The big race!

The 33rd Outdoors, Inc., Canoe and Kayak Race is in the books.  The complete results are posted here.

I'm happy to say that my back, while not pain-free, was feeling better yesterday morning than it had in the middle of the week.  I'm sure adrenaline helped with that.  My start was so-so, and in the early going I was in seventh place behind Mike Herbert of Rogers, Arkansas; Pete Greene of Beaufort, South Carolina; Rick Carter of Eutawville, South Carolina; Phil Capel of North Little Rock, Arkansas; Michael Batsie of Washington, Missouri; and Waylon Willis of Charleston, South Carolina.

But I soon found a good rhythm and moved up into third place.  There was one guy sitting on my stern wake as we proceeded down below the Hernando DeSoto Bridge, and I wasn't sure who it was until I backed off the speed a little to get a look at him in my peripheral vision: it was Rick Carter (who, for some reason, had registered under the alias of "Bronko Nagurski").  As we headed into Wolf River Harbor I gathered myself for a hard push to the finish line over that last half-mile or so.

Mike Herbert, a three-time Olympian and a Pan-Am Games champion and a three-time world championships medalist, won going away in sixteen minutes, two seconds.  Pete Greene was in solid control of second place, finishing in 17:14.  Rick (Bronko) never seemed far behind me, but I apparently opened up a gap on him and finished third in 17:46 to his 17:54.

A tandem surf ski was next: Ron Ladzinski and Mira Doneva of Olathe, Kansas, crossed the line in eighteen minutes flat.  Waylon Willis finished sixth in 18:39, followed by a couple of racers in fast touring kayaks: Roy Roberts of Searcy, Arkansas (18:46) and Phil Capel (18:58).  Just behind Phil was Kata Dismukes, a native Hungarian now living in the Memphis area, who became the first woman ever to break 19 minutes in this race with her 18:59 clocking.  Another notable performance was turned in by Don Walls and Dale Burris, who hail from the neighboring Arkansas towns of Dover and Russellville: paddling their pro-boat C2, they clocked 19:24 as the first canoe across the finish line.

Just like that, this race that I always work hard to prepare for each year was over.  It was time to relax and have some fun on what was becoming a gorgeous day.  One of Memphis's best bands, the Bluff City Backsliders, provided the musical entertainment up the bank in Mississippi River Park, and I hung out and talked to the many fine friends, both racers and spectators, that I saw.  My eternal gratitude goes out to race director Joe Royer and the many staff members of Outdoors, Inc., who worked long hours to make sure this event was a great experience for all participants.