A report and pictures by Jeremy Rodgers, Boulder, CO.

Only days after returning to Boulder from World Championships in Sort, Spain, I found myself sitting at Denver International airport yet again waiting for my flight to the Yukon Territory Canada busily checking flow gauges and gathering last minute information on the wilderness that waits.

Just when one thinks you have been dealt an average hand, all variables go in your favor and the impossible happens as the human spirit triumphs against all odds. Not 24 hours after I sent an email out to family and friends on my blog acknowledging the lack of adequate flows for a world record attempt on the 24 distance record, American wildwater paddler Andy Corra, from Durango, Colorado, overtook the current world record of 261 miles by paddling 273.5 miles (awaiting certification by Guinness World Records) in 24 hours.

The current official record is held by Aussie American adventure racing legend Ian Adamson. While flows were average at best compared to previous record attempts by others, Andy’s paddling and river reading skills, as well as tolerance of sitting in a kayak for 24 hours, were matched with eerily calm skies and the sheer hunger for what was one man’s first chance to attempt this life long goal.

Andy’s attempt was supported by myself in a second surf ski and 2 local guides in a flat skiff motor boat.

Yucca flowers in front of my Fort Collins house remind me that it is time for Texas Water Safari. This 260 mile nonstop paddling race from San Marcos to Seadrift start every year on the second Saturday of June.

Texas Water Safari was my first racing experience and still remains the most important one. We went to Texas to observe the 2001 Safari, then I finished three races solo: 2002, 2003, and 2005. I couldn’t attend the race postponed due to flooding in 2004. Connie was my Team Captain. It appears that she really didn’t like that job after all (what a surprise …), but she wrote some good tips for team captains and support crew.

My TWS reports and pictures are still available at Mountain Wayfarer (some links may be broken). I gathered most of these pictures (165) into a slide show below. The far left button in a toolbar opens a gallery page with four picture albums.

This year I am returning back to Texas Water Safari, not in a boat, unfortunately. I am flying to Texas with my camera, so more pictures will be available soon.

Related posts:
My Experience in Three Famous Ultra Marathon Paddling Races

68 days to the 2010 Missouri River 340 Race and I am still not decided which boat to paddle. In the first four MR340 races I paddled four different solo boats:
2006 – Spencer X-treme canoe (mostly double blade)
2007 – WSBS Thunderbolt-X kayak (double blade)
2008 – Kruger Sea Wind canoe (single blade)
2009 – Surfrigger outrigger canoe (single blade)

Well, I don’t have a new boat for this year race. It also seems that I need to add a new criterium to my boat selection ranking: which boat (or rather paddle) hurts less my shoulder, wrist, elbow, etc. This year the elbow provides a challenge.

Recently, I was mostly paddling the Thunderbolt kayak. It is because I am lazy and this boat is the easiest and quickest one to upload on my car roof. 116 miles on the North Platte River in Wyoming with Sea Wind this incoming weekend will provide some additional data to think (and feel) about. The worst scenario: replacing a paddle by a camera.

Related posts:
2010 Missouri River 340 Race
3 Years of the Missouri River 340 Race series:
Bryan Hopkins, West Hansen, Christina Glauner, Chuck and Di McHenry, Katie Pfefferkorn
My Experience in Three Famous Ultra Marathon Paddling Races

For the last three years Jerry Nyre from Canoe Colorado organized and sponsored (including cash prizes!) this great marathon race on the North Platte River during Memorial Day weekends. The race started at Hot Springs in Saratoga and run 44 miles down the river across a quite remote area to Fort Steele (I-80 boat ramp). It was usually high and fast water and, typically, some headwind closer to the finish.

Thank you Jerry! I had a good racing and spent together with Connie and our dogs three wonderful weekends in Saratoga.

Unfortunately, the Wyoming Outback Challenge will not by organized any more. The organizers were obviously disappointed by a poor participation. Here is what Eric Nyre wrote at Canoe Colorado forum this year as an explanation:

Last year was the last year of the race.
Local racers weren’t interested.
Racers from other parts of the country wanted free loaner boats/ transportation.
We gave it 3 years, and the crowd kept getting smaller. So no mas, we’re paddling the White instead.

I don’t think that Eric is the best person to comment on that event since during these three years he never showed up at the race neither as an organizer nor as a racer.

Morgan House, a sprint kayaker, the first US Indoor Kayak Championships, the role of interval training, rest and recovery in paddler’s training cycle by couch Shaun Caven, developments in surfski racing, strength training for racers by Abel Hastings, a preview of the Show-Me-State Canoe and Kayak Marathon, a review of high tech training paddle, Excalibur …

All this and more in the March-April 2010 issue of Canoe and Kayak Racing Magazine.

Missouri Breaks 150 Race planned for June 13-13, 2010 (150 miles from Fort Benton to Kipp Recreation Area, Wild & Scenic Upper Missouri River, in two stages) has been cancelled. Race organizers didn’t get a permit from BLM. See some related discussion at RiverMiles.com forum.

Bummer! I just started preparation for three long races on the Missouri River this year. I was even hoping to connect the Missouri Break 150 race with a short visit to Glacier National Park. My plan “B” for the 2nd weekend of June is to use some frequent flier miles and to fly south to photograph Texas Water Safari this year.

… a list of 2010 kayak and canoe races on the Missouri River and some of its immediate tributaries

Dan Grubbs just released the 6th Issue (January/February 2010) of Canoe and Kayak Racing Magazine. So, it has been already one year. Congratulations!

There is a lot on paddling and virtual racing using ergometers in this winter issue the including incoming US Indoor Kayak Championships in Oklahoma City.

I don’t really have a room of kayak ergometer in my house, so I would have to use it outside … I prefer to drive to the South Platte River for some cold water paddling. Fortunately, the river is still flowing while everything else in northern Colorado is frozen.

You will also find an interview with an outrigger canoe champion, Karel Tresnak, Jr, and more on the ICF women’s canoe program. Rob Bean, my local paddling partner, talks about Passion in the Paddle – how to turn your race into more meaningful experience by using it to raise funds for charity.

Previous issues:
March/April 2009, May/June 2009, July/August 2009, September/October 2009, November/December 2010

340 nonstop miles from Kansas City to St Charles, 88 hour or less, July 27th – 30th, 2009 at full moon – the 5th Missouri River 340 Race.

On-line registration was traditionally opened at midnight January 1. 100 slots available in the men solo class were filled in a day or so. 340 boats will be accepted this year. There is still plenty of room in other classes and a waiting list of male soloists. Dragon Boat/Voyageur Class can accommodate a lot of paddlers. See 2010 Roster.

I have been paddling MR340 and writing about this race for the last fours years. Below you can find a list of my posts, picture galleries and articles by guest authors.

Related posts from Missouri River 340 Races

3 Years of the Missouri River 340 Race series:
Bryan Hopkins, West Hansen, Christina Glauner, Chuck and Di McHenry, Katie Pfefferkorn
My Experience in Three Famous Ultra Marathon Paddling Races

2009 MR-340
My 2009 Missouri River Race as Recovered from a GPS Track
7 Tips for Solo Land Crew in MR340 Race by Connie
Missouri River 340 Race Records
2009 Missouri River 340 Race – Before Start
Do I Need GPS for the Missouri River 340 Race?

Yesterday, I finally started my winter paddling season on the South Platte River.