strength in action: the 2009 gritty 50

The 3rd Annual Gritty 50 turned out to be a bit of a holiday from the sun, sand, and sorrow that usually greet those who paddle the Kansas (or Kaw) River. Several rounds of thunderstorms that swept through the region the previous day and evening may have kept many from getting a full nights sleep but it didn't seem to slow most of the 50 or so racers who left the 8th Street ramp in Lawrence under cloudy skies, calm winds, and intermittent drizzle. The favorites flew off the front and by the first turn all but the serious contenders had been lost in the muddy waters. The cloud cover remained intact for most of the day and the winds, which had been expected to pick up, never ceased being much more than a breeze at your back. This didn't mean that suffering wasn't to be found; favorable conditions meant that folks were able to push themselves to the limit and not bonk on a sand bar.

Womens Solo (left to right): JoJo Newbold, 2nd; Di McHenry (1st); Lisa Grosmann (3rd).

Brian Hopkins, Columbia, MO successfully defended his men's solo title ahead of the entire field riding a flaming Surf Ski to a new course record. Hopkins was able to push the course record into previously uncharted territory (a little more than 6 hours) which may set himself up for some serious challenges come 2010. For those of you who like to do the math, Hopkins was able to motor over the entire 50-mile course very close to 8 mph; take away the portage and round up and you'll see this was some impressive work.

After last years humbling experience we piloted the lantern rouge boat for this years race which turned out to be only a small test of our patience. We were off the river by 1500 hours. OK. We only had to go to Edwardsville (34 miles) but this meant the slowest boats averaged about 5 mph over the race course. An impressive showing from the group as whole and indicates how the level of competitive flat-water paddling has increased in Mid-America over just a few short years. Kudos to the Rivermiles staff who proved once again they know how convince folks to suffer gladly.

elsewhere:
final 2009 gritty 50 results
gritty 50 summer fashion show

rookie a sings psalm 37.4

Here's Rookie A, minutes after completing a 50-mile kayak/canoe race on the Kansas River from Lawrence, KS to Kansas City. That's the confluence of the Missouri and Kansas Rivers and the skyline of Kansas City in the background (photo by Andrea Zanatta, Americorps via the Blue River Watershed Association). Dubbed the Gritty Fifty: 50 miles of sun, sand, and sorrow, the inagural race would have been more aptly subtitled: 50 miles of rain, wind, and sorrow as it was held in a steady downpour and headwind, the sorrow still applicable as a certain degree of suffering was inflicted on everyone who entered and raced.

Why do something like this? For the serious ultra-marathoner, which Rookie A is decidedly not, it is to win, to test the bounds of human endurance and physical prowess. The winner of this race, West Hansen, an ultra-marathon paddler from Austin, TX finished in 7 hours and 4 minutes. The official race distance is 50 miles. Another racer, who logged the meandering, sinuous Kansas River route showed 52 miles. So West, who claimed not to be in top form this day, was moving at 7.2 miles per hour. By contrast, Rookie A, estimated his speed to be about 5 miles an hour. Rookie A is clearly in the cruiser category. Cruiser reasons for ultramarathoning are quite different than winning, which is not an option. Dawn Stewart, aka Sandy Bottom, articulates some of the cruiser reasons for ultramarathoning on her web site http://sandybottomkayaker.blogspot.com/ .

Rookie A would tend to disagree with her contention that to not finish is total failure, that failure is not an option. Failure is always an option, just not the preferred one. Unless you are setting a world record you are failing, and even then as soon as your record falls you will have failed again. Since everything we do is failed in some sense, in order to view any competion as a successful one, we only have to set goals, work hard to try and achieve those goals, and then live with the results. This includes living with the goals that we meet, and the goals that we fail to meet.

Rookie A's goals for this race were in order of most to least important.

1) Finish the race (has medal and photo to prove it!).

2) Finish the race in under 10 hours. (Don't have the official time yet, but believe it to be ~10 hours 30 minutes. BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME SUCKA.

3) Win. In truth, Rookie A expected to finish in the middle of the pack (26th out of 50 overall), but if for some reason everyone except Rookie A punched a hole in their kayak, then Rookie A might make the podium come sundown. This did not happen.

Of the 3 goals, only one was met. Rookie A is ok with that.