Philly Race

Yesterday was an exhausting day at Philly racing in the Independence Dragonboat Regatta. I woke up at 4:50 AM to catch a ride and we hit the road by 6:00. As hard as I tried to stay awake because I sat in the front, I dozed off not long after we got onto the interstate. The Philly race venue didn't really have a festival; it was mainly dragonboat teams' tents and a few events sponsored by the U.S. Army. The day started out slow and cold. It was windy and cloudy until around noon and then it alternated between periods of sunshine and periods of cloudiness with wind. WSD raced in three races. First was the preliminary time trials and we placed first overall. Second was the A Division race splitting teams in A-Major and A-Minor (First 2 of 4 teams advanced to Major). And the third was the A-Major Final. We came in second place in the A-Major Final and received silver medals.

The best part of the race was dinner. One of the members own a Japanese restaurant in Downtown Philly and we feasted there. There were sushi, sashimi, steak, fish, and all sorts of authentic Japanese dishes. It was a delicious meal and ended with three huge plates of green tea, vanilla and mango ice cream and mochi ice cream. I was still full by the time I got home at 11:45 at night.

Philly is the only race I can participate in this season. I wish I could go to Toronto, Montreal and Ithaca this summer, but I'm leaving before then. If I'm around next season I'm definitely attending those races.