NYCkayaker MIMS

[Mo Fridlich]

This years MIMS was particularly grueling for me. I was tempted to use the adage that "I must be getting too old for this". From the time I launched the kayak to the time I finished was 11 and 1/2 hours. Add to that the ungodly hour that I had to get up to make it there in time, getting drenched to the bone by heavy down pour and having to climb aboard the support boat to evade the thunder and lightening. The latter especially hard because of large waves and a body stiff, wet, cold and sore from sitting 8 hours in the same position.
Still that is nothing compared to what the swimmers must be experiencing. My guy swam on and on, hour after hour. True he was behind the pack but he just kept going. After the stop for the thunderstorm he went right back in the water and continued. It just put my effort to shame. 
Eventually the tide turned against him and with 2 miles to go, in plain sight of his goal, the captain was ordered to pull him out and his race was over. As always I admire the spirit and the drive of these swimmers and that is why I wish I will never tire and get too old to be supporting them.
When I got home I had to just re-read Ralph's post since he is a master of words and these still echoed in my mind:
" MIMS was and remains a glorious day for the kayaking community and the good it can accomplish in helping others achieve their goals.  Sure, it has its shortcomings and plans do go astray at times.  But stop to reflect a moment about the Big Picture, then the glitches and setbacks become just an interesting sidebar to the memory."

As I often do to enhance my memory, I have put together an album with photo's of this years MIMS at :  http://www.mofridlich.com/gallery/2007-MIMS


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