by Travis Prewitt, NorthWest Region Member
The 15th Rose City SUP Classic had perfect conditions for the 55 SUP racers on Portland’s Willamette River October 4th. Any report on this race must mention Bob Rueter and Bodie Von Allmen.
Rueter founded Gorge Performance 43 years ago as a surf and windsurf shop in Portland and has watched the evolution of SUP from surf boards to Bark Dominator to the dugout carbon fiber boards of today. He and wife Kim have organized and sponsored the SUP Classic since inception. Bob also found time to win the senior (over-67) age group.
Bodie Von Allmen from nearby Lake Oswego entered his first SUP Classic as an 8-year-old. He was the overall winner of the 4.5-mile race at age 10 and overall winner of the 6-mile race at age 13. Now 20, has re-repeated as overall winner of the 6-mile race every year except when professional racing took him elsewhere, this year with a time of 1:05:42.
Vicki Mills was the top female at 1:13:23 at 6-miles. Michael Witherite and Kristi Turner topped the podium in the 4.5-mile race. In the 2-mile race the next generation of champions were led by Yaseen Salem and Fattima Zaki.
