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Standard Course · Provisional line · Nathan Benderson Park, Sarasota, Florida

Benderson Park 5K, Sarasota

A 3 mi (4.9 km) loop on the rowing lake at Nathan Benderson Park: from the boat ramp up the east side of the lake, through the channel under two park bridges and back down beside the wave attenuator.

Provisional line · Times: not yet

Provisional line: drawn from our own reference drawing on the map, not an organizer's map, not yet measured. Times on it are provisional until a measured GPS trace verifies it. A reference loop, not yet paddled. It keeps to the east half of the lake and the channel east and north of Regatta Island, out of the rowing lanes west of the attenuator. Not checked with the park: whether paddlers are asked to keep to a side or a traffic pattern on this water.

Course Map

Loading map…
Distance
3 mi (4.9 km)
Laps
1
Water
Lake
Board classes
14', 12'6", Unlimited, Inflatable
Mirrors
No race: a standard course

Gates

  1. Start · Start line across the south-east corner, off the boat ramp (cross the line)
  2. Gate · Under the first park road bridge, heading north-west into the channel (cross the line)
  3. Gate · Under the second park road bridge, heading north-west (cross the line)
  4. Gate · Channel at the north tip of Regatta Island, turn and head back (cross the line)
  5. Gate · Under the second park road bridge, heading south-east (cross the line)
  6. Gate · Under the first park road bridge, heading south-east (cross the line)
  7. Finish · Finish line across the south-east corner, the start line (cross the line)

A Standard Course

A standard course mirrors no race. It is a fixed loop on flat water with no known current, open to anyone from a public launch, so you can paddle it on any day and set your time against the reference times and the board. With no race of its own, it has no course record from race results, and its reference times are modelled from comparable races.

The Water

No current or tide · Fetch 1.1 mi (1.7 km) · Limited boat traffic · Free public launch

Current and Tide. A closed rowing lake inside the park, built for flat water: no tide and no stream. A floating wave attenuator bisects the lake to keep waves down in the racing lanes.

Wind. The lake runs about 1.1 mi (1.7 km) north to south and the east half is about 0.25 mi (400 m) wide (measured on OpenStreetMap), so a north or south wind blows along the longest fetch. The loop is on the east side of the attenuator, which shelters the racing lanes, not this water.

Traffic. No powered boats except for official park operations, training and special events, and no electric motors. Rowers, dragon boats and outrigger canoes train here; the lake may be closed for a special event or a practice, so check the park's events calendar.

Launch. Bring your own board: the park allows kayaks and SUPs on the lake and asks you to launch from the beach area; there is a boat ramp for small non-motor craft. No admission or parking fee, except during select special events. Open 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. from mid-March to mid-October and 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. the rest of the year. Swimming is allowed only at sanctioned events.

Reference Times

Reference times appear once the current Power Score list holds enough comparable races: at least 3 races of a similar distance, with 30 rated finishers in the table.

Course Board

No course times on the board yet. Run this course with the Supconnect app and put your time on the board.

One time per paddler per board: their fastest, recorded live in the app and checked against the course. Only adults are shown.

This line is provisional, not yet measured: times on it, and their Virtual Power Score, are provisional until a measured GPS trace verifies it.

Paddlers On This Course

How Course Times Work

A course time is your time on this course, paddled on your own on a day you choose: from the start gate to the finish gate, through every gate in order. It is not a race result. There is no field to beat, and wind, current and water change from day to day, so a time always shows with its date, board class and the wind at the start.

The Virtual Power Score is a translation of a course time to the Power Score scale, with a band, worked out from comparable races, since a standard course mirrors no race. It is labelled as virtual everywhere it appears. It is never in the Power Score: not in any rankings table, the Overall, Compare, the nations, a Top 10 or search, and it never moves anyone's rating.

Course times are private unless you put one on the board. Only adults appear on a board, and a junior is never named. More on course times →

A 3 mi (4.9 km) loop on the rowing lake at Nathan Benderson Park. The park lets you bring your own board and launch from the beach area, with a boat ramp for small non-motor craft in the south-east corner; there is no admission or parking fee outside special events. This course mirrors no race: its reference times are modelled from comparable races.

The gates are lines across the water. Start across the south-east corner off the ramp and paddle north along the east shore. At the top of the lake, keep east of Regatta Island and follow the channel under the first and then the second park road bridge, to the island's north tip. Turn there, come back under both bridges, pass south of Bird Island and run south beside the wave attenuator to the south shore, then east to finish across the corner where you started.

Stay east of the attenuator: the water on the other side is the 2,000 m rowing course. Powered boats run only for park operations, training and events; rowers, dragon boats and outriggers share the lake, and the park may close it for a special event or a practice, so check the events calendar first. The longest fetch is north to south, along the lake.

Sources

Course line (version 1): Drawn by Supconnect on OpenStreetMap, not from an organizer's map: the lake is OSM relation 11139776 (outer ways 760221227 and 871796487, Regatta Island inner way 807914143, Bird Island way 806882354), the wave attenuator is OSM way 806882355, the boat ramp is OSM node 7946207123. The line stays on OSM water, about 50 m off the east shore and 50 m east of the attenuator. The drawn line measures 4,854 m (3.02 mi).

  • Gate 1: OSM: shore to shore across the south-east corner of the lake, south shore node 7101928090 to east shore node 7101928117 (way 871796487); the boat ramp (node 7946207123) sits inside the corner
  • Gate 2: OSM: park service road bridge, way 375963612, its two ends
  • Gate 3: OSM: park service road bridge, way 375963610, its two ends
  • Gate 4: OSM: shore to shore, Regatta Island (inner way 807914143, node 3392712344) to the north shore (way 871796487, node 7101928212)
  • Gate 5: OSM: park service road bridge, way 375963610, its two ends
  • Gate 6: OSM: park service road bridge, way 375963612, its two ends
  • Gate 7: OSM: the start line
  • Bring a kayak or SUP and launch from the beach area; the lake may be closed for a special event or practice; no powered boats except park operations, training and special events; no electric motors; no admission; swimming only at sanctioned events: nathanbendersonpark.org
  • No admission or parking fees except during select special events; park hours: nathanbendersonpark.org
  • Canoe, rowboat, kayak or stand-up paddleboard on the 400-acre lake; a boat ramp for small, non-motor watercraft, rowboats and kayaks: nathanbendersonpark.org
  • Dragon boat and outrigger canoe programmes on the lake: nathanbendersonpark.org
  • Nine 2,000 m racing lanes: nathanbendersonpark.org
  • The floating wave attenuator, just over a mile long, bisects the lake and keeps waves down in the racing lanes: wusf.org
  • The lake, Regatta Island and Bird Island (relation 11139776), the attenuator (way 806882355), the boat ramp (node 7946207123), the park road bridges (ways 375963612 and 375963610); the line and the gates; the lake's length and width: openstreetmap.org
  • The course length: the drawn line measures 4,854 m: Supconnect, measured on the line in this file

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