Missouri River 340 or Missouri American Water MR340 is an ultra marathon paddling race from Kansas City to St Charles. 340 miles with 88 hour time deadline. The 8th edition of this race will take place from July 23 to July 26 this year. A variety of boats are participating in this long race including …
31 July, 2012. Kaw Point at the confluence of Missouri and Kaw (Kansas) River. Half hour to the start of solo boats in the 7th Missouri River 340 Race from Kansas City to St Charles. I launched my JKK Supernova kayak at the very point of Kaw Point, looked at cityscape of Kansas City, paddled …
10 Pictures from the Start of 2012 Missouri River 340 Race Read More »
160 paddlers in 118 boats started yesterday the 6th Annual Missouri River Race 340. The race was postponed this due to flooding from the original date in July to October.
The MR340 is an endurance paddling race across the state of Missouri – 340 miles nonstop from Kansas City to St Charles with 88 hours time limit. I paddled in the first five races using 4 different boats, but always solo. Unfortunately, I couldn’t travel to Missouri this year in October. Last year, the race was also delayed because of flooding, but only by 1 month.
Well, I am paddling my local lakes in northern Colorado and I already started my countdown to the 2012 MR340.
Related posts:
Paddling and Hydrating during 2010 MR340 Race
Self Shuttle by Amtrak during Missouri River 340 Race
120 Pictures from the 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
One of the readers of my blog, who is planning to paddle 2011 Missouri River 340 race solo and self supported, sent me some questions:
1. Was the self shuttle as easy as you made it sound or was there some difficulties?
2. I suppose you carried enough food and drink to get you through? Or buy at checkpoints?
3. Did you sleep much during the race? On shore or in boat?
4. This would be my first time event of any kind in kayaking. I will be turning 50 next year and have my sights set on doing this. Are there any extra challenges for the 40+ years set to be aware of?
I paddled the MR340 race five times always solo. I was self supported in 2008, but had a shuttle, and in 2010 I was fully self supported including a shuttle. In both these races I paddled my Sea Wind canoe. I will try to answer the above question in the following posts. Let’s start from the first two.
My self shuttle with Amtrak worked exactly as I described in my previous post. I believe that a key in this operation was to plan enough resting time in a local hotel at St Charles before doing the shuttle.
Of course, it would be nice to perform the entire shuttle operation before the race. I would prefer to spend Friday at a race finish instead of riding a train and driving a car. However, I have a long drive (~10 hours) from Colorado to Kansas City and prefer to spend at least a day to get adjusted to Missouri climate instead of driving between Kansas City and St Charles.
This is one of 500+ pictures shot from the bow of my Sea Wind canoe during this year Missouri River 340 Race. It was early during the first day of the race with sky still cloudy.
I used a waterproof Pentax Optio W30 mounted with the Sticky Pod suction cup on a front deck. The camera was set to shoot in an interval (time lapse) mode – a medium quality picture every 4 minutes. I was hoping to cover the entire race, but the battery went dead after 36 hours since I forgot to turn a camera flash off. It wasn’t a fun to be blinded by a flash every 4 minutes during night time paddling.
I posted more about my photography during 2010 MR340 race in Paddling with a Camera blog. I am also adding some pictures to my stock photography website (available to order as prints or digital download).
I was drinking mostly water with Camelbak electrolyte tablets + two Hammer Endurolytes capsules every hour or so. No typical energy or power drink except 3 bottles of Ensure Plus per day and some Starbucks DoubleShots for dessert. I had a lot of semi real food during this race. After all it was a paddling from one barbecue (aka checkpoint) to another. No stomach problems!
I was paddling self supported this year. I didn’t use any ice during the race. I was just buying a cold water at checkpoints. The cooler weather of late August was great.
My drinking during Texas Water Safari used to be quite different, more “race oriented”, and included some energy and recovery drinks, but always more diluted than recommended. And, I always had more or less serious stomach upsets.
What is your hydration experience from ultra marathon paddling races?
The 5th Missouri River 340 Race from Kansas CIty to St Charles starts tomorrow. The race was postponed by month due to flooding on the Missouri River. The water level is still very high. Late August, shorter days, hopefully cooler than in July, but still full moon. It may be somewhat different than usual.
I am paddling Sea Wind canoe this year. It will be a fully self supported race for me including a shuttle. I will be testing a new option for a shuttle and I will have a chance to see the river three times from a different perspective. I will try to shoot some pictures at least at the start, but it’s quite hazy a day before the race.
I wonder how many paddlers will manage to attend the postponed race.
120 Pictures from the 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