Is this really the toughest race in the world? Special episode with SUP record-breaker John Knippers

About this episode

John Knippers shares his experience breaking the record for the Texas Water Safari on a stand up paddleboard and discusses his journey into ultra paddling.

NOTE: This was recorded in July 2024 before certain equipment upgrades and the audio quality isn’t great, thanks for bearing with us. "The toughest canoe race in the world". That's how the Texas Water Safari bills itself. So if it’s the toughest race in a canoe, how much harder is it on a stand up paddleboard? SUP ultra paddler John Knippers decided to find out for himself. And in doing so, he broke the record for the fastest SUP to complete the Texas Water Safari. His record from July 2024 still stands: 81 hours and 57 minutes. That’s just under 3.5 days with heat, mud, alligators, log jams, hardly any sleep, lost equipment, broken equipment, and too many near-death experiences to count. The only story crazier than John’s TWS safari? The story of how he got into ultra paddling. It starts in March 2001, when John survived a shooting. While standing in his front yard, John was shot five times in the face and hands. Miraculously, he survived. And while the road to recovery was painful, he came through it with his eyesight and hands intact, and it gave him a new perspective on life. After he recovered from the shooting, John moved to Colorado, then Hawaii, and back to…

People in this episode

Hosts: Billy, Betsy

Guest: John Knippers

Topics covered

• Texas Water Safari
• stand up paddleboarding
• ultra paddling
• endurance racing
• survival

Keywords

• toughest race
• SUP record
• endurance
• survival story

Mentioned in this episode

Products: MR340, Paddlecast, stand up paddleboard

Books & works: Last Paddler Standing

Places: Colorado, Hawaii, Oklahoma, the Boundary Waters, Alabama, US, Europe

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