, but this year I had a way bigger sponsorship offer as I provided lots of 404 boards for the event to rent out to the participants. This is a great opportunity for the event, especially for paddlers coming from abroad, but also for me as 404 Europe to represent the 404 brand and to show the boards to a broader audience.

What was your board and paddle setup for the Nonstop race this year, and how did you find its performance throughout the event?

I used the new 2024/2025 model of the 404 Jump 22“ and the Hippostick Verve. It was perfect. The board didn’t change much through the years, they only applied a new graphic design, a different deck pad and repositioned drain holes, which are another step up of the board. The Jump is such a versatile board, very easy and careless to paddle, so it’s the perfect choice for an ultra-race. No matter the conditions it’s fast and effortless on flat as well as in chop.

This edition of the Non-Stop offered everything. It was mostly flat, but a big part was also very choppy, because of all the boats which were out with the beautiful weather. The last 30 km we had super strong headwind and current against, so you almost went backwards. The new Hippostick Verve is perfect for ultra-distances, because, despite its 90 square inch blade, it’s super effortless and still powerful. The shape in the blade makes it very forgiving, which you need for a 200 km paddle.

Photo by Edwin Westra

In your personal experience, what are the fundamental differences between the Non-Stop event and the 5-day event, given that the distance remains the same at 220KM (130 miles)?

In fact, the total distance is 204 km 😉 The two events are totally different. The vibe is different. The organization is different. The personal preparation is different. With the 5 days, only 40 + km every day, you have more participants and you come together every afternoon and evening for food, chats, massage and so on, plus you have way more rest. It’s faster, more intense and another experience.

The Non-Stop has less participants and you are mostly alone, meet up shortly with others along the way and after two days everything is over. But you have a deeper bond with your support crew and all the people around. The cheering and support is even more as during the 5 days, I would say.

The paddling of course differs as well, because to paddle the 204 km in one go, you definitely have to approach in another way. It’s slower and you have to paddle through the night which is a big difference! This year the night was super dark (new moon and no light pollution), so without lights it would have been impossible to see something.

Photo by Mello

Did you approach your preparation differently for the Non-Stop event?

I did the SUP Twelve in April and the Loire 725 km in record-breaking 5 days in June this year, so I knew I would be ready to do the SUP 11-City Tour Non-Stop. Since the Loire in June I haven’t done lots of long paddles, because the river I paddle on at home had high water levels all the time. In addition, as I mentioned before, I had other life challenges. Because of that, I mixed it up with shorter paddles, lots of long cycling training and special strength training.

Overall, I did way more base training, but have never paddled during night. In the end the training programme from April Zilg combined with my own trainings worked out very well and I had no muscular problems. For the Non-Stop you also need to do more mental training and be able to spend lots of hours with yourself.

What advice would you give to paddlers who are trying to decide between these two formats for the first time?

If you want to do it for the first time, I think it is helpful to do the 5 days before you do the Non-Stop to get to know the route, your way around, get a feeling for the distance and a get a flavour of the conditions you might face. Especially in the night, this is very useful. It’s hard to say which event you should enter, as the preparation is different, and it also depends what challenge you want to take on. In any case don’t underestimate the mental part!

Tanja’s support crew Ella, Wietske, Soraya and Aukje | Photo by Maja Ecker

Which format would you choose again? And are you and 404 planning to return for the 2025?

This year I signed up last minute and now just a month after I’m undecided what to do next year. I really liked the combination of paddling the Non-Stop and supporting and working for the Media Team during the 5 days, but for me it also depends on what is happening in my daily life, job, etc. That would also impact the sponsoring, as at the moment the market is difficult, my sponsoring budget as 404 Europe is limited and so far it’s my own personal effort. I would love to return with the same sponsoring contract and see more paddlers on 404 boards in Europe.

Photo by Edwin Westra

Tanja, once again, massive congratulations on this amazing achievement! You have indeed raised the bar high for those who’d like to follow your suit!

To find out more about the 404 brand, visit www.404-sup.de . Follow the brand on Instagram and Facebook

To find out more about Hippostick, visit Follow the brand on Instagram and Facebook

Follow Tanja Ecker on Instagram and Facebook and visit her website tanjaoutdoors.de

*Images courtesy of Tanja Ecker