Sweden’s SUP 11-City Tour: One of the world’s toughest Ultra-SUP races
SWEDEN – In 2008, Anne-Marie Reichman founded the SUP 11-City Tour, one of the world’s toughest ultra-SUP races, which follows the path of Elfstedentocht. Athletes choose to compete non-stop, 5-day or a combination of both races for 220 kilometers or 130 miles. The format of the Elfstedentocht is mirrored for SUP 11-City Tour athletes – they collect stamps at designated locations (replaced by ringing a bell due to wet conditions), paddle or run with their SUP from lock to lock and receive the prized Elfsteden Kruisjen (Eleven Cities). Cross).
Like the Elfstedentocht, the SUP 11-City Tour embodies Frisian heritage and pride for the community, athletes and volunteers who return every year.
Left: Anne-Marie Reichman, founder of SUP 11-City Tour. Right: A lovely couple who come every year to cheer on the athletes and their niece who took part in the 2022 event. Images via Yahnny Adolfo San Luis.
Nynke Bakker interviews Tanja Ecker before the start of the SUP 11-City Tour 2022. Image via Yahnny Adolfo San Luis.
Tanja Ecker competed in the SUP EC in Denmark and the International Canoe Federation’s SUP WC in Poland two weeks before she traveled to Friesland. This year was the first time a German athlete won the SUP 11-City Tour after finishing fifth in 2018 and second in 2020 and 2021.
Ecker’s win came after a full year of racing and hard training on the road while conducting clinics across Europe.
Tanja Ecker shows her blisters from paddling on the SUP 11-City Tour 2022. Image via Yahnny Adolfo San Luis.
“The SUP 11-City Tour means so much to me. It’s like an addiction, once you do it you want to come back every year and be a part of it. Also, I’m involved in the whole event as part of the media team working for the event all year round with a great team. This is also what connects me as an athlete, because I just like paddling in the amazing Frisian landscape, out in the elements and pushing my limits. The SUP 11 -City Tour is really one of those toughest races out there, so it makes me even more eager to win. After being there for five years and finally winning makes it so special. This year seems to be destiny: 5 years, sharing a boat with Anne-Marie again , my start number was my year of birth and the finish was a week before my 30th birthday.”
Tanja turned 30 on Sunday 25 September and her bib number was 92.
It’s no surprise that the SUP 11-City Tour attracts phenomenal athletes returning to defend their titles: 5x champion Bruno Hasulyo, 5x Dutch champion Petronella van Malsen, 8x finisher and this year’s Grand Diva champion Tineke Merkus.
Bruno Hasulyo earns the Elfstedencruise for his fifth victory in the SUP 11-City Tour. Image via Yahnny Adolfo San Luis.
But in every corner there are stories of indomitable courage.
Ghislaine Cordier de Croust, a certified SUP and yoga instructor, was fine for the first three days of her 5-day race before fatigue, brutal winds, constant rain and paddling an average of six hours each day took a toll. Cordier de Croust gathered what she had left in the tank on the last day without sleep, a banana and two painkillers. She battled hard for the 27-kilometer, or 16.7-mile, tempo race in a paddle train powered by two competitors in the women’s open division, Froukje Wichgers-Marien, who placed sixth, and Julia Georgi, who placed eighth.
Ghislaine Cordier de Croust overcomes the challenges of the SUP 11-City Tour 2022. Image via Marloe’s Kaal.
Asked about his experience, seventh-placed Cordier de Croust said: “You really get to know what you’re capable of – you, your board and your paddle. Everyone’s in the same battle.” After completing her first Tour in 2021, her husband secretly entered her into this year’s race which he presented as a surprise gift last November.
For 2022, the SUP 11-City Tour had 250 athletes and over 100 volunteers working tirelessly from 5:30am until after midnight.
The media team was rushing around, editing on the fly, updating social media, producing film, writing daily reports and pouring through 1000’s of images. From athlete hospitality, catering, race newspaper, logistics, medicine and security to certifications, finance, communication and PR, volunteers are the backbone of the itinerant crew that seamlessly appeared and disappeared in 11 Frisian towns and its endless waterways.
The SUP 11-City Tour is a year-round production that restarts as soon as the race is over. Experienced volunteers like Mayola Dijksman is one of the foundation photographers who have come back every year to produce amazing competition films.
The SUP 11-City Tour 2022 crew, photo by Mayola Dijksman.
“Once a year I have the great privilege to tour through our beautiful Friesland and immerse myself in great vibes and positive energy with a group of beautiful people. Old friends and soon to be new friends – paddlers signing up for a one-on-one kind of races who challenge themselves to the next level every day again or for the first time, and volunteers who work hard to challenge themselves to do even better every day and are always there to support anyone in need. We all walk deep together but never stop having fun too. I feel like that creates a bond beyond anything.”
In 2012, founder Anne-Marie Reichman asked Dijksman to join the crew to become the official photographer for the race.
In 1890, the Elfstedentocht, or Eleven Cities Tour, the largest ice skating tour in the world was created by Willem ‘Pim’ Mulier. The first official race was organized by De Friesche IJsbond in 1909. The tour takes place annually and only when the ice is at least 15 centimeters or 6 inches thick. Athletes must be ready within 48 hours of the announcement to compete.
In the last 50 years, the Elfstedentocht has only taken place three times and is at risk of extinction due to climate change.
Head of PR and Communications, Marije Elgersmahanding out Elfstedencruisje and finisher medals at SUP 11-City Tour 2022, photo by Yahnny Adolfo San Luis.
The SUP 11-City Tour pays tribute by maintaining parts of the Elfstedentocht such as collecting stamps at necessary checkpoints (ringing the bell has replaced the stamps). On the fourth day, athletes must take their SUPs out of the water and butt from lock to lock. In West Frisian, club means “to run on skates over a carpet”, which is necessary where skaters must run to the next stretch of ice. Athletes are awarded the Elfstedenkruisje, or Eleven Cities Cross, after completing the non-stop or 5-day race. It is similar to the cross awarded to 86,000 Elfstedentocht participants until the last one held in 1997.
Volunteer and official photographer, Edwin Westra, remembering the last Elfstedentocht as a support crew member for his friend Erik Bruining in the SUP 11-City Tour 2013.
Media Team Victoria, Edwin Westra, and Marieke ready for the long day ahead at SUP 11-City Tour 2022, photo by Yahnny Adolfo San Luis.
“Erik could no longer stand on one leg at the famous tile bridge. Immediately a plan was forged, we had to splint his leg. I had gaffer tape in my car and someone else had an umbrella. Together with his non-stopper colleague Jeroen Labots, he crossed the finish line with the umbrella attached to his leg and everyone was in a jubilant mood. I didn’t do the race myself but I felt that I was part of the athlete’s journey. Although it is important for many to win , to participate in SUP 11-City Tour is something you have to experience. Every year athletes from far and wide come for the first time, but often a second or even more times to experience the feeling, and each time is unique. it’s not the weather, it’s the people. I love it and I’ve already put it in my agenda for next year that I have to keep it free. See you next year.”
Heroic stories like this keep the spirit of Elfstedentochten alive.
2022 had the largest registration numbers in its history due to the growing popularity of SUP and the demand for endurance events.
Like running, cycling and triathlon, the natural path for any growing sport is to offer options for athletes who prefer endurance and ultra distances such as the Yukon River Quest, MR340 and Great Alabama 650.
Athletes as young as 13-year-old Maximus Sijrier competing in the SUP 11-City Tour for the first time won the men’s solo tour. He is part of the next generation of paddlers influencing the endurance paddling scene. Paddling on one side with a modified paddle, a lung, artificial hip and knee, Rembrandt Joosten proved that “can’t” is not part of an endurance athlete’s vocabulary.
13-year-old Maximus Sijrier won the solo tour men’s division at the SUP 11-City Tour 2022, photo by Yahnny Adolfo San Luis.
Göran Gustavsson participated for the first time in 2017 and realized that this was more than a race. “I wanted to come back in 2018. In 2019 I wanted to race both non-stop and 5-day for the challenge but also the experience of old and new friends.” In 2021, Gustavsson participated in both non-stop and 5-day, and completed back-to-back races for the same reason. “It’s more than a competition. In 2022 it was just non-stop because of time. But I’ll keep coming back as a competitor or volunteer. The SUP 11-City Tour is more than a competition.”
Göran Gustavsson at the finish line of the non-stop race at SUP 11-City Tour 2022, photo by Edwin Westra.
Registration opens on October 15, 2022.
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