Competitors in West Virginia's first stand-up paddleboard race approach the Fayette Station Bridge on Thursday during an upstream leg of the racecourse in the shadow of the New River Gorge Bridge.

Michael Tavares of Richmond, Va., is first to reach the finish line during the first of two stand-up paddleboard races at Fayette Station in the New River Gorge. Behind him, former West Virginian Joe Mosquera of Charleston, S.C., paddles his way to a second-place finish.

Kitty Waters photographs her daughter, Natalie, of Honolulu, as she tries out a stand-up paddleboard on the New River at Fayette Station.

The churning waters of Fayette Station Rapids knocked many racers off their boards during Thursday's downriver stand-up paddleboard race.

Paddleboards line the small beach above Fayette Station Rapids as racers receive instructions before the start of Thursday's event.