This Is The GlaGla Race. Even The Coffee Is Cold!

'This is the GlaGla Race',

laughed the volunteer as he reconnected the power cable to the coffee urn.

'Everything here is cold. Even the coffee!'

I arrived early at La Savoyarde, in the tiny village of Talloires on the shores of Lake Annecy, in preparation for the 2018 GlaGla Race, eagerly anticipating a few warm coffees before the race, in an attempt to warm up my body before the cold to come. Sadly, a loose connection had caused the coffee urn to become unplugged, and the coffee was lukewarm at best. Fortunately, the urn didn't take long to heat up once the problem had been identified and rectified, and I was able to warm my insides.

The GlaGla Race takes place on Lake Annecy in January each year, in the middle of the French winter. The French expression 'GlaGla' has a similar meaning to the English expression 'Bbbbrrrrrrrrr it's freezing!'. The water temperature at that time of year is around 4 degrees Celsius. In previous years, the air temperature on the morning of the race has been as low as minus 10, and in one previous year it snowed. The Glagla is often described as the world’s coldest stand-up paddleboarding race, and the wind on Lake Annecy can whip up some huge waves! All riders were required to have, amongst other items, an emergency survival blanket and emergency energy rations. I chose Mars Bars!

I actually don't like cold weather at all. In fact, for the first three years of my SUP life, I was famous amongst my paddleboarding friends for hibernating during the winter months. Disappearing at the end of October, I would reappear in March or April, like the first blooms of spring. The winter of 2017/2018 was the first year I had paddled through the winter. And I'm not particularly interested in Stand-up Paddleboard (SUP) racing either. I've only ever taken part in two previous SUP races, one 3km and one 4km. So maybe you're wondering why I decided to race 6km in the middle of an Alpine winter? That very question was running through my mind as I made my way from the hotel in Annecy on the morning of the event. I guess I like to do things that are a little bit unusual, a little bit quirky. Things that I've never done before. As I continued my journey towards Talloires, I decided I had three objectives for the day: One - to stay alive. Two - to finish the race without falling in. And three - to avoid finishing last.

I flew into Geneva two days previously with two inflatable SUP boards. One was a Redpaddle 11'3 Sport which my friends at SUP North in Southport had kindly lent me for the event. I was hoping a Sport-style board would help me to a better time than my own board, which is a great all-round board but not optimised for speed. Of course, most of the competitors would be on carbon race boards (and taking the longer 13 km route), but I was competing with myself, not them. The other board was a Starboard SUP, which I had agreed to bring over on behalf of Starboard for one of their ambassadors, Shilpika Gautam.

I stayed over in Geneva on the Thursday night and had a warm-up paddle on Lake Geneva on the Friday morning. The air temperature in Geneva was 7 degrees Celsius and I felt pretty warm in a summer wetsuit with a light jacket and waterproof trousers over, 7mm boots, a waterproof Sealskinz hat and ski gloves. In the end I took the gloves off as my hands were too hot! My plan was to wear the same for GlaGla.

Lake Annecy lies in a valley in the shadow of the French Alps, and as I drove into the valley the day before the race, I reflected on the last time I had paddled on Lake Annecy. It was the summer of 2016. The temperature was around 30 degrees, and the water was lovely and warm. I always intended to return one day, but I didn’t anticipate that I would do so in the middle of winter. By coincidence, in 2016 I paddled the same section of the lake where the GlaGla would pass, near the Château de Duingt. I was expecting the temperature for the GlaGla to be considerably lower than 30 degrees. Probably around 30 degrees lower!

In fact, on the morning of the race, the air temperature at Talloires was around 2 degrees, not much lower than it had been in Geneva, but it felt much, much colder. It even looked colder, with the snow-covered mountains in the background, still mostly covered in mist, and the crystal-clear, deep blue water. I think the difference was down to humidity; there was so much water in the atmosphere that it felt significantly colder. I was relieved that I had brought a neoprene vest with me as a precaution, and I decided to wear it under my wetsuit, along with a thermal rash vest. I continued using the waterproof trousers over my wetsuit, but I decided not to bother with the waterproof jacket as I would be wearing a PFD and a bib in any event.

494 brave paddlers lined up for the starting horn at 10.30. I decided to start from near the back and stay out of trouble (consistent with objective number two of my three objectives!). We were paddling into a small headwind, and the surface water was broken and choppy, a combination of the wind and the wake from the 400 or so riders in front of me. Apart from that, the leg to the first buoy was straightforward. I even remembered to smile as a drone flew over my head. I knew the event was being filmed for SUP Racer, and possibly also for French TV. Perhaps I would be one of the TV stars?

The second leg, across the lake to the Château at Duingt was straightforward with a light wind behind me. I could see the elite racers powering away in the distance, but I was comfortable keeping my own pace. In my own mind, I wasn't taking part in a race; I was taking part in a 6km paddle in beautiful surroundings. The stretch from Duingt up the western side of the lake provided the best paddling conditions of the day. We were sheltered from the wind here and cheered on by a few well-wishers on the shore.

But then suddenly conditions changed. Turning at the next buoy to cross back over the lake, I realised that the wind speed had increased significantly. There was a strong crosswind and associated waves. I could see paddlers ahead of me, strung out not in a straight line, but in an arc as the wind and waves took them away from their intended track. Immediately in front of me, two paddlers fell into the water. In fact, one of them fell in twice in quick succession. A number of my fellow racers were on their knees! I decided to take a prudent approach, and I spent three-quarters of this leg paddling on my knees. Partly as protection from the wind and the waves and partly to avoid a bath in the bitterly cold Annecy water. Although I really had to dig in to keep moving in the right direction, I took the opportunity to look around and take in my surroundings. Majestic mountains all around me, topped with the whitest of snow. The historic Chateau and the huge expanse of water dotted with hundreds of stand-up paddleboarders.

Once I had crossed the lake for a second time, I was back in sheltered waters, back up on my feet, and pushing home to the finishing line.

IMG_20180119_210328_625 (2).jpg — John McFadzean at Lake Annecy.

After 1 hour, 18 minutes and 56 seconds of hard paddling, I crossed the finishing line in one piece. Absolute joy! And I was a long, long way from last place. I was alive, mostly dry, and my emergency survival blanket was unused!

At no time did I feel too hot or too cold, so I concluded my dress combination was just about optimal. Had I fallen into the lake, I may have reached a different conclusion. But after I had been off the water for 30 minutes or so, I began to feel bitterly cold. Within an hour the weather conditions changed for the worse. The wind was stronger, the lake was very choppy, and it began to snow. I was glad to have entered neither the technical race nor the dragon race, so I was able to get changed into warmer clothes without delay. I didn't even see the technical race, but I did enjoy watching the dragon race taking place in very tough conditions.

After some lunch in the big tent, I realised I was tired and extremely cold. It’s not like me to miss a party, but I decided to head back to my hotel in Annecy rather than stay around for the presentations and socialising. It was snowing quite heavily by this time.

My weekend away was rounded off in style with a lovely meal in the Captain’s Pub in Annecy, accompanied by a carafe of local Haute-Savoie white wine, and I returned home the following day. I had enjoyed my few days in Europe but it was time for home. The GlaGla forms part of the Alpine Lakes Tour which involves a number of races, on various Alpine lakes, spread throughout the year. A nice challenge for another time perhaps.

GlaGla 2018 was a fabulous experience. The whole event was incredibly well organised, I can't even imagine how much hard work Benoit Mouren and his team put into this, but the huge success of the event is testament to their hard work and dedication.

On a personal level I want to thank my good friends at SUP North, not only for the loan of the 11'3 Sport, but also for all the support they have given me since that very first SUP lesson in June 2014, and for everything they do to promote the sport of Stand Up Paddleboarding. I'm also very grateful to my new friend Gun Dbn for the use of his compressor to inflate my board on the eve of the race and for helping to deliver the Starboard SUP to Shilpika.

But most of all I want to say 'merci beaucoup' to the volunteer at La Savoyard for reconnecting the coffee urn and ensuring my day got off to a great start. The warmth was most welcome, as was the caffeine!

This Is The GlaGla Race. Even The Coffee Is Cold!

Tenerife

Lake Geneva

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