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.
