Canoe Marathon

Well, this is the biggest night of the summer for my town of Grayling. It's the start of the AuSable Canoe Marathon, a 120-mile overnight race that starts at 9 o'clock tonight and finishes sometime before noon tomorrow. It's been held on the last weekend of July every year since 1947.

Here's a little background on the race from a couple summers ago...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkNfachjRX8

Wow 120 miles...The $50,000 in prize money would be worth it.

Yeah, the weather is excellent! Clear skies, and nighttime temps in the 60s. Should be perfect for the race.

Susie wrote:

Wow 120 miles...The $50,000 in prize money would be worth it.

Susie, that $50,000 is actually kind of a misleading figure. That's the total purse that's paid to the top 20 or so finishers. I think the winning team gets $5,000, which really isn't a lot for all the months of training they put in. I guess money isn't the main thing that motivates the paddlers.

Top finishers this morning were Andy Triebold and Matt Rimer, who also won last year. Their winning time was 14 hours, 48 minutes.

Lily, one of the canoe races in North America's "triple crown" is the General Clinton Regatta in your neck of the woods, on the Susquehanna River. The other two are on the St. Maurice River in Quebec, and our AuSable River marathon.

Nope, I've never participated. Those racing canoes don't even have a place to set your beer.

It was cracking me up how fast they were paddling. WOW!! My arms would be tired after the first 2 minutes, lol.

Beckie

Savannah, Matt Rimer is a local boy, and his partner Andy Triebold is from Spring Arbor, Mich.

I just checked the roster, and there were 77 teams, which makes 154 paddlers. Of those, 24 are from Grayling. Many others are from other places in Mich., and the rest are from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Washington state, Massachusetts, Ohio, Indiana, Texas, California, and pretty much everywhere else. :titanic:

That's the last time I go to a discount plastic surgeon for a facelift. :sillySmiley:

Congratulations to Triebold and Rimer!!!

Thanks for the General Clinton Regatta link Rob. They just had a competition there this past Memorial weekend. They paddle 70 miles a day!! I can't even drive 70 miles a day. :haha:

Savannah wrote:

That's a pretty good showing from your area, then! It sounds very exciting.

But.......... my goodness, Rob.......you really look grumpy tonight. :Hahaha: If you keep snarling like that, your face will freeze that way....... And how many times do we have to tell you to stop stomping on Tokyo?

:Hahaha:

Rhonda wrote:

Rob, canoe canoe? :haha:

Canoe? Can do! But I'd rather kayak with Salma Hayek. :sillySmiley:

I really liked Dr. Seuss as a kid...

Well, it's the last Saturday in July, which means it's time for my town's big event of the year - the AuSable River Canoe Marathon. It starts here in Grayling, in the heart of the state, and finishes 120 miles later in Oscoda, on the shores of Lake Huron. The paddlers begin at 9 PM and the winners usually cross the finish line around 11 AM on Sunday.

Here's a short clip about the 2005 race, which I think I also posted last year.

Oh WOW! I definitely do NOT remember you posting that clip, Rob! Although......I may not have had high speed internet yet, and may not have been able to view the video at the time.

Just getting into the water looks like a bit of a feat all in itself! Do you know if there have ever been any injuries when they're piling into the river all at once like that? I would love to watch more of the race.........I think I'll check youtube for more clips.

Oh.........thank you for posting the clip!

Very welcome!

I don't think there have been serious injuries - lots of bumps, bruises and scrapes, though.

I did see a youtube clip of the start of last year's race, where one of the paddlers did a header on the street as they were running for the river.

This looks very fun and exciting. I don't remember the video either. Thanks for posting it Rob.

Glad you enjoyed it, Susie.

My aunt had a house on the AuSable, about a mile downstream from where the race started. We used to go down to her dock and watch them go by.

As they paddle, the guy in the back doing the steering will call out "hut!" when he wants his partner in front to switch his oar to the other side. In the early going, when the river is narrow and winding, this happens every few yards. The first time my cousin Carol saw the race, she thought they were saying "hi!" to her. So she stood out there at the end of the dock as the pack of canoes went by, marveling at how polite and friendly they all were, and calling out "Hi!...hi!...hi!...hi!...hi!..." so they wouldn't think she was impolite for not replying to each one individually.

:Hahaha: I absolutely love that story!

Don't keep us in suspense, Rob! Who won?