Race to the Dome

July 3, 2010, 400 hours: Dad and I depart Maysville on our way to Hartsburg, MO for the start of the 1st annual Race to the Dome, a 15.8 mile canoe and kayak race ending in Cedar City (across the river from Jefferson City, hence the dome).

We arrived a little early for our 830 scheduled departure in the second heat, which was the men's tandem division. They were a little late in launching the first heat, so we had more time than we had anticipated. Tom and Joy showed up to take our truck to the ending point of the race, and we used the extra time to talk with them for a bit.

There were people there in aluminum canoes, carrying a paddle and maybe a small cooler of water. There were also people there in carbon-fiber streamlined boats with their rudder pedals and Camel-Bak Hydration systems. Everyone who saw the sticker on the side of our canoe knew we meant business though. There is a skull and crossbones sticker from last year's Missouri River 340, a race from Kansas City to St. Charles (340 miles), that my Dad and Chad completed last summer on the side of our canoe.

Finally it was our time to launch. We waded into the 2-ft-deep (1 foot water, 1 foot mud) river, hopped in, and took our place along the starting line. For the first half-mile, everyone was pretty close, but we soon started to pull away from the majority of the pack. There were about 5 canoes our front with us. I was glad that dad had some previous river knowledge, and knew where to find the best current. While others were cutting across the corners, which seemed logical, we were in the swiftest part of the river, gaining ground. Err, water, actually.

Another way we could make up some time was by watching the paddlers in front of us and noticing when they would hit a patch of uneven water or a whirlpool. While they would turn sideways or veer off-course, we would either go around the spot or just paddle hard and power through it.

From my father's blog, Sons of Auxvasse Creek:
"By this time we were catching up with some of the slower canoes from the first heat and we were being passed by some of the faster kayaks that started in the heat behind us so it was difficult to tell for sure what position we were in. I thought we were in 3rd place about 50 yards behind the next tandem canoe. Matt and I made a charge on the canoe ahead of us and they responded by picking up the pace. We couldn’t close the gap so we backed down to our regular pace and followed them on in to the finish line which was pretty chaotic with the current, other craft landing and taking off, high water and mud. I was pleased to finish in 1:51 with an average speed of 8.6 mph and in what looked to me to be 3rd place."

We loaded up our things back to the truck, ate some complimentary brats cooked by the Old Brick House Deli in Jeff City, and waited for the awards ceremony. We were impressed with the boat that showed up for a test run before the MR 340 this year. It was a 20-person boat that will travel fast!

During the awards ceremony, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that we actually finished in second place! It was rewarding to get our second place medals, and made it that much more enjoyable! This 16 mile race is something I enjoyed as a competition, but that only lasted under 2 hours, so I would venture to say I'll be willing to do it again next year. Afterall, we have to try for first place, right?