8/4/2019 Tenacity Games Kaleidescope July 13

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By ADAM LAPIERRENews staff writer

Cancer sucks.Cancer sucks, Charlene Mayer

said. Her words echoed out over theColumbia River on a sunny Saturdayafternoon, caughtby thewindand theears of a couple hundred participantsand spectators. With two cancer sur-vivors in the band, the Hood River AllStars were a perfect fit as entertain-ment for tail end of a six-hour kite-board endurancerace at theEventSite.

Using the positive power of windand water as glue, Athletes for Can-cer brought together thousands offun-loving participants and specta-

tors over the weekend for the fifth-annual cancer fundraiser. FormerlyKitebaording 4 Cancer, the event hasevolved since its inception in 2006 tothe Tenacity Games, which this yearincluded three days of kiteboarding,stand up paddling and kayakingcompetitions, live music, sunshine,art for all ages and a raffle and auc-tion that combined to raise morethan $60,000 for charities.

Imexhausted, but thrilled at howwell everything went, said ToniaFa r m a n, A t hl e t e s Fo r C a nc e rfounder. It always amazes me howmany people come together for this

cause. Hood River is rich with pas-sion for the outdoors and for outdoorsports. Were raising awarenessthrough that lifestyle, and I thinkthat is why there has been an in-creased interest in the event.

Farman said this years eventswere a record for attendance bothin participants and spectators andin fundraising for the weekend. Thisyearthe moneywillgo toseveralpro-grams, includingAthletes for Cancersurvivorship camps, ChildrensHealing Art Project and the NextDoor Inc. of Hood River.

We area local nonprofit,Farmansaid. The event is drawing interest

fromacross the country, butthe focusis here in Hood River. The assets wehave with the wind, water and ele-ments, and the energy of the people,are gathering a lot of interest.

Newcompetitionsin kayakingandSUP were added thisyear, and if Far-man has her way momentum willcontinue to include more events andmore sports next year. Kind of likeGorge Games, she said, but with afocus on Athletes for Cancers mis-sion of, harnessing the healingpower of the elements with the de-termination of the human spirit toimpact lives affected by cancerthrough funding of advocacy, preven-tion, and survivorship programs.

We want to build on the energyand momentum for the future, Far-

man said. Its hard to promise thatnext year will be bigger or better, butif we continue to build on the pastand add events that are focused onour mission, it can only grow andevolve further.

The kayaking event was a first-ever of its kind, starting below Con-dit Dam on the White Salmon andending witha cross-Columbia paddleto the Event Site.

It started with whitewater rapidsin the White Salmon and ended with

a battle against the wind and wavesof the Columbia, Farman said. Idont think an event like that hasever been done before. Its using thatunique spirit and energy, for a pow-erful cause, that has made this eventso sucessful. Theres a long list ofpeople, businesses and sponsors tothank. You know who you are.Thank you, everyone for the effortand the support in making Athletesfor Cancer what it is today.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011 B1

Inside: B2, Interdependence DayI B3, HappeningsI B5, YesteryearsI B6, ClassifiedsI B10,

GOOD TIMES and agreat cause over theweekend during theTenacity Games. Far

left is overall en-durance race champi-on Grom Gormley; atleft, Richard Hallman,

Tonia Farman andDave Gutierrez race

to the finish of ateam relay challenge;

and, below, the dra-matic and colorfulstart to Saturdays

competitions.

Heart,

Strength,

TenacityTenacity

Tenacity Games draws hundreds, raises more than $60,000

Photos by ADAM LAPIERRE and JENNIFER REINHARD

By BEN MCCARTYNews staff writer

Stand up paddling is not typicallythought of asa full contact sport.Un-less you count the paddle hitting thewater, there is really not much con-tact act at all. That is until you add aboxing glove to the butt-end of saidpaddle.

Then it becomes a free-for-all.About a half dozen contestants

found that out the hard way duringthe Full Contact Stand Up PaddlingCompetition Friday afternoon dur-ing the Tenacity Games.

A few competitors, including vet-eran Aaron Sales had experiencewith the event from last year. Most of

them though had no idea what theywere doing, and simply paddled asfar away from the gloved ends oftheir opponents paddles as possible.

Those that fled found that therewas nowhere from Sales wrath onopen water. He picked off his oppo-nents one by one, and in one in-stance, two at once.

However, just when it appeared hewas going to emerge victorious, anunlikely challenger emerged.

Nick Maciel, an 18-year-old StandUp Combat rookie, rose from hisboard to challenge Sales.

Ive paddle boarded before withmy friends but Ive never done any-thing like this before, he said.

Maciel had been knocked down by

Sales earlier, but had not been elimi-nated because he fell onto his boardand not into the water.

He got up and charged at Sales,with the two closing on each otherlike medieval knights in a joustingmatch. They both missed. Macielquickly turned and began proddingat Sales again. As they closed the gapbetween them, he was finally able toknock Sales into the water.

This is my second year doing thisand its my second year in secondplace, so I guess it just wasnt meantto be, Sales said.

I

For a video of the competition,visit hoodrivernews.com.

Top marks:

Six-hour kiteboardingendurance course race:

Men:

1st: Grom2nd: Nick Ward3rd: Cory Roesler, Nick

Stuard and Tony BolstadtWomen:

1st: Carol Bolstad andJazz DeLille2nd: Rachel Calahan3rd: Jadie DeLilleJuniors:1st: Erik Devries-Merril2nd: Peter Tenof3rd: Charlie CohnTeams:

1st: Cabrinha #1 and #22nd:Urban Flora/2nd

Wind and Team CHAP3rd: Blade Kites and

Hood River Rats

Kayak 4 Cancer race:

Men:

1st: Louis Geltman2nd: Ryan Bohn3rd: Dan GavereWomen:

1st: Monica Gokey

2nd: Heather Herbeck3rd: Mollie Daugherty

Top Fundraisers:

Individual

1st: Steve FisherTeam:

1st: Real Wind Ninjas,raised $10,000

SUP events:

www.tenacitygames.com

Harnessing the healing power of the elements with the determination of the human spirit to impact livesaffected by cancer through funding of advocacy, prevention and survivorship programs

SUP brawl a smashing good time

BATTLE ROYALE at the Hood River Waterfront Park; full-contact SUP par-ticipant Nick Maciel gets the better of an opponent on his way to victory.

Photo by Jennifer Reinhard

GORGE SPIRIT was on display in brightcolors over the weekend. Photos include

(above) the start of a kayak race fromCondit Dam to the Event Site; below,Jazz DeLille, womens endurance race

co-winner; kids decorating a skateboardwith longtime event partner Childrens

HealingArt Project and SUP racer TJGulizia sprinting to the finish of a Viento

to Hood River endurance race.