Interview med Petri Sutinen om 24H race (engelsk)

We at M24KC are proud to present a talk with Petri Sutinen about
extreme paddling. here in Sweden Petri is probably known for his HBB
record of paddling the full swedish coast in only 23 days yet he also
holds an almost unbeatable record of paddling 235 km in 24 hours. It
comes very close to the present 241,8 km world record set by Carter
Johnsson on a lake in California back in 2008.

- Hello Petri how are you these days?
Good... I have a tiny company, and do many kind of works under own license. Mostly paddling... But also ropeworks etc. I think condition is still good - two kids growing older, now 5 and 7
- You managed to paddle 235 km - when was it ?
It was 1994, if i get it right. September, cold morning 12.00
- Where did you do it ?
Tiny lake in Lahti city
- Where we decided to make it into an annual competition you might
have had another setup?!?

It was a 24h race!
- How was your training setup ?

No paddling in two previous days, no exercise, lots of eating...No spesific training, it was end of the marathon racing year...
- Did you have a specifik goal / aim at any record ?
Goal was 225km. That was my personal aim.
- What gear did you have ?
Kirton cleaver-x racer, wing paddle. Bare hands, clothing i dont remember.

- What weather did you have?
Cold a bit foggy night. No rain.
- Describe the day itself...

First 12 hours like a play. Next 12 hours like a foolish game.

- What was hardest ?

Night. It was horrible in all ways. After there was day again, it was easier and i get even more speed.
- What did you eat and drink through the day ?
No medics. Mostly i ate jughurt and bananas, but this lead to lack of salt. Not a good nutrition.

- was there any inscidents ?

Hitting a boy in a night. Almost fall asleep.
- Any after thoughts - something you would have done differently?
It would be very helpful to do it when there is more light and warmer air and water. Nutrition is vital, real food with salt and proteins is needed No trickfoods...
How was the recovery period ?
Two days. First day totally out.

I think you record still stands as nordic record, do you know of any

other 24 hour records - some others that has gone far? Or maybe a
swedish record ?
I have heard over 400km in a stream in north america...
- so...any future plans? - new records to break?
In a spring i try to do Stockholm-Helsinki fastly...with Rockpool Taran.

We would like to thank Petri for this interview. If interested Petri

is doing some pretty interesting adventure tours mainly for kayak /
climbing. Though they sound hardcore Petri claims they are possible to
do for most paddlers. This summer he has planned the following ACR
river trips -Ounasjoki is one week with shorter 50km day legs, Kalix river has massive rapids (portages in many places) and 500km in 7 days. More info in www.petrisutinen.fi