Forty-eight hours after the race started on a beautiful but breezy Saturday morning, the wind was picking up at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Florida. It had already been the windiest, coldest Last Paddler Standing ever: when temperature dropped to 50°F (10°C) on the first night, strong racers who made it through the first day started dropping like flies. But five paddlers persisted, making it through not just one night but two. While it was dark, there was a brief reprieve from the wind. But as the sun rose on Sunday, it returned with a vengeance.

Alexis Somoano, Blake Carmichael, John Batson, John Knippers, and Bobby Johnson had all completed 158 miles (254 km): one 3.3 mile (5.4 km) loop of the lake every hour, on the hour, in 10-16 mph of sustained winds. The 48 hour mark finally arrived: everything was about to change. From here on out, the loop length would go up to 4.9 miles (7.9 km), but they still had only an hour to complete this “Super Lap”.

The whistle sounded for the first Super Lap. Four racers jumped onto their boards, pushing into the wind with determination. One board remained untouched on the beach.

Bobby Johnson is an experienced ultra paddler: this was his third Last Paddler Standing, he’s completed the 650 miles (1046 km) of the Alabama 650 every year since 2019, and he was part of the Epic Battle to break the Mississippi Speed Record. But two days of loops around Nathan Benderson Park was his breaking point. Bobby had accomplished his goal of 48 laps, and the worsening wind made another lap untenable. Receiving his “No Longer Standing” coin of recognition from Race Director Greg Wingo, Bobby said the wind was the deciding factor: “It’s the roughest I’ve seen it out there this whole time.”

The year that winning became impossible?

It was down to four. How many of them would be able to finish 4.9 miles in less than an hour? Not only had they been awake for 48 hours and paddled several marathons already, but they faced driving headwinds for half the loop, and cutting cross-wind around several buoy turns. Blake Carmichael and John Batson raced off, but Alex Somoano took a few seconds at the start to fix his Speedcoach and was quickly left in the dust. John Knippers had a good start. Until he was in the water. Back up. And in the water again. Knippers headed back for the beach. Somoano kept at it, but finishing the Super Lap in less than an hour looked increasingly unlikely. Even for Batson and Carmichael up at the front, the time was looking tight.

Racers, spectators, and commentators alike suddenly started to question whether it was possible… Even if Batson and Carmichael finished Lap 49 in time, could one or both of them go back out and do it again?

Reports of whitecaps around the corner came through on the livestream as the minutes ticked by. It looked like Batson and Carmichael were going to finish the lap with time to spare. John Batson paddled toward the beach to finish his lap with five minutes until the cut-off. 2023 winner Blake Carmichael was just behind him. As they rounded the final buoy and neared the shore, Batson fell off his board! Somehow he recovered quickly, and finished Lap 49. Two paddlers landed on the beach, officially still standing. For either John or Blake to win, one of them would have to finish another lap alone within an hour. And the other would have to drop out, or fail to finish the lap within an hour. If neither of them could finish another Super Lap in less than an hour, there would be no winner. The race itself would win. As the wind grew louder, Lap 50 for either paddler was looking dicey. Would anyone be able to win?

The most bonkers race on the calendar

Last Paddler Standing is easily the craziest, most innovative SUP event on the race calendar. Race Director Greg Wingo was inspired by the “backyard ultra” format from ultra running. If “loops till you drop” sounds nutty, consider that the original idea came from the same person who invented the notoriously absurd Barkley Marathons. They almost make Last Paddler Standing look tame.

Twenty-six racers started Last Paddler Standing this year as thousands tuned into the livestream online. You might expect such an intense race to be a “once in a lifetime” type experience, but the immense challenge continues to draw returners back year after year. Is it all the die-hard paddling fans gathered in the “athlete’s village” of tents, blankets, and coffee makers? The “one more lap” cheers for every racer to push their body and mind to the furthest limits? The incredibly high probability of failure? Whatever it is, there’s something special about Last Paddler Standing. The first ever winner of the race in 2022 (when SUP Racer started the “Last Commentator Standing” format), Italian SUP racing pioneer Paolo Marconi, reflected on the race two years later: “To this day, the Last Paddler Standing is the race that has given me the most emotions, profoundly changing my approach to the sport and to daily life.”

The 50th lap

With barely five minutes until the start whistle sounded for the fiftieth time, only two paddlers were still standing. The wind whipped across the beach. A few “no longer standing” racers had stayed to watch the end, wrapped up for warmth and appreciative that they weren’t still out on the water. They gathered with supporters and commentators by the beach. Would John and Blake face off for another one? Would one of them stand down?

Blake Carmichael put his paddle down and announced he wouldn’t be going back out. “I ain’t got it in me. That’s for sure… That was the craziest wind by far, like times two what we’ve seen all weekend… Must be 20 knots straight in our faces. The buoy was bouncing around, so John got stuck in it. I just tried to hang with him.”

It was all on John Batson.

Batson dashed into shore for a brief snack to make the most of the minutes remaining until he set off again. He still had to complete another Super Lap if he was going to win the race. But the wind was stronger than ever, he was exhausted from his first Super Lap, and he only had an hour to make it around. Could he pull it off?

John set off for Lap 50. 163 miles (254 km) down, 4.9 miles (7.9 km) to go. At least he finally knew this one would be the last lap. As John pushed his way around the lake one last time, Blake sat down at last and considered what he’d done: “Last year, I came in with no expectations. It was cool to get to 48 and be able to compete in the Super Laps.

You end up becoming so present, in the moment with it. One lap at a time, and then all of a sudden you’re doing Super Laps and then it changes.”

The line between what’s achievable and what’s not

With the breeze shooting straight down the length of the lake, the first section of the loop was with the wind. Of course it’s better going with the wind than against it, but the tricky part for John here (other than keeping balance) was pushing himself hard enough to make up time on the downwind before facing headwinds. While not pushing so hard as to lose the energy he would desperately need to go against the wind in a few minutes. After 49 hours, his body was hurting. Turning into the wind, everything was against him now.

Watching from the beach that marked the start and finish of each lap, spectators and commentators lost sight of John as he trudged through his final lap. Questions of how fast he would finish the final lap (54 minutes? 58 minutes? 59:59?) faded as the clock ticked on and John remained out of sight. Would he finish in time??

Finally, John was spotted at the final corner. Cheers erupted along the shore and from viewers at home. He was so close now, surely he would make it? John kept pushing forward as everyone’s eyes darted from John to the clock and back again.

He neared the final buoy turn, moments from the beach. The clock struck the hour. All at once, hundreds of spectators deflated, crushed by shock and disappointment. “I didn’t make it, did I,” asked John as he pulled into the beach. Greg shook his head: “43 seconds.” That was it.

For the first time in the race’s history, the race won. There was one last paddler standing, but no Last Paddler Standing.

John recounted his final lap: “When I rounded the first buoy, it sucked the life out of me. For a while, I just didn’t feel like I was making headway.” Perhaps it wasn’t the race that won this year, but Mother Nature. The persistent, gusting wind reminded us that whatever physical and mental limits we can push ourselves to on a board, there is no “winning” without nature on our side.

Race Director Greg Wingo was just as disappointed as everyone else, if not more: “I’m pulling for every single competitor out here.” He always wants someone to walk home with the winner’s wrestling belt. Well, someone other than him. But this year did prove just how precisely the race straddles the line of possible and impossible. Five paddlers finished lap 48. Four paddlers attempted lap 49. Two paddlers finished lap 49. And the last paddler only missed lap 50 by 43 seconds.

It’s exactly the boundary where Greg wants his race to live: “It is right on the line of what’s achievable and what’s not achievable.”

Final Five 2022-2024

2022: Alexis Somoano, Bobby Johnson, John Knippers, Goran Gustavsson, Paolo Marconi (2022 Winner)

2023: Alexis Somoano, Blake Carmichael (2023 Winner), Bruce Smith, John Knippers, Lindsey Tilton

2024: Alexis Somoano, Blake Carmichael, Bobby Johnson, John Batson (last paddler standing), John Knippers

2024 results

Racer	Last Completed Lap
John Batson	LAP 49
Blake Carmichael	LAP 49
Alex Somoano	LAP 48
Bobby Johnson	LAP 48
John Knippers	LAP 48
Brandon Grundy	LAP 31
Goran Gustavsson	LAP 28
Laird Wharton	LAP 27
Michael Carson	LAP 26
Chris Thomas	LAP 25
Lindsay Tilton	LAP 25
Aleksey Synkov	LAP 22
Yulia Piatek	LAP 21
Jennifer Flanigan	LAP 20
Dave McMillan	LAP 17
Meral Amica Akyol	LAP 16
Scott Sieffert	LAP 16
Michael Dolinar	LAP 14
Christopher Macdonald	LAP 13
Tim Arehart	LAP 13
Bryant Ransom	LAP 12
Jon Rutishauser	LAP 12
Allen Alquist	LAP 8
Colt Reeves	LAP 6
Anton Synkov	LAP 5
Jennifer McGaw	LAP 4