Jeff Marcum paddleboards into history
Courtesy photos
On a dare, Highland Lakes resident Jeff Marcum grabbed his paddleboard and propelled himself into local history.
Days before the Fourth of July floods, Marcum’s journey started at Wirtz Dam and ended at the Inks Lake spillway near Burnet. He calculates he paddleboarded around 30 miles.
“I figured nobody had ever done that before,” he said. “I’m all into trying to do things first.”
He began his journey at 6:20 a.m. and finished at 3:20 p.m. June 20. To celebrate, he and his wife, Shaunna, stopped by Boat Town in Kingsland on their way home.
“It’s the first time I did any kind of distance paddleboarding,” he said. “Some people said I couldn’t do it, You find motivation from people. It’s all good. I didn’t think I’d make it the whole way. I didn’t plan for the end. Right before, they let out water out from Inks Lake. It washed me back down to Kingsland.”
Marcum is an avid paddleboarder, who has been doing it for 12 years.
“I try to go out as often as I can,” he said. “Mostly I do a lot of night fly fishing off the paddleboard.”
He enjoyed the experience, even if it took all day. But it’s not something that is unusual for him and his Hala paddleboard or Proswag shirt that “kept me cool and dry” as the heat and humidity swelled.
“I used to do a lot of snowboarding and skiing,” he said. “Now that I moved to the lake, I paddleboard. It’s natural, a great exercise. You’re free to go anywhere you want. It’s not so much about the physical. Staying in shape is a big plus. Also I think it’s important to set goals and go out and achieve them.”
CAPTION: Jeff Marcum — a paddleboarder who sets goals and achieves them. Courtesy photo
