Tag: stokes

Clean Lakes Festival Barefoot Challenge – The End of the Runs

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Here are a few pictures of “the end of the runs” from the Clean Lakes Festival Barefoot Challenge. The pictures are either from right before the fall, right after the fall, and sometimes, when I happened to push the button on the camera at just the right time, during the fall. Regardless of when they were taken, these pictures all turned out pretty cool.

Bumper disappears in the spray next to Bob Mahnke
Paul Elsen goes upside down as Rob Christensen foots away
Mike Rotar catches a toe in the chop next to Paul Stokes
JJ Link on the left, Luke Bruckner on the right, both hanging on for dear life in the "Corner of Death"
JJ Link on the left, Luke Bruckner on the right - 3 Seconds Later... that'd be a foot sticking up on the right side
Paul Stokes (on the left) feet bounce wake to wake, while Greg Wilkinson sinks in to his knees
Mike Netzer barely outlasts Luke Bruckner

It actually took 3 runs to decide the victor between JJ Link and Mike Netzer. Mike needed to beat JJ twice to win the Clean Lakes Festival Barefoot Challenge. During the first run they both fell at the same time, no one in the boat could tell who won (the driver, the two judges/spotters and me juggling both a video camera and a still camera). Even though they said we couldn’t use it to determine the winner, we looked at the video after we all agreed they’d have to re-run the first run. After watching the replay (granted it was on the roughly 2.5 inch LCD view screen) we still couldn’t tell. (BTW, lots of video coming in a few days, including this footage.)

Here are the photo finishes of their second and third runs…

JJ Link is losing it on the left while Mike Netzer holds the inside corner

JJ Links knows he's lost from bouncing on his backside a couple times while Mike Netzer watches

I did my best to identify the people in the pictures based on who I do know and using the results that I know. If I miss identified someone, please let me know [wedge [at] talesfromthefoot.com].

Mike Netzer wins the 2010 Clean Lakes Festival Barefoot Challenge

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Mike Netzer beat JJ Link twice to win the 2010 Clean Lakes Festival Barefoot Challenge held at Britingham Park in Madison, WI yesterday. This is the second year in a row that Mike has won this figure-8 tournament, joining Paul Stokes as someone who has claimed this championship more than once and keeping them as the only two people to have ever won this tournament.

JJ Link took second, Luke Brukner took third and Paul Stokes took fourth.

I have a ton of pictures and video to share, but that’ll all need to get organized and edited first.

To wet your appetite, here are just a few of the pictures I took yesterday…

57 years young Mike Netzer managed to outlast the tournament surprise 13 year old Grant Johnson
Mike Netzer beating Luke Brukner
In what would be the longest run of the day under the Capitol Dome, Mike Netzer outlasted Paul Stokes.

The Front to Back Inside and Out

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This old article by Paul “Stokeman” Stokes just made it’s way across my desk. Here’s the beginning of it:

The front to back (F-B) is known as the trick that separates the men from the boys or takes women to the world level of the sport. Even at the National Championships there are many competitors that perform the back to front but very few outside of the open division perform the front to back. It’s a trick that every barefooter wants right from the start. This trick is also widely thought to be a very difficult trick. I’m here to tell you that this is an easy trick when #1 you’re ready for it, #2 you go about learning it properly, and #3 you have persistence.

If you want to read the rest of the article, follow the link. I think everything is current except for Paul’s contact info at the end of the article.

Let’s Get The Party Started

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Unlike BFC, Toes Up has no qualms about putting up crashes and here’s a classic video, or least a classic video according to the description on USA Water Ski.  In reality, it’s a video put together last year by Paul & Heather Stokes.  Paul Stokes, for those of you who don’t know, is regarded as a very good barefooter… he was a US Barefoot Champion in 1994.  For more details about him, check out Stokes Sports.

But back to the video.  There isn’t anything ground breaking in the video, but I guess there isn’t suppose to be… it’s a crash video.  Enjoy.

http://www.toesuporfaceplant.com/get%20the%20party%20started_wmv.wmv

Get the Party Started [toe’s up video]