Footstock 2006 [video]

I’m anxiously waiting for the Madison lakes to melt so I can get my boat in the water for that first run of the year. The weather hit near 50 here today, which will work some wonder on that sheet of ice covering Lake Monona.

The format is a 55 mile barefoot endurance race. Driver meeting is scheduled for 6:30a, boat launch at 6:45a and the race kicks off at 7:30a. Awards are schedule to go from 11a-noon followed by a cookout and then an afternoon of water skiing, barefooting, and what sounds like an impromptu figure-8 tournament.

Check out the team’s website or 2010 Alabama River Barefoot Challenge flyer for more details.

The entry fee is $65 with registration starting at 7am, the skiers meeting at 730am and the tournament starting at 8am. The tournament will pay out $1000 for first place, $500 for second and $200 for third.

Typical figure-8 rules that follow the Footstock rule book with the exception of the ropes being on a standard tower. No duct tape or Ultimate Grip Clinchers or Masterline Pro Lock gloves.

Seeing as how it’s at the WBC, you’ll likely be competing against KSO, David Small and the rest of the staff from there.

A party will follow at 7:30pm at the WBC Headquarters located at 3915 Lake Conine Dr. East in Winter Haven and the flyer indicates FREE BEER!!!

Check out the WBC website for more details and contact info. It’s also the final stop on barefoot ski dot com’s Figure-8 Barefoot Series.

Click on the image below to embiggen the flyer…

Update 9/25/2010: The figure-8 tournament will be held on Lake Silver now. My understanding it’s a private lake so there won’t be any weekend warriors to deal with.

With just one event to go, here are the people in the running for the crown…

JJ Link versus Mike Netzer - Starting Off

The final pairing of the challenge featured Mike Netzer facing off against JJ Link. Mike Netzer entered the final pairing with one loss already, having come back through the loser’s bracket and was facing off against JJ Link, who hadn’t lost yet. For those that don’t know, that means for Mike Netzer to win the Barefoot Challenge, he needed to beat JJ Link twice. For JJ Link to win, he just had to beat Mike Netzer once.

Yet somehow, they still needed three runs to determine the winner…

Clean Lakes Festival Barefoot Challenge – 2010 Finals  [video]

Please excuse the shaky camera in the video. My video editing program actually did a hell of a job making it less shaky (you should have seen it before I processed the video.) The water was rough, the video camera was hand held and I was holding the video camera in my right hand while holding the still camera (that took all the pictures you’ve seen here) with my left, all the while trying my best to keep them both focused on the barefooters, keeping the video camera as steady as possible and taking a steady stream of still pictures in an effort to capture the moment that someone falls. Did I mention I was in a boat that was going 40.5 MPH that was driving in a TIGHT figure-8 pattern. Given the conditions, I think I did pretty well on both accounts. I hope you’ve enjoyed the pictures and like this first video.

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].

Registration starts at 830a and the skiers meeting is at 930a.

For more details and the entry form, head on over to www.faceplantfest.com.