2018 MR 340 Race

Race Day!

I woke up too early on race day.  I intended on getting up around 4:30 am but I woke up at 3 after only 2.5 hours of sleep.  I think the picture says it all!

I looked at almost all of the 340paddler posts on youtube.com.  These were very helpful in preparation for the event.  I gathered all of the supplies recommended by Chris Luedke in the videos.  Much of which I kept in the car.

The biggest mistakes that I made were (1) not having a really good set of plans, (2) not carrying a sleeping pad, and (3) not immediately trying to find someone to paddle with for the 88 hour event.

My wife and youngest daughter (21) were my ground crew.  I had booked hotels for them every night which was both a good thing and a bad thing.  The main issue is that particularly at the beginning of the race the river is in remote areas where there are no major chain hotels.  So it was 1.5 hr drive each way to one of the stops. 

A little background on the race.  The race is 338.6 miles and billed as the longest continuous race in the world (www.rivermiles.com).  There are checkpoints (see picture) with cut off times and there is the boat...aptly named the Reaper...that you have to stay in front of.  The times are setup with minimal night paddling...so you can get ahead of the Reaper by paddling at night.  The key is to make the first 2 checkpoints on Day 1 and then paddle into the night.  You want to get ahead early in the race so if something happens later in the race you have a buffer and still can finish the race.

Justine, Judy, and I at Kaw Point Lewis and Clark Monument

So Tuesday morning we all headed off to Kaw Point in Kansas City, KS.  We carried down all of the equipment and supplies for the boat and queued up to launch.  On Monday, someone recommended that we avoid the ramp and launch straight from Kaw Point by the Lewis and Clark Monument.

Final preparations to launch

We followed this approach and were in the Kansas river by about 6:40 a.m.  It was really confusing with all the different boats launching so I was glad to hit the water.  I was not trying to finish in under 50 hours so I positioned myself at the back of the pack to allow elite racers to get a fast start.  I also wanted to watch the line that other paddlers took leaving the Kansas (Kaw) River as the videos mentioned that people sometimes flip at the confluence.  The first 200 yards or so of the race starts in the Kansas River and the rest of the races is in Big Muddy.

I really went with stripped down items in the boat.  I only carried the essentials (water, hat, sunscreen, food, sunglasses, sleeping bag liner, windbreaker, headlight, medicine and safety kit.  This was as recommended in the videos.

Start on Day 1
We all lined up behind the launch ramp and the race started promptly at 7 a.m. for the solo boats.   It was great mix of people and generally everyone was really cool about the start. Most people accepted that the start was going to be hectic and it was a 340 mile race so a few minutes delay at the start was not an issue.

 There was a long string of boats at the start of the race.  Again, I highly recommend looking at the YouTube videos on line for first time racers.  Chris points out initial risks about a) flipping at confluence of Kansas and Mo River b) getting through first 5 bridges in 7 miles, and c) not going out too fast at start of the race.

I tried to establish a pace that I felt that I could sustain for days.  Initially I think that I was pretty efficient in paddling but this degraded as exhaustion crept in over the race.

Landing at Napoleon

My key plan was to paddle 30 hours straight.  I really didn't have a plan B.  So everything progressed as planned for the first part of the race.  I planned to stop before the required Lexington Checkpoint.  I was using the Pro Paddler App on my phone so I could just go by Lexington and it would check me in automatically.  The app was well worth the $5.  This is the first and only app that I have ever purchased.  The first day required ~74 miles by 9 p.m. so I called Judy and let her know that I though Napoleon would be a good stop.  Again this was recommendation from videos.

Heading off from Napoleon ramp

Napoleon ramp is a Corps of Engineers ramp open for the race.  Benefits of stopping here were that the ramp was on the channel side of the river and they had running water (and toilets).  I think that I stopped for about 40 minutes to eat and refresh a bit.  Judy and Justine had wash cloths in the cooler that they gave to me to cool down.  Funny the 5 man team that set the record this year passed me while I was stopped.  They looked like a machine going down the river with their synchronized paddling.  So they made up the 1 hour delay start already.  I should have followed recommendation in the video and tried to keep stops like this to 15 minutes.  It is amazing how many boats pass you when you stop.

We passed our first upstream barge in between Napoleon and Lexington.  I partially followed recommendation in that I moved out of the channel.  The potential for 4 foot wakes was not intimidating to me as I've been through similar waves on parts of the Upper Delaware river....although in a different boat.  As I passed Lexington, one of the safety boats sped upstream as apparently someone flipped in the barge wake.

I passed Lexington (51.1 Miles) at 2:53 p.m. so I was 2 hours ahead of "The Reeper".  The Reeper is a safety boat that heads upstream at the minimum rate to make the checkpoints...so you want to stay ahead of the Reeper.  At this point, I was basically 2 hours ahead which is good margin at this point.  The key to this race is to push hard early and often so you have buffer incase weather or some other event impacts you later in the race.  While my goal was to just finish, I wanted to finish in under 80 hours as this would allow us to car top the boat and get out of St. Louis before 5 p.m. Friday rush hour.....

Stuffing face at Waverly

Justine helping to put on navigation lights

The Waverly ramp is the last check point on Tuesday and all boats must be there by 9 p.m.  My biggest concern was getting eliminated on day 1.  If you make Waverly, you can night paddle and build your buffer for the following days.  You don't want the race to be back end loaded... Waverly was another 22.9 miles and I arrived at about 6:15 pm.  So now I was almost 3 hours ahead of the Reeper and increasing the buffer....so far so good.  The bad news is that I spent about an hour stopped here.  I did have excellent sandwich...thanks girls.  Justine and I put on the required navigation lights for the race (Red Left bow, Green Right bow, and white in stern).  I shoved off thinking that I would stop next in Glasgow.

I started paddling off into the declining light and was in pretty good spirits.  Except for taking too much time at the boat ramps, I was pretty much on or ahead of plan EXCEPT that I have not found anyone to paddle with for the race.

As night fell, my thin rash-guard was not keeping me warm and I could not really warm up....I wasn't truly cold, but breezes on the river felt cool/cold.  Part of the issue was the monotony of paddling alone.  I had the Pro Paddler App open so I could ensure that I was staying in the fastest water in the main navigational channel for the barges.  Boats continued to pass me and I passed others as well.   I couldn't find anyone to paddle with and was really just trying to push on.  I was making pretty good time.

A lot of the paddlers stop at Miami as while it is not an official checkpoint, it is a supported stop along the river.  This means there is flashing beacon and people on the ramp to pull up your boat.  I was targeting to reach Glasgow at about 7 a.m. on Day 2.  There was an almost full moon and no cloud cover so there was some ability to see at night.  I was not using my headlamp...wasted weight as I never used it or the small waterproof flashlight that I carried.  I was pretty efficient in what I carried in the boat.

A bit before midnight I was paddling along when a canoe and another kayak caught up to me.  They were headed to Miami for the night.  Miami is a popular and congested site.  They do have food all night and support staff at the ramp.  The MR340 is their major fund raiser for the year...Miami is a tiny town.  Anyway, I was chatting with the kayaker about going on and he said he was stopping as he hit a log in the river and flipped.  He had to push boat to the edge of river to upright the boat and drain it.  The river was probably 200 yards wide here....this didn't sound fun.  I called Judy but she was in hotel 1.5 hours away and I was only 45 minutes from Miami.  I told her to stay put and I would figure something out.

I landed in Miami just about 12:30 a.m.  Someone helped me get the boat off the ramp.  I walked around looking for somewhere to sleep.  I knew it would be rough as I only had a sleeping bag liner...no mat or real sleeping bag.  After about 20 minutes, I gave up and just pulled the liner over my head and used my wind breaker for a pillow.  Ended up sleeping on a rock embankment, but I was not alone a least.  This was pretty low point of the trip having not prepared for sleeping....lesson learned.

Day 2

I fell asleep just after 1 a. m. and woke up at 3:38 a. m.  So almost 2.5 hours sleep.  I was a bit damp from the mist and moisture at rivers edge.  Not feeling great I realized more sleep was unlikely so I went down to the ramp.  There I ran into Dhon Ponay.   My attitude and luck was about to turn.  Dhon was just gathering himself and waiting for someone to leave as he was too smart to go off into the dark by himself...unlike me.....

Dhon said he would wait for me to gather myself.  I needed to eat a leftover sandwich as I was trying to follow recommendations from the videos on eating.  I also had to take health break.  I had really hard time forcing down 1/4 of a sandwich...I met Dhon back at the ramp just before 5 a.m. and we were off by 5:15 a.m.  Headed to Glasgow!!  So this low point of the race became a high point after meeting Dhon.  We stuck together for the remainder of the race.

The trip to Glasgow was uneventful except for passing another upstream barge.  We stopped this time with a small group of paddlers.  This cost us about 45 minutes.  I'm not a fan of stopping for barges.   A safety boat came up while we waited.  I think they were looking for me as my wife got nervous as my raceowl tracking didn't update from Miami.  I sent her a text when we left but it never showed that we left. 

Dhon and I arrived at Glasgow at 11:25 a. m.  I didn't see Judy, but when I did I found out that she accidentally locked keys in the car.  Something must have malfunctioned on the car because you are not supposed to be able to do that.  Fortunately, some nice ladies at the Catholic charity booth help us out.

Since we were stopped, I took a shower and used the porcelain facilities.  The shower was fantastic and was a real refresher.  I was able to wash off the grime from sleeping on the embankment at Miami.

Food at this stop was great.  I had nice burrito and sports drink in the shade.  I had no issue eating.  Maybe the nausea was just a morning thing.

Judy and Justine had setup chairs under a tree so it was quite pleasant as it was not too hot.  I had a butterfinger candy bar as well!!

Dhon slept for over an hour while he waited for us to get our act together.  I couldn't sleep which is typical for me during the day.   Just not tired enough at this point to sleep during the day.

With Dhon at Glasgow

We ended up pushing off at 1:18 p.m. which was almost a 2 hour stop.  This was not a good stop at all but we did overcome several issues.

Dhon and I pushing off from Glasgow

As we pushed off, we were in good spirits.  We were not sure how far we would attempt.  Nature and the river influence some of this as we initially were thinking about Jefferson City (Wilson's Serenity Point).  However, within the first 30 minutes we hit significant headwinds to fight through.  We pushed on using considerable energy but were only making about 5 miles per hour.  It got to a point were I asked for divine intervention for a break in the wind.  It did seem to subside some afterwards and stopped about an hour later.

Getting ready to push off Franklin Island

As the day went on, we pushed toward our next stop which was Franklin Island.  This was 31 miles from Glasgow.  With the conditions as they were, it took us about 5 hours to get there.  There were a lot of tired and worn down paddlers there.  I felt pretty good for pushing on at this point.  There was free food here so I enjoyed nice hot dog.   This is a government access point so no food sales were allowed..so a local business stepped in to support the race with free food and drink.

We probably were at Franklin Island for 45 minutes or more.  So this was yet another poor stop for us.  The key to this race is staying in the boat.  Lots of people don't even get out for health breaks.

At this point in the race, Jefferson City seemed unlikely.  I was pretty tired from only 2.5 hours sleep the night before.  Judy and Justine were staying in a hotel in Columbia so we set plans to get to Coopers Landing for the night.  Coopers is a private campground that is a supported stop by the race.  It is big party area with music.  We met up with Kristie and Megan again who we had seen when we stopped to let the barge pass.  They were headed to the Ramp at Hartsburg.  Megan had successfully completed the race before, but unfortunately I didn't listen closely enough to her until later in the race.  It was probably really smart to go on the additional 10 miles to Hartsburg as it was surely less congested.  Lesson learned.

The really good news is that Judy picked me up about 10:30 pm and we were at the hotel by 11:30 p.m.  I was able to shower and then soak in the tub for a few minutes.  I had a snack and water.  I was asleep by the time that I hit the covers.

Day 3

Judy woke me up at about 4:30 a.m.  We had targeted to leave Coopers at 5 a.m.  Needless to say we didn't make it.  I was hopeful that Dhon would still be there we we arrived.  When we arrived at Coopers, I took quick health break (NOTE: Avoid Coopers late in the race for facilities).  We launched at 6:22 a.m.  This was major screw up on my part.  I did feel rested through.

We were making pretty good time.  We had left Coopers with some light fog but it was not enough to impede navigation.  We were alone on the river for about 2 hours before someone caught up with us.  It was very pleasant paddling with Dhon.

Dhon and I pushed on to Jefferson City and arrived at 10:27 a.m.  Judy and Justine were lost and never made it.  Someone was selling Chic-fil-a sandwiches and sports drink.  Dhon suggested I mix some sports drink with my water to keep it from running right through me.  He runs marathons so I took his advice.  It really helped.

We had another poor stop of 40 minutes.  We met up with Steve Perez who was on a SUP like Dhon.  So we had another companion.  We passed another barge right after Jefferson City.   This time we went through it.  I actually paddled back toward the barge to jump the wake a bit...FUN....

It was great to meet up with Steve as he had previously done the race as well.  Herman was our next planned access at 47.5 miles.  As we pushed down the river, the weather turned bad and started to rain....then there was 1 lightening bolt...so we started to look for cover.  We were kind of following a small group in front us us that had the same goal.  Unfortunately, their lead person hit a submerged wing dam and capsized.  We all pushed to get their quickly.  It took about 45 minutes to an hour to get him safely to shore, pump out the boat, and get him into it.  Fortunately, we didn't see any more lightening.

After he was ok, we started out in a drizzle.  I contacted Judy as I was not able to get my rain jacket on before the capsizing incident.  So I was pretty wet and felt that I should stop to change my rash-guard.  I call Judy and she would meet me at Mokane.

I pushed ahead of everyone trying to get a buffer.  Judy arrived about 10 minutes after I landed.  Fortunately there were some MR340 crews there that helped me land.

The girls had food and drink.  Judy lent me her rain jacket as mine was wet since I put it on over wet clothing.

No facilities here so had to use the woods.  There was a Missouri Trooper at the launch that was really nice guy.  He could not believe that we came all the way from NJ for the race.  I told him that it is the only one like this and also I had connections to the area from my parents.

Time to catch Dhon and Steve

This was a very costly stop for me.  It was probably 45 minutes including the wait for my ground crew.

Since Dhon and Steve were probably doing 6.5 miles per hour, I must have given them almost a five mile lead.  With only 28.2 miles to the Herman boat access ramp, it would be a real challenge to catch them.  Again, this is where stubbornness and grit are the most important factors on the river.

I called Dhon about 2 hours in.  I was passing boats right and left.  However, when I called him, they were still just over 2 miles in front of me.  I was determined to catch them by Herman as I needed good people to paddle with the rest of the race.  I pushed on passing mile after mile and eventually decided to kick it up a notch.  At one point, I was paddling a 9.5 miles per hour.

It was very easy to see them once I finally was close enough.  SUP paddlers don't have the swing of double bladed paddlers.  This was welcome site to me.  I caught them with about 5.5 miles to Herman.

Arriving at Herman 

We arrived at Herman at 6:49 p.m.  Herman is only 67.6 miles from the finish line in St. Charles.  So it was no doubt in my mind that I would finish.  It just became a matter of when.  I still wanted to finish under 80 hours and that seemed doable to me.  We met Steve's wife, 2 sons and coworker Art.  Art dropped out at Miami as he was still recovering from shoulder surgery.  Probably really good call.  They had pizza and I bought a bratwurst from the boy scouts while I was stopped there.  Herman is a really cool looking river town.  I'd love to explore it some time. 

Dhon and I off to New Haven

We had another long stop at Herman of over 45 minutes.  I did eat and walked up to the bathrooms at the park which was a bit away.  It was nice to have real facilities after pit toilets and port-a-potties, but still...reducing stop times is large opportunity for improvement.  There is definite need to have more planned stop alternatives and what will be done at those stops.

Judy and I did talk about New Haven.  I was not real thrilled with it. It did have real bathrooms...no shower, but bathrooms are plus.  Downside is that it is very close to train tracks which run frequently (30 minutes to hour all night).  Judy was going to meet us there and have the tent setup for me to sleep in....we were just now on the last night sorting how paddler and ground crew should interact efficiently.

We were able to push off at 7:35 p.m. with only 15 miles to New Haven.  This would be short paddle and there was some moonlight.  There were a ton of buoys along the way which fortunately we missed them all.  We really took it pretty easy as we arrived at New Haven five minutes after 10 p.m.  

Getting into the ramp at New Haven was a challenge.  I came very close to missing it in the dark.  There was debris stuck on the wing dam and it was so dark you could not see any of it.  We really needed someone to shine a light on it as we approached.  We went far to wide and were in the strongest part of the current.  I was pushing as hard as I could and finally hit slower water.  I thought for a moment that I would be paddling on by myself.  

I was really glad to have landed.  The ramp was not crowded, but I would have preferred a crowd with support.   Right after we landed, we ran into Megan, John, Ryan and Kristie again.  They had arrived a bit before us I believe. One of their husbands shined a light on the debris as they approached so they avoided the struggle that I had.

Judy had the tent all setup except for the rain fly.  I told this was necessary as since we were right by the river there would be a ton of condensation.  The tent was already wet.  I put in earplugs (trains) and went to sleep right after Judy put the fly on.  I woke a couple of hours later needing to use the facilities.  Fortunately I was able to get back to sleep.

Photo by Dhon of us leaving New Haven

Day 4 - Push to the Finish

Judy woke me at 3:30 a.m.  I took health break and headed to the river.  I really wanted to get start early.  We all gathered...Steve, Dhon, Megan, and Kristie and launched into a heavy fog.  I was navigator as you could not see a thing and I had the Pro Paddler App.  Here is picture Dhon took as we left.

It was a bit disturbing pushing through the fog.  They don't recommend paddling in dense fog like this but we pushed on anyway.  It was definitely instrument only navigation with listening for buoys.

The benefits of leaving so early were that we theoretically be at St. Charles by noon.  This would require some consistent paddling and tight management of the last remaining stop in Klondike.  I was doubtful that we could make it based on the 2 requirements above.

We passed Washington just after daylight and the fog was lifting.  Just after Washington we passed a barge that was moored by the side of the river.  They were waiting for the fog to lift before heading downstream.   I think they eventually passed us while we were stopped at Klondike.

We arrived at Klondike at 8:26 a.m.  They had good support at the site.  I made quick bathroom stop using the pit toilet....which was a struggle...I was never the same with pit toilets after Coopers.  I was ready to go in about 15 minutes.  They had no supplies there since a bunch of boaters were grounded there the night before due to fog.

Kristie and Megan took off about 15 minutes after we stopped....I give them the nod for experience and ground crew.  Dhon went to get Steve as Dhon was ready to go.  

We were stopped for about 35 minutes.  I was really pumped for the final 27.4 miles so I took off shortly after Steve, Dhon, and I launched.  I caught several boats and eventually Kristie and Megan.  I continued to push on but really started to run out of energy at about 20 miles so I slowed down to paddle with them the rest of the way.  In the end I just followed them all of the way into St. Charles listening to Megan's insights and chatting a bit.   It took just over 4 hours for us to get there.  I think Kristie was worried about me because she kept looking back to see if I was still there.  

We pulled up pretty much same time with a finish of 78 hours and 14 minutes.  Well done if I say so myself.  Dhon arrived 7 minutes later followed by Steve in another 15 minutes.  

This was fantastic experience for me.  Meeting and paddling with a lot of great people.  The ground crews and volunteers were fantastic.  The race was well organized and execution was excellent.  

Thanks to all.  

Scott

Paddle On!

 

Justine, myself, and Judy at the finish