E37: Brad Friesen - The Assist at Last Paddler Standing 2025

In this episode, Chris Thomas sits down with Brad Friesen, stand up paddle boarder, adventurer, and race director out of Winnepeg, Manitoba. Brad is one of the top elite ultra paddle boarders out there and is a clear contender in any race he enters. We cover so much in this episode from his early days of river surfing, coaching and instructing SUP, his basecamp barista, crew, and family support at Last Paddler Standing, training for paddle sports in a cold climate, theoretical limits for Last Paddler Standing, camaraderie, sleep deprivation strategies, comparisons between the Yukon 1000 and the Alabama 650, LPS weather delay impacts, the Red River Paddle Challenge and how shorter races can help grow the sport of ultra paddling, and a sneak peak at one of his upcoming new races. There’s so much more to this episode, but I’ll let you hear it from Brad himself on this 37th episode of the Dabbling in Paddleism Podcast… Brad’s Book Recommendations: -Paddle to the Amazon, by Don Starkell: https://a.co/d/1X1ExTQ Links: -Red River Paddle Challenge: https://www.redriverpaddlechallenge.com/ -Winnipeg River Quest: www.winnipegriverquest.com Socials: (IG) @bradfriesen @redriverpaddlechallenge @winnipegriverquest