Several Mid-Missouri residents will be paddling down the Missouri River next week as part of the 10th annual Missouri American Water MR 340 race.
The race starts at 8 a.m. Tuesday where the Kaw River hits the Missouri River in Kansas City and will end in St. Charles. Participants have 88 hours to complete the course.
Evan Block and his father, Shannon, live in Wardsville near the Moreau River and have been floating rivers for years. Evan, 19, is excited to be doing the race with his father, who competed in the race four years ago by himself.
"We started building our tandem kayak in March, and this will be the first time we've raced together," Evan said. "It's been nerve-racking putting the finishing touches on it to make sure it's ready to go. Our goal is to try and finish the race in 60 hours. The winners have been doing it in 40 hours, and most participants finish in 70-75 hours. So we're aiming to finish strong."
Evan said the kayak is 20 feet long and 30 inches wide and weighs only 55 pounds.
"It's light, long and narrow, so it should go fast through the water," he said.
Although the current on the river is about 2-3 mph, there are still plenty of hazards to paddlers like motorboats, mostly fishermen and the occasional towboat pushing barges. There are also obstacles like wing dikes, buoys and bridge pilings.
David Gainey is an assistant wrestling coach at Jefferson City High School. He, along with fellow assistant coaches Todd Wilson and Nate Redcay, will participate in the race to mark the 50th anniversary of wrestling at the school and to help raise funds for the wrestling program.
"Our goal is to do this in under 50 hours," Gainey said. "We want to provide the kids with more opportunities. We're going to a tournament in Louisiana this season, and we want to make sure the kids have the equipment and opportunities they deserve. We get some funding from the school. But with it being the 50th anniversary, we wanted to do some extra this year."
Gainey has done kayaking for recreation, and Wilson has participated in this race twice before.
"It's a big undertaking when you think about you have to stay up 50 hours straight to get it done," he said. "In the sport of wrestling you have to be prepared physically and mentally, so hopefully this shows the kids you have to be mentally focused in all things, not just in sports."
Gainey said the trio paddled from Jefferson City to St. Charles as part of their training.
"We learned a lot from that, so we feel that if we can be hydrated and healthy we should do okay," he said.
To follow the race and see how paddlers are doing, go online to rivermiles.com/mr340/race-tracking/.