Community News 11
Ponte Vedra Recorder · August 27, 2015
Photo by Mick Shea
Stand up for autism: 2015 Great PV Paddle
Annual Stand Up Paddle
Board race benefits
those with autism living
in Northeast Florida
Carrie Resch
The Recorder
Get your paddle boards ready. The
Great Ponte Vedra Paddle is just around
the corner.
The 2015 Great Ponte Vedra Paddle
benefitting the HEAL Foundation will
take place on Labor Day, Mon., Sept. 7 at
Mickler’s Landing in Ponte Vedra Beach.
The fourth annual event presented by
One Call Care Management features a
one-mile Stand Up Paddle Board Sprint,
a three-mile SUP Race and a five-mile
SUP Distance Race and an “anything that
floats challenge.”
HEAL, which stands for Healing Every
Autistic Life, is a grassroots organization
founded in 2004 that is headquartered in
Ponte Vedra. The non-profit organization
assists individuals with autism and their
families.
One hundred percent of the funds
raised from the event will go to HEAL
to help fund the organization’s initiatives such as outreach and educational
programs and camps and activities that
are tailored to the needs of people with
autism.
The Great Ponte Vedra Paddle was cofounded in 2012 by HEAL board member
Dana Current along with 20 other businesses and community leaders.
Last year’s event attracted 36 corporate
sponsors, 250 participants and over 500
spectators. Since the inaugural event
in 2012, The Great Ponte Vedra Paddle
has raised over $100,000 for the HEAL
Foundation.
Registration and sign in for The Great
Ponte Vedra Paddle is from 7–8:30 a.m.
on race day. The five-mile distance race
begins at 9 a.m., the three-mile open race
begins at 9:15 a.m., and the one-mile fun
race begins at 10:45 a.m.
Amateurs and beginners are encouraged to participate. Participants do not
have to have their own paddle board
can rent one from a local outfitter prior
to race day.
Event festivities include food, music, a
raffle drawing and an award ceremony
at noon for the top three finishers (male
and female) in each division.
The “anything that floats challenge”
flotilla is a quarter-mile race for individuals or teams who, like the event name,
can use anything that floats to participate
— kayaks, inner tubes, rafts, noodles,
etc. Participants in the “anything that
floats challenge” are encouraged to dress
up. Trophies will be awarded to the
most creative theme and best costumes.
The race begins at 11:30 a.m.
North Guana Outpost, a kayak and
SUP outfitter and rental facility located
just down the road from Mickler’s Landing on Mickler Road, participated in last
year’s event for the first time. NGO will
have paddle boards available for rent
at their shop on race day. Interested
persons can also call ahead and reserve
a board for the event.
“It’s just a really, really fun event,”
NGO co-owner Lauren Ingalls said. “It’s
great for families, and even for people
who have never paddle boarded before
they can come out and try board and do
the one mile race.”
As for the difficulty of paddle boarding for beginners, Ingalls said it’s not
hard for people to learn. “It’s definitely
something that anybody can do,” she
said. “It’s not very hard on