1) I really can only sleep one hour a night and keep on functioning the next day.
2) Lohn's truck does not like me.
3) Missouri really needs to put better signage up for those of us that don't normally travel in certain parts of the state. Getting lost is not fun.
4) It's stressful to have my mother following me when she doesn't drive at the same speed as I do.
5) I learned how to use the alarm on my cellphone.
6) A rolling cooler is a great invention.
"7) Between Miami and Glasgow, the deer like to run during the hours of 3:00 a.m. and 4:30 a.m." "And no, they do not look for cars or big white trucks!"
8) Back ends of pickups slide when driving fast on gravel roads.
"9) A hot shower is one of the best things, ever!"
10) It gets foggy by the Missouri River when you are close to Miami. And they need better signage as well - notecard sized signs are hard to read in the dark.
11) One of Lohn's friends from high school had the nickname Butter Belly.
12) Not to let my nieces and nephews climb barefoot on rocks at Klondike. Especially when you will be vacationing with their family the next week.
13) Casey's stores run out of pizza and sandwiches by 9:00 at night. At least the one in Waverly does.
14) There are people lead more boring lives than I do. Some of the townsfolks from the checkpoints come out just to watch the canoes and kayaks come by.
15) Lohn's dad has a calming aspect about him that Lohn really responds to.
16) Most of the other support crew people were very helpful.
17) A canoe made out of blue barrels and rivited together can make it 340 miles with some patching with duct tape.
"18) You gain weight eating on the road. Hmmm…I wonder why ~ candy bars, soda, donuts, fast food."
"19) New Franklin isn't a designated checkpoint but a great place to be there for extra sunscreen, etc."
20) Lohn is a determined man who accomplishes one goal after another. How lucky I am to have met and married him.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Monday, December 28, 2009
Race Recap after I dried out!!
Dear Friends,
The “Race to Read” MR340 has come and gone. What a race! First, I would like to thank you for all of the words of encouragement leading up to the race, thoughts and prayers during the race and most of all your generous contribution to Nativity of Mary School. Your contributions totaled over $4,200 which accomplished the goal of purchasing new state of the art reading software. Second, I would like to thank Dan Salva for helping put together a cohesive fund raising plan, creating the blog site, and updating the site with race times. His contribution was instrumental in making “Race to Read” a success. Third, I would like to thank the friends and family that came out to the different check points to cheer for me, be my pit crew and send me off again. They were by far the loudest supporters any team had out there and I could see the banners and streamers from a mile away. Lastly, and most importantly, I want to thank my wife, Linda. She was with me from start to finish. I was competing on very little sleep and she got even less shut eye than me. She coordinated each checkpoint, was my alarm clock at night and motivator during the day.
I thought that I would recap the race from my point of view. However, it is quite lengthy so if you want the shorten version here it is – The gun went off, I paddled hard, a fish jumped over the boat and three days later I finished. For those of you interested in a few more details see below.
The MR 340 “Race to Read” August 4-7th
Monday, August 3 – Left work shortly after five o’clock and headed to downtown Kansas City to attend the mandatory pre-race safety meeting. There was already a long line when I arrived and as I headed to the back of it, I noticed that most everybody was in really good shape. I had been lifting weights to prepare for this race but nothing like some of these people. They were mini Lou Ferrigno’s which I am most certainly not. A father and son team behind me in line did the race the previous year and hadn’t paddled since then so that made me feel a little better. The convention room was huge with close to 1,000 people packed in attendance. The race director went through some early do’s and don’ts and then played a safety video. The last thing I remember him saying was, “remember folks this is a race not a float trip, paddle with a sense of urgency”. I wondered if urgency equated to 5-6 miles per hour or 7-8 miles per hour. I just hoped that I was not going to be last. After the meeting, I headed down to the start to put my boat out. People were everywhere putting their boats out, gearing up the kayaks, and moving with a sense of purpose. My stomach was firmly in knots and I could feel the tense cold air. I quickly set my boat on some grass and looked over the other boats. Most were truly racing kayaks with sleek designs, rudders and lighting systems. Mine was a Craig’s list special that was homemade, no rudder and no lighting system. Oh well, too late now to do anything about it, turned around and headed for home. Tossed and turned most of the night. I looked at the clock almost every hour from 2 o’clock on.
Tuesday, August 4 – Five o’clock in the morning. I was up before the alarm went off, got dressed, put on sunscreen, choked down a bagel with peanut butter, checked the gear for the fourth time, loaded the coolers onto the truck, grabbed the family unit and we were on the road. Linda and I went to the voting booth on the way to the race. It was Election Day in Independence. I am sure the pollsters weren’t prepared to see a man in biking shorts, lake shoes, suntan lotion smeared all over and voting at 6 am in the morning.
We arrived at Kaw Point, the race start, at 6:30 am. The race was scheduled to start at 8:00 am. However, the rain was coming down pretty hard and lightning all over the place. Mike Campo met me to help put the gear in the boat and launch me in the water but when the race director announced a 90 minute delay in the start, I told Mike to head on into work. Vince Boucher and two of his boys Noah and Jacob knocked on the truck window shortly after 8 am to see if they could help in anyway. The rain had stopped by then so we finished gearing up the boat and launched it a little before nine. I pulled it to the shore and got out. No need to be in the boat any longer that I had to. Matthew Moore showed up to watch the start of the race and offer a few words of encouragement which were greatly appreciated. The National Anthem was sung at 9:25 am. The race director gave a countdown and then 7 muzzle loaded rifles exploded, fired by Lewis and Clark re-enactors announcing the start of the race. The air was cool, the rain had stopped, the clouds were covering up the sun but you could feel the electricity in the air from the 270 plus boats in the water and my heart was pumping with adrenaline. The first hour was one big pack of canoes, kayaks and other various floating vessels paddling down the river. A couple of guys made a canoe out of plastic 55 gallon drums, pop-riveted together and sealed with caulk. It was a wonder that thing even floated. It didn’t look like that thing would make it an hour, which made me feel a little better about my ugly duckling kayak. A lot of people were talking back and forth, laughing and having a great time. I was worried about tipping over and was breathing too heavy to talk. It felt like I was struggling while everybody else was gliding with ease. I tried not to pay attention. I put the earphones in and started to get into a rhythm. The sun got out from behind the clouds before noon and started to put the beat down on us. I arrived in Napolean (39 miles) at 2:44 pm, in 5 hours 14 minutes (7.5 mph) a good pace, a little ahead of my 7 mph goal that I wanted to average. My crew, Linda, Dreama, Drake and mother-in-Law, Mary, changed out my food bags, topped off the water and applied a new coat of sunscreen. Then off I went in under 10 minutes. This was 11 miles ahead of the first check point Lexington which was going to be very crowded so I made a pit stop early. When I got to Lexington at 4:33 pm (6.6 mph), I was greeted by my younger sister, Kathryn, and her kids along with my crew. I was able to verbally check in and have Linda sign me through. I was there for 30 seconds by design. Next check point was Waverly, 23 miles out. The sun started to cook us a little. I alternated between water and a sports drink and brought plenty of snacks. I needed to keep the right amount of fuel in the body but not too much or I would get sick and not be able to process it nor too little for fear of starting to deplete muscle reserves. I bought a tub of KFC chicken on Sunday which always tastes good cold or at least that is how I remembered it from college. Evening came, the tunes were still rockin’ and I was making pretty good time. I arrived in Waverly 7:45 pm, 3 hours 12 minutes (7.2 mph), still ahead of my 7 mph target. Linda directed the support crew in refilling the jugs of water and sports drink, changing out the food bags, turning on the boat lights and taking the hat and sunglasses in under 10 minutes again. No need of those for this next leg was heading directly into night time. Next stop, Miami, 32 miles away. I originally planned to get there by 11:30 pm but with the rain delayed start, I wouldn’t get there until 1:00 am. Kayaking at night on the Missouri River is not fun and actually pretty scary at times. Things that you can see clearly during the day time like wing dikes, buoys, logs, fallen trees and barges can only be heard or their silhouettes made out for the most part at night time. In addition the reaction time that you have to safely avoid such hazards is shortened substantially. Fortunately, I was familiar with this stretch of water from my earlier training run and knew where most of the hazards were in the river. I had several kayaks in front of me about a half a mile, with lights on their boats, that I used to guide me through the night. This leg was pretty uneventful just the way I liked it. I pulled into Miami at 12:15 am (7.4 mph), 4 hours 20 minutes, a little ahead of schedule. A spectator helped me haul the kayak to dry ground, where I emptied the contents of the 15 inch wide by 41 inch long pan that I had been sitting in all day. This pan contained all my food supplies, two ½ gallon jugs of fluids, my water resistant bags containing my cell phone and Garmin. I now know the difference between water resistant versus water proof because the bag containing my cell phone was half full of water. The remainder of the race would be accomplished without a cell phone. Hopefully, I won’t get into any trouble and need to use it. I was shivering from being soaking wet. My kayak stroke kicks up some water that falls on me and into the pan which after several hours accumulates an inch or so in the pan. At night time, the temperature dropped into the low 70’s. I got out of the wet clothes and curled up in the truck bed on top of an air mattress. The first day in the books with 105 miles traveled and one dead cell phone. I was pleased with my performance so far as I closed my eyes.
Wednesday, August 5 - I slept for about 90 minutes but found myself opening my eyes and twisting and turning every couple of minutes. So, I decided that it was useless to continue on in that manner, I got up put back on the wet clothes, loaded up the kayak, grabbed a hot hotdog from the local town folks and shoved off around 3:00 am. I quickened the pace of my stroke to warm the body up in the cool air. The sun finally cracked the horizon around 5:30 am and it was smooth sailing from there on. I pulled into Glasgow at 8:18 am (6.8 mph), 5 hours 18 minutes, to the sound of loud cheering, streamers and banners. My mom, dad, oldest sister, Laura and three of her children along with my support team (Linda, Dreama, Drake and Mary (world’s greatest mother-in-law!)) made me feel like I already won the race. It really lifted my spirits to have my own cheerleading crew. I was able to get a lukewarm shower in the park and catch about 45 minutes of needed sleep then put back in the water around 9:55 am. My mom pinned a St. Benedict cross that she had blessed to my shirt to protect me the rest of the way. The next leg to Cooper’s Landing is the longest at 56 miles. It will take me the most of the day to get there. I decided to stop in Boonville, 30 miles downriver, to get out and stretch my legs for a couple of minutes. I was surprised and excited to see that Mom and Dreama came down to see me come in. Linda arrived separately flying down the gravel road to the boat ramp, delayed by some slow moving traffic. She was able to apply a new layer of sunscreen and send me on my way. I opened up a “water resistant” zip loc bag of two day old chicken to find that it was swimming in water as well. At this point, I had no choice but to scrape off the soggy wet skin and eat the meat. It definitely was not the highlight of epicurean delights for the trip. I arrived at Cooper’s Landing at 6:29 pm (6.5 mph), 8 hours 34 minutes, a little slower that I had hoped for but still feeling pretty good. My personal cheerleading crew picked up my second oldest sister, Joelene, and her three children and a couple of kids from my youngest sister, Cory. They cheered with so much enthusiasm that I could hear them a half mile away. I was able to get about 15 minutes of rest in the back of the truck while the pit crew cleaned out the boat, added ice and fluids to the thermos and switched out the food bags. My dad unfortunately, backed up into an oncoming car in search for some much needed ice. It totaled the hatch door on the back of the caravan. Linda handed me a hot dog that I inhaled in about 30 seconds. I shoved off at 7:17 pm. Next stop Jefferson City, 26 miles out. About an hour into the leg with the sun just above the horizon, I noticed four kayaks about a mile ahead of me. I thought that if I could catch up to within a half a mile then I could follow these guys into Jeff City. I paddled as hard as I could but was not gaining any ground and in fact, they were slowly slipping away from me. The sun was completely down by now and the moon was up but something was different about tonight. The trees actually looked like they were in the river in the form of abandoned warehouses and buildings almost ghost like. It appeared as if I was going to run into them which forced me into the center of the river, out of the fast moving channel. I was going on about two hours sleep over the last 40 hours. It was very scary because my mind was telling me that if I hit one of those warehouses, I would be in deep trouble. My vision was becoming impaired and it was difficult to determine which way the river was twisting. My body was shutting down and conserving oxygen only to the vital organs which was causing my eyesight to get blurry. I had given up hope to catch those four kayaks ahead of me when all of a sudden I about ran into the back of one of those four kayaks in front of me. He had run out of gas to paddle as hard as the other three kayaks and was resting. I am sure that it was St. Benedict looking out for me. We were about five miles outside of Jeff City. He still had his senses about him, had trained on this sectioned of the river several times and most importantly had a big, big spot light to clearly see the bank of the river. As we were coming into the city about a half mile from the checkpoint, I was suddenly surrounded by air bubbles that hit the surface of the river. Then a fish hit my paddle with some force. Another jumped over my kayak - right across my feet. This fish was as long as my kayak was wide and probably 8 plus inches top to bottom. If I hadn’t been so tired I probably would have jumped out of the boat with the fish. I paddled with renewed passion that last half a mile to the checkpoint. I arrived at 11:04 pm (6.9 mph), 3 hours 47 minutes. Linda was there to greet me with pajamas, sweatshirt and blankets. I crawled into the bed of the truck right next to highway 65 and slept soundly for four hours. Day two in the books with 118 miles accomplished, one totaled hatch door on a caravan, and a pretty good fish tale. Only 115 miles left to get to St. Charles.
Thursday, August 6 - Linda woke me up at 3:30 am. My iPod finally ran out of battery life so the last day was going to be tuneless. I shoved off at 4:04 a.m. as the volunteer working the checkpoint called out “you look great!” I knew she was lying but I was too tired to argue. I was fortunate enough to have another kayaker take off 3 minutes ahead of me so I could follow him out of town until the sun came up. My arms and shoulders were sore and it was slow going for about the first hour or so until the body warmed up and realized there was only one way to stop the pain and that was to get to St. Charles. I passed three solo men kayakers about 2 miles out from the checkpoint in Hermann. One of those three guys saved my bacon the night before. They left Jeff City at 3:30 in the morning, about a half an hour ahead of me. I pulled into Hermann at 11:30 am (6.2 mph), 7 hours 26 minutes, greeted again by my pit crew (Linda, Dreama, Drake and Mary) and my mom, dad and a host of nieces and nephews. Linda, with precision, directed the pit crew to clean out the boat, supply new food, top the fluids off, add ice, and a Mountain Dew. She dropped a couple of Advil in my mouth, kissed me, shoved a hamburger in my hand and pushed me back into the river. Jeff Gordon may be calling once he finds out about these turnaround times. NASCAR could use such a fine pit boss. After finishing the hamburger, a nice headwind kicked up and someone cranked the heat up. Fortunately, Mom gave me an old tube sock filled with ice that I put around my neck to keep me cool. My body was processing the hamburger which caused me to get very sluggish. I saw that I was only averaging a little over 5 mph from the Garmin on board. I had to do something quick to jump start the system again or I would be out here all night and into the next day. I started in on the Mountain Dew. I paced myself, alternating every mile between a drink of Mountain Dew and dragging the sock in the cool river water and placing it around my neck. That kept me occupied as I trudged through the water and the sun beating down on me. I knew that there is only so much caffeinated soda my stomach can take so I had to pace myself. More food would just slow down the affects of the soda so I stopped eating. I wasn’t very hungry anyway. I passed another solo male kayaker and felt pretty good about my progress. The heat started to subside as the sun was heading towards the horizon. Klondike was the last checkpoint before the finish line and I was 2 miles out when I came upon another male solo kayaker. I was able to get within 50 yards of him and decided not to stay in the channel but to take a more direct route on the other side of the river to the final checkpoint. When I finally arrived at 6:18 pm (7.4 mph), 6 hours and 41 minutes, he had beaten me to the checkpoint by over 300 yards. I learned my lesson to stay in the channel next to the bank of the river for maximum speed. I was greeted at the last check point by my pit crew and groupies plus one of my best friends from high school, Steve Long, and his son, Jake, who came out to see me. That really lifted my spirits to see him. As my ace pit crew switched out the supplies, my sister, Joelene, handed me some fresh hot fried chicken that tasted oh so good. I got a reprimand from the pit boss that I wasn’t drinking enough water. I couldn’t tell her that I was running on fumes and water would have diluted the effect of the Mountain Dew. I needed a new 20 ounce bottle of Mountain Dew to finish the race. Drake turned on my bicycle light that I received as a gift from the folks in Paducah. I had not used it in the race so far but knew I was headed for darkness and thought that it would be a good idea to have it on. Five minutes at Klondike and I was off again at 6:23 pm. The man that beat me to the checkpoint was still there when I left, so I picked up another spot. I wasn’t concerned about where I finished but it felt good to pass somebody. The sun was just above the horizon and I had 27 miles to go. The last part of this leg was going to be in the dark and I didn’t see anybody ahead of me. I paddled with some speed and was averaging around 6.5 mph. Everything on the bank looked like it was a green sponge chiseled into an animal, pirate, building, or anything else my mind could dream up at the time. I knew how bad Wednesday night had been and was hoping for a better experience for the finish. The sun finally went down around 9:00 p.m. and the moon was coming up on the horizon. The bicycle light didn’t really light up the river for me as I had hoped. It did, however, attract all of the flying bugs from the banks of the river to the light and because I was going at a pretty good pace, they could not keep up with the light and flew right into my mouth, eyes and ears. I learned quickly to breathe with my nose and squint at night. I stayed to the middle of the river out of the channel but safe where I could see obstacles in front of me. All of a sudden my paddle hit sand. A couple more strokes and the whole boat ran aground sand in the middle of the river. How could the river be so shallow? I got out of the boat and pulled it back into the deep part of the river and took the opportunity to turn off the bug attracting bicycle light. As I was getting back into the boat, I noticed out of the corner of my eye a small light about two miles out. It could only be one thing this late at night, another kayak. I was about an hour or so from the finish. If I gave it my all, then he would have to really be fast to catch me before the finish. I took off with some speed to my stroking. I had to stop paddling and listen for buoys, rapids or wing dikes every 10 minutes or so which slowed me down some. I took those opportunities to guzzle down Mountain Dew. The kayak behind me had closed the gap to within a mile in about 40 minutes. I could see the bright lights from the St. Charles casino over the tops of the trees and knew I had to be close. I paddled even faster. My forearms were burning and my chest was on fire but I knew the pain would be over soon. I saw a big wing dike and heard the rushing waters. It was pushing me to the other side of the river. It was very dark on that side of the river and I didn’t know how far to the left I had to go to get around these rapids, so I held my breath and went through them. No rocks scraped the boat or flipped my kayak as I let out a big sigh of relief. About that time another set of rapids were right in front of me. No time to react but had to go through them. Once again I made it through safely. I grabbed the Mountain Dew and chugged what I had left and took off under the second bridge. Two down and one bridge remaining. The finish line was just past the third bridge. The lights were getting brighter and the kayak behind me was within a quarter of a mile. I turned the corner and could see the final bridge and the bright casino lights. I paddled with everything I had. For a third time I heard rapids approaching. No time to think as the kayak behind me was closing in and I just went for it. As I hit the rapids, I hit a series of rocks as well. They pushed and bounced the boat back and forth but somehow I managed to stay upright. Once through, I grabbed the St. Benedict cross attached to my shirt and pressed it to my lips thanking him for getting me through those safely. As I approached the final bridge not but 20 yards away I looked over my left shoulder and saw the kayak that had been chasing me the last hour and a half. It clearly had the strength and speed to beat me to the finish about 100 yards away. I stopped, sat up and looked over at my competitor to let him go by. When I looked over and focused on the other boat I saw that they had three men in their boat. I felt pretty good that I was able to hold off three men for 90 minutes and not lose a spot in my division. I took the last 50 yards to soak up the sight of all the bright lights on the casino, then heard my family clan let out a big yell and starting cheering as I pulled into the bank 10:29 pm (6.6 mph) 4 hours and 6 minutes. As I touched the bank and struggled out of the boat I yelled, “Praise the Lord”. I looked like a wet river rat and was completely exhausted but felt great to be out of the boat on dry land for good! The race started with 94 solo men kayakers, 30 did not finish and of the 64 that did, I placed 11th with a time of 60 hours and 59 minutes.
It was quite a race. No casualties other than a cell phone and a tailgate. The hands and feet swelled up like great big prunes and the feeling in my right hand came back after a week or so. Not bad for my first time in such a race. I don’t know if I will do this race ever again but it sure was a neat experience. I might look for something else a little less challenging perhaps? Or maybe not. Got any ideas?
Thank you again for your generous contribution, thoughts and prayers. God Bless you and your family.
The “Race to Read” MR340 has come and gone. What a race! First, I would like to thank you for all of the words of encouragement leading up to the race, thoughts and prayers during the race and most of all your generous contribution to Nativity of Mary School. Your contributions totaled over $4,200 which accomplished the goal of purchasing new state of the art reading software. Second, I would like to thank Dan Salva for helping put together a cohesive fund raising plan, creating the blog site, and updating the site with race times. His contribution was instrumental in making “Race to Read” a success. Third, I would like to thank the friends and family that came out to the different check points to cheer for me, be my pit crew and send me off again. They were by far the loudest supporters any team had out there and I could see the banners and streamers from a mile away. Lastly, and most importantly, I want to thank my wife, Linda. She was with me from start to finish. I was competing on very little sleep and she got even less shut eye than me. She coordinated each checkpoint, was my alarm clock at night and motivator during the day.
I thought that I would recap the race from my point of view. However, it is quite lengthy so if you want the shorten version here it is – The gun went off, I paddled hard, a fish jumped over the boat and three days later I finished. For those of you interested in a few more details see below.
The MR 340 “Race to Read” August 4-7th
Monday, August 3 – Left work shortly after five o’clock and headed to downtown Kansas City to attend the mandatory pre-race safety meeting. There was already a long line when I arrived and as I headed to the back of it, I noticed that most everybody was in really good shape. I had been lifting weights to prepare for this race but nothing like some of these people. They were mini Lou Ferrigno’s which I am most certainly not. A father and son team behind me in line did the race the previous year and hadn’t paddled since then so that made me feel a little better. The convention room was huge with close to 1,000 people packed in attendance. The race director went through some early do’s and don’ts and then played a safety video. The last thing I remember him saying was, “remember folks this is a race not a float trip, paddle with a sense of urgency”. I wondered if urgency equated to 5-6 miles per hour or 7-8 miles per hour. I just hoped that I was not going to be last. After the meeting, I headed down to the start to put my boat out. People were everywhere putting their boats out, gearing up the kayaks, and moving with a sense of purpose. My stomach was firmly in knots and I could feel the tense cold air. I quickly set my boat on some grass and looked over the other boats. Most were truly racing kayaks with sleek designs, rudders and lighting systems. Mine was a Craig’s list special that was homemade, no rudder and no lighting system. Oh well, too late now to do anything about it, turned around and headed for home. Tossed and turned most of the night. I looked at the clock almost every hour from 2 o’clock on.
Tuesday, August 4 – Five o’clock in the morning. I was up before the alarm went off, got dressed, put on sunscreen, choked down a bagel with peanut butter, checked the gear for the fourth time, loaded the coolers onto the truck, grabbed the family unit and we were on the road. Linda and I went to the voting booth on the way to the race. It was Election Day in Independence. I am sure the pollsters weren’t prepared to see a man in biking shorts, lake shoes, suntan lotion smeared all over and voting at 6 am in the morning.
We arrived at Kaw Point, the race start, at 6:30 am. The race was scheduled to start at 8:00 am. However, the rain was coming down pretty hard and lightning all over the place. Mike Campo met me to help put the gear in the boat and launch me in the water but when the race director announced a 90 minute delay in the start, I told Mike to head on into work. Vince Boucher and two of his boys Noah and Jacob knocked on the truck window shortly after 8 am to see if they could help in anyway. The rain had stopped by then so we finished gearing up the boat and launched it a little before nine. I pulled it to the shore and got out. No need to be in the boat any longer that I had to. Matthew Moore showed up to watch the start of the race and offer a few words of encouragement which were greatly appreciated. The National Anthem was sung at 9:25 am. The race director gave a countdown and then 7 muzzle loaded rifles exploded, fired by Lewis and Clark re-enactors announcing the start of the race. The air was cool, the rain had stopped, the clouds were covering up the sun but you could feel the electricity in the air from the 270 plus boats in the water and my heart was pumping with adrenaline. The first hour was one big pack of canoes, kayaks and other various floating vessels paddling down the river. A couple of guys made a canoe out of plastic 55 gallon drums, pop-riveted together and sealed with caulk. It was a wonder that thing even floated. It didn’t look like that thing would make it an hour, which made me feel a little better about my ugly duckling kayak. A lot of people were talking back and forth, laughing and having a great time. I was worried about tipping over and was breathing too heavy to talk. It felt like I was struggling while everybody else was gliding with ease. I tried not to pay attention. I put the earphones in and started to get into a rhythm. The sun got out from behind the clouds before noon and started to put the beat down on us. I arrived in Napolean (39 miles) at 2:44 pm, in 5 hours 14 minutes (7.5 mph) a good pace, a little ahead of my 7 mph goal that I wanted to average. My crew, Linda, Dreama, Drake and mother-in-Law, Mary, changed out my food bags, topped off the water and applied a new coat of sunscreen. Then off I went in under 10 minutes. This was 11 miles ahead of the first check point Lexington which was going to be very crowded so I made a pit stop early. When I got to Lexington at 4:33 pm (6.6 mph), I was greeted by my younger sister, Kathryn, and her kids along with my crew. I was able to verbally check in and have Linda sign me through. I was there for 30 seconds by design. Next check point was Waverly, 23 miles out. The sun started to cook us a little. I alternated between water and a sports drink and brought plenty of snacks. I needed to keep the right amount of fuel in the body but not too much or I would get sick and not be able to process it nor too little for fear of starting to deplete muscle reserves. I bought a tub of KFC chicken on Sunday which always tastes good cold or at least that is how I remembered it from college. Evening came, the tunes were still rockin’ and I was making pretty good time. I arrived in Waverly 7:45 pm, 3 hours 12 minutes (7.2 mph), still ahead of my 7 mph target. Linda directed the support crew in refilling the jugs of water and sports drink, changing out the food bags, turning on the boat lights and taking the hat and sunglasses in under 10 minutes again. No need of those for this next leg was heading directly into night time. Next stop, Miami, 32 miles away. I originally planned to get there by 11:30 pm but with the rain delayed start, I wouldn’t get there until 1:00 am. Kayaking at night on the Missouri River is not fun and actually pretty scary at times. Things that you can see clearly during the day time like wing dikes, buoys, logs, fallen trees and barges can only be heard or their silhouettes made out for the most part at night time. In addition the reaction time that you have to safely avoid such hazards is shortened substantially. Fortunately, I was familiar with this stretch of water from my earlier training run and knew where most of the hazards were in the river. I had several kayaks in front of me about a half a mile, with lights on their boats, that I used to guide me through the night. This leg was pretty uneventful just the way I liked it. I pulled into Miami at 12:15 am (7.4 mph), 4 hours 20 minutes, a little ahead of schedule. A spectator helped me haul the kayak to dry ground, where I emptied the contents of the 15 inch wide by 41 inch long pan that I had been sitting in all day. This pan contained all my food supplies, two ½ gallon jugs of fluids, my water resistant bags containing my cell phone and Garmin. I now know the difference between water resistant versus water proof because the bag containing my cell phone was half full of water. The remainder of the race would be accomplished without a cell phone. Hopefully, I won’t get into any trouble and need to use it. I was shivering from being soaking wet. My kayak stroke kicks up some water that falls on me and into the pan which after several hours accumulates an inch or so in the pan. At night time, the temperature dropped into the low 70’s. I got out of the wet clothes and curled up in the truck bed on top of an air mattress. The first day in the books with 105 miles traveled and one dead cell phone. I was pleased with my performance so far as I closed my eyes.
Wednesday, August 5 - I slept for about 90 minutes but found myself opening my eyes and twisting and turning every couple of minutes. So, I decided that it was useless to continue on in that manner, I got up put back on the wet clothes, loaded up the kayak, grabbed a hot hotdog from the local town folks and shoved off around 3:00 am. I quickened the pace of my stroke to warm the body up in the cool air. The sun finally cracked the horizon around 5:30 am and it was smooth sailing from there on. I pulled into Glasgow at 8:18 am (6.8 mph), 5 hours 18 minutes, to the sound of loud cheering, streamers and banners. My mom, dad, oldest sister, Laura and three of her children along with my support team (Linda, Dreama, Drake and Mary (world’s greatest mother-in-law!)) made me feel like I already won the race. It really lifted my spirits to have my own cheerleading crew. I was able to get a lukewarm shower in the park and catch about 45 minutes of needed sleep then put back in the water around 9:55 am. My mom pinned a St. Benedict cross that she had blessed to my shirt to protect me the rest of the way. The next leg to Cooper’s Landing is the longest at 56 miles. It will take me the most of the day to get there. I decided to stop in Boonville, 30 miles downriver, to get out and stretch my legs for a couple of minutes. I was surprised and excited to see that Mom and Dreama came down to see me come in. Linda arrived separately flying down the gravel road to the boat ramp, delayed by some slow moving traffic. She was able to apply a new layer of sunscreen and send me on my way. I opened up a “water resistant” zip loc bag of two day old chicken to find that it was swimming in water as well. At this point, I had no choice but to scrape off the soggy wet skin and eat the meat. It definitely was not the highlight of epicurean delights for the trip. I arrived at Cooper’s Landing at 6:29 pm (6.5 mph), 8 hours 34 minutes, a little slower that I had hoped for but still feeling pretty good. My personal cheerleading crew picked up my second oldest sister, Joelene, and her three children and a couple of kids from my youngest sister, Cory. They cheered with so much enthusiasm that I could hear them a half mile away. I was able to get about 15 minutes of rest in the back of the truck while the pit crew cleaned out the boat, added ice and fluids to the thermos and switched out the food bags. My dad unfortunately, backed up into an oncoming car in search for some much needed ice. It totaled the hatch door on the back of the caravan. Linda handed me a hot dog that I inhaled in about 30 seconds. I shoved off at 7:17 pm. Next stop Jefferson City, 26 miles out. About an hour into the leg with the sun just above the horizon, I noticed four kayaks about a mile ahead of me. I thought that if I could catch up to within a half a mile then I could follow these guys into Jeff City. I paddled as hard as I could but was not gaining any ground and in fact, they were slowly slipping away from me. The sun was completely down by now and the moon was up but something was different about tonight. The trees actually looked like they were in the river in the form of abandoned warehouses and buildings almost ghost like. It appeared as if I was going to run into them which forced me into the center of the river, out of the fast moving channel. I was going on about two hours sleep over the last 40 hours. It was very scary because my mind was telling me that if I hit one of those warehouses, I would be in deep trouble. My vision was becoming impaired and it was difficult to determine which way the river was twisting. My body was shutting down and conserving oxygen only to the vital organs which was causing my eyesight to get blurry. I had given up hope to catch those four kayaks ahead of me when all of a sudden I about ran into the back of one of those four kayaks in front of me. He had run out of gas to paddle as hard as the other three kayaks and was resting. I am sure that it was St. Benedict looking out for me. We were about five miles outside of Jeff City. He still had his senses about him, had trained on this sectioned of the river several times and most importantly had a big, big spot light to clearly see the bank of the river. As we were coming into the city about a half mile from the checkpoint, I was suddenly surrounded by air bubbles that hit the surface of the river. Then a fish hit my paddle with some force. Another jumped over my kayak - right across my feet. This fish was as long as my kayak was wide and probably 8 plus inches top to bottom. If I hadn’t been so tired I probably would have jumped out of the boat with the fish. I paddled with renewed passion that last half a mile to the checkpoint. I arrived at 11:04 pm (6.9 mph), 3 hours 47 minutes. Linda was there to greet me with pajamas, sweatshirt and blankets. I crawled into the bed of the truck right next to highway 65 and slept soundly for four hours. Day two in the books with 118 miles accomplished, one totaled hatch door on a caravan, and a pretty good fish tale. Only 115 miles left to get to St. Charles.
Thursday, August 6 - Linda woke me up at 3:30 am. My iPod finally ran out of battery life so the last day was going to be tuneless. I shoved off at 4:04 a.m. as the volunteer working the checkpoint called out “you look great!” I knew she was lying but I was too tired to argue. I was fortunate enough to have another kayaker take off 3 minutes ahead of me so I could follow him out of town until the sun came up. My arms and shoulders were sore and it was slow going for about the first hour or so until the body warmed up and realized there was only one way to stop the pain and that was to get to St. Charles. I passed three solo men kayakers about 2 miles out from the checkpoint in Hermann. One of those three guys saved my bacon the night before. They left Jeff City at 3:30 in the morning, about a half an hour ahead of me. I pulled into Hermann at 11:30 am (6.2 mph), 7 hours 26 minutes, greeted again by my pit crew (Linda, Dreama, Drake and Mary) and my mom, dad and a host of nieces and nephews. Linda, with precision, directed the pit crew to clean out the boat, supply new food, top the fluids off, add ice, and a Mountain Dew. She dropped a couple of Advil in my mouth, kissed me, shoved a hamburger in my hand and pushed me back into the river. Jeff Gordon may be calling once he finds out about these turnaround times. NASCAR could use such a fine pit boss. After finishing the hamburger, a nice headwind kicked up and someone cranked the heat up. Fortunately, Mom gave me an old tube sock filled with ice that I put around my neck to keep me cool. My body was processing the hamburger which caused me to get very sluggish. I saw that I was only averaging a little over 5 mph from the Garmin on board. I had to do something quick to jump start the system again or I would be out here all night and into the next day. I started in on the Mountain Dew. I paced myself, alternating every mile between a drink of Mountain Dew and dragging the sock in the cool river water and placing it around my neck. That kept me occupied as I trudged through the water and the sun beating down on me. I knew that there is only so much caffeinated soda my stomach can take so I had to pace myself. More food would just slow down the affects of the soda so I stopped eating. I wasn’t very hungry anyway. I passed another solo male kayaker and felt pretty good about my progress. The heat started to subside as the sun was heading towards the horizon. Klondike was the last checkpoint before the finish line and I was 2 miles out when I came upon another male solo kayaker. I was able to get within 50 yards of him and decided not to stay in the channel but to take a more direct route on the other side of the river to the final checkpoint. When I finally arrived at 6:18 pm (7.4 mph), 6 hours and 41 minutes, he had beaten me to the checkpoint by over 300 yards. I learned my lesson to stay in the channel next to the bank of the river for maximum speed. I was greeted at the last check point by my pit crew and groupies plus one of my best friends from high school, Steve Long, and his son, Jake, who came out to see me. That really lifted my spirits to see him. As my ace pit crew switched out the supplies, my sister, Joelene, handed me some fresh hot fried chicken that tasted oh so good. I got a reprimand from the pit boss that I wasn’t drinking enough water. I couldn’t tell her that I was running on fumes and water would have diluted the effect of the Mountain Dew. I needed a new 20 ounce bottle of Mountain Dew to finish the race. Drake turned on my bicycle light that I received as a gift from the folks in Paducah. I had not used it in the race so far but knew I was headed for darkness and thought that it would be a good idea to have it on. Five minutes at Klondike and I was off again at 6:23 pm. The man that beat me to the checkpoint was still there when I left, so I picked up another spot. I wasn’t concerned about where I finished but it felt good to pass somebody. The sun was just above the horizon and I had 27 miles to go. The last part of this leg was going to be in the dark and I didn’t see anybody ahead of me. I paddled with some speed and was averaging around 6.5 mph. Everything on the bank looked like it was a green sponge chiseled into an animal, pirate, building, or anything else my mind could dream up at the time. I knew how bad Wednesday night had been and was hoping for a better experience for the finish. The sun finally went down around 9:00 p.m. and the moon was coming up on the horizon. The bicycle light didn’t really light up the river for me as I had hoped. It did, however, attract all of the flying bugs from the banks of the river to the light and because I was going at a pretty good pace, they could not keep up with the light and flew right into my mouth, eyes and ears. I learned quickly to breathe with my nose and squint at night. I stayed to the middle of the river out of the channel but safe where I could see obstacles in front of me. All of a sudden my paddle hit sand. A couple more strokes and the whole boat ran aground sand in the middle of the river. How could the river be so shallow? I got out of the boat and pulled it back into the deep part of the river and took the opportunity to turn off the bug attracting bicycle light. As I was getting back into the boat, I noticed out of the corner of my eye a small light about two miles out. It could only be one thing this late at night, another kayak. I was about an hour or so from the finish. If I gave it my all, then he would have to really be fast to catch me before the finish. I took off with some speed to my stroking. I had to stop paddling and listen for buoys, rapids or wing dikes every 10 minutes or so which slowed me down some. I took those opportunities to guzzle down Mountain Dew. The kayak behind me had closed the gap to within a mile in about 40 minutes. I could see the bright lights from the St. Charles casino over the tops of the trees and knew I had to be close. I paddled even faster. My forearms were burning and my chest was on fire but I knew the pain would be over soon. I saw a big wing dike and heard the rushing waters. It was pushing me to the other side of the river. It was very dark on that side of the river and I didn’t know how far to the left I had to go to get around these rapids, so I held my breath and went through them. No rocks scraped the boat or flipped my kayak as I let out a big sigh of relief. About that time another set of rapids were right in front of me. No time to react but had to go through them. Once again I made it through safely. I grabbed the Mountain Dew and chugged what I had left and took off under the second bridge. Two down and one bridge remaining. The finish line was just past the third bridge. The lights were getting brighter and the kayak behind me was within a quarter of a mile. I turned the corner and could see the final bridge and the bright casino lights. I paddled with everything I had. For a third time I heard rapids approaching. No time to think as the kayak behind me was closing in and I just went for it. As I hit the rapids, I hit a series of rocks as well. They pushed and bounced the boat back and forth but somehow I managed to stay upright. Once through, I grabbed the St. Benedict cross attached to my shirt and pressed it to my lips thanking him for getting me through those safely. As I approached the final bridge not but 20 yards away I looked over my left shoulder and saw the kayak that had been chasing me the last hour and a half. It clearly had the strength and speed to beat me to the finish about 100 yards away. I stopped, sat up and looked over at my competitor to let him go by. When I looked over and focused on the other boat I saw that they had three men in their boat. I felt pretty good that I was able to hold off three men for 90 minutes and not lose a spot in my division. I took the last 50 yards to soak up the sight of all the bright lights on the casino, then heard my family clan let out a big yell and starting cheering as I pulled into the bank 10:29 pm (6.6 mph) 4 hours and 6 minutes. As I touched the bank and struggled out of the boat I yelled, “Praise the Lord”. I looked like a wet river rat and was completely exhausted but felt great to be out of the boat on dry land for good! The race started with 94 solo men kayakers, 30 did not finish and of the 64 that did, I placed 11th with a time of 60 hours and 59 minutes.
It was quite a race. No casualties other than a cell phone and a tailgate. The hands and feet swelled up like great big prunes and the feeling in my right hand came back after a week or so. Not bad for my first time in such a race. I don’t know if I will do this race ever again but it sure was a neat experience. I might look for something else a little less challenging perhaps? Or maybe not. Got any ideas?
Thank you again for your generous contribution, thoughts and prayers. God Bless you and your family.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
The Finish
The top picture is me at the finish with my family and the one below is at the start of the race. I am at the bottom of the picture in the goofy hat. It worked like a champ keeping the sun off my ears and neck. 94 competitors started the race in the mens division Tuesday morning. I finished 11th just shy of 61 hours. I don't have much feeling in my right hand, the upper body is really sore, am still light headed but improving a little each day. If you are looking for a challenge that will test your ability to take repetitive pain over long periods of time accompanied with sleep deprivation the MR340 is for you! I held together pretty good the first day, got about 90 minutes of sleep and then began again. The second day was long and hot and by the end of the day I was hallucinating something fierce. At 11 pm on Wednesday the trees looked like ghost hovering in the water and that I was going to run into them with my kayak. I was fortunate enough to hook up with another kayaker that was running out of steam but had a big spot light to show us the way and had practiced on the stretch of water around Jefferson City where I was losing it. A half a mile from the Jeff City check point a big fish hit my paddle and another one jumped right over my feet across the boat. I paddled with purpose that last half mile. The last day was a struggle until I got into a rhythm drinking Mountain Dew and soaking a sock in river water and cooling my neck every other mile. The last hour and a half was in complete darkness as I approached St. Charles by myself. I ran a ground on a sand barge in the middle of the river, went through two stretches rapids and scraped the boat on rocks trying to go through a third one. I do not like kayaking in the dark!!! Thank you for all of the prayers. I needed and used them all. God Bless.
Friday, August 7, 2009
The Finish
Lohn arrived at the finish line on Thursday, August 6, 2009 at 10:29 p.m. His official time for the entire 340 mile race was 60 hours and 59 minutes.
Klondike
Lohn pulled into Klondike Park in St. Charles County at 6:16 p.m. He was back on the river at 6:23 p.m.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Hermann, Missouri
Lohn arrived in Hermann, Missouri at 11:30 a.m. He only took a 7 minute rest and then was back on the river at 11:37 a.m. His next stop is Klondike Park which is a 42 mile stretch.
Noren
The Noren river access point is at the Jefferson City bridge. Lohn arrived here at 11:04 p.m. He got a few hours sleep and was back on the river at 4:04 a.m. Linda says he looked a lot better after the rest. Next stop is Hermann with an estimated arrival of sometime after 11:00 a.m.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)