When we started the Race to Alaska, we hoped that it would inspire us all to connect with the best parts of our possibility. That in a world dominated by contrivance and commercials we might provide a forum to reconnect people to adventure in its purest form. Without rules, motors, and as close to the nature-state wildness of a stretch of untamed coastline, connecting all of us to everyday heroes inside of us all who might consider the challenge first and the size of the applause a far off second or third. If there were an embodiment of the architecture dance of the full scope of awesome we hoped the race would encompass, Team Heart of Gold gets as close to pure “that” in a way we never imagined possible until we were reveling along with all of you as he crossed the finish line. What could be more audacious, hardcore and simple than a paddle, a board and as little as you can carry? Cram as much skill and deep determination as will fit in a human, dip the blade again and again until Ketchikan is in sight and impossible is a few horizons behind. For the people on the dock, the thousands watching from the internet, the superfans who lined the beaches to cheer him along the way, and people just hearing about it for the first time this was a rare type of incredible. Mind blowing, heart expanding, reality shifting incredible.
