Jefferson City team wraps up river race

Gary Fisher, of Mount Carroll, Illinois, relaxes in his kayak while rinsing mud from his water shoes during an MR340 race checkpoint stop Wednesday, July 20, 2016 at Wilson's Serenity Point in north Jefferson City.
Gary Fisher, of Mount Carroll, Illinois, relaxes in his kayak while rinsing mud from his water shoes during an MR340 race checkpoint stop Wednesday, July 20, 2016 at Wilson's Serenity Point in north Jefferson City.

A team of Jefferson City men finished an annual race on the Missouri River early Friday morning.

Joey Gerbes and Steve Taylor got to the final checkpoint of the annual Missouri American Water MR340 around 2:14 a.m. in St. Charles, finishing in 106th place.

The men completed the race which started near Kansas City on Tuesday in 66 hours and 14 minutes.

Friday was the last day of the endurance race.

Participants are allowed exactly 88 hours to complete the course. There are nine checkpoints along the route, where paddlers are required to sign in and out. To finish this race in 88 hours is a huge accomplishment, as only two-thirds of the teams were able to do that last year.

The first-place craft was brought in by six women, who finished the race in 38 hours and 22 minutes at 10:22 p.m. Wednesday. The second-place finisher was  paddled by a single man who came in just before midnight Wednesday.