Paddle, Peddle, and Plod brings triathletes to Edenton

Josh Harvill, Karen Ganter, Ron Garcia and Team Kiwi were the individual and team winners in the Edenton Optimists’ 11th annual Peddle, Paddle and Plod triathlon on Saturday, June 22.

Eighteen competitors took part in the event, which started with a two-mile kayak sprint from under the bridge to Hays Plantation near Queen Anne Park and included a bike ride and 5K run.

Most triathlons use swimming instead of kayaking, but Ashley Kent, the organizer of the event, said the Optimists felt that Edenton’s scenery along Queen Anne Creek made for a beautiful start for the race.

“They’re going to start a two-kilometer paddle up Queen Anne’s Creek, and they’ll come back and ride a bicycle around beautiful Chowan County and all the farms,” he said. “They’re going to come back and do a 5K run over at Hayes Plantation.”

The race raises money for cancer patients in Chowan County. Kent said the event has grown in popularity, with last year’s race being the biggest. Sponsors include ECU Health Chowan Hospital, Hampton Farms, Regulator Marine, Kellogg Hardware, GrafX Screen Printing, and the makers of Skeeter Beater, an insect repellent.

Team Kiwi won first place in the team competition with a time of one hour and 38 minutes. Harvill finished in first place overall in the individual competition. He was followed by Scott Parrish in second place and Carlos Carrera in third.

Ganter took both the women’s and women’s over 50 titles. Garcia took the men’s and men over 50 titles.

Parrish came dressed for the event in a U.S. Navy biking suit, ready to put his kayak into the water. He said he had traveled to Edenton from Cary for the event, one of the three or four he competes in every year. He won Paddle, Peddle, and Plod two years ago, according to his wife.

“It’s just something fun to do,” Parrish said. “I got into track several years ago when I was stationed in Djibouti. There was nothing to do on base except run every day. So, I swam a little and rode the bike a little, and I got used to doing it enough that I started doing a couple of triathlons here and there.”

Parrish said he and his family used to live in Edenton.

“My five grew up here. Her (my wife’s) family, the Bass family, is from around here,” he said. “We lived here from 1994 to 2000. I was in the military, and we moved away.”