World Masters Marathon

Posted by Robert N Pruden on Jul 24, 2005

Well, my big day is only one away. I will put the Raven to the marathon river test tomorrow morning. I have prepped the Raven and purchased a carbon fibre wing paddle to make the most out of tomorrow's race. Right now the Raven has fresh red paint on it when I painted a red maple leaf on the rear deck. I changed my original design from a black raven in flight to the more patriotic maple leaf. I will wear a white long sleeved paddling shirt that has red accents with silver maple leafs running down the sleeves. I'm ready to swim....no, errr....race.

I am fairly used to the wing paddle now since taking it out yesterday on the river in the VJ (rec boat) during high winds. The paddle served me well in rough weather so I figure it will do me good tomorrow in finer weather (predicted) during the race. I am not racing to win but will give it a hard run once I find my zone on the river. The course starts 19 kms upstream from the Devon Lions Park and finishes beside the park. To see the route map, go to Google Maps at http://maps.google.com/ then search "Devon Alberta". You You will see the township of Devon, follow the river to the left of the town all the way to the large island. The starting line is just before the island. The finish is at the Golf and Country Club.

I met Paul Jacob (Guillemot Kayaks peep) at the finish line area today. He came down with a few friends who are also competing. Paul will be racing in his category (K1, I'm TK1) on Tuesday. We're both ready for the race. So far the collective spirit of everyone I have met who is paddling is very high. It's great to be around so many paddlers and the range of boats to see is real eye candy to a die hard paddler. I will take pictures to post for y'all to see each day and post them in a timely manner.

Robert N Pruden

Replies:

• Raven + Maple Leaf by Robert N Pruden on Jul 24, 2005
  • Gold Medal by Robert N Pruden on Jul 26, 2005
    • Re: Gold Medal by Kyle T on Jul 26, 2005