It’s time to start getting ready to follow the Marathon!
It’s coming up on July 26th.
It’s the 61st running of the 120-mile AuSable Canoe Marathon, sponsored by Weyerhouser lumber.
This year my pal Tim Feldkamp has entered with teammate Grant Tally. We’ll see how they do!
It’s easy to follow the race, thanks to the homepage website and live radio streaming broadcast.
If you’re in up north Michigan that weekend, the local radio will do the trick. Several stations up there seem to cover the race nonstop.
It’s the biggest northwoods event of the year!
100,000 people come out to watch it.
So far about 70 teams are signed up. These are the best of the best. Quite a few won’t finish. The cut-off times are strict and fast. Winners finish about 15 hours. The final cut-off only allows paddlers to finish a few hours after that. Basically, you have to be good and fast to even participate much less finish. (But some marginal teams give it a shot. Just to see. Some teams try to get farther each season before they blow up or get pulled.)
Check out the teams: www.ausablecanoemarathon.org/08partic.html.
Quite a few of them share the same names—there’s lots of family action in this race. Also notice how many old-timers are paddling with newbies. People just love showing this race to their friends. They also change partners—showing a lack of grudges. There’s an amazing camaraderie in this event. Notice the number of races for many of the paddlers—there are quite a few 20-30+.
Compared to other outdoor sporting events I’ve seen, this one has the most energy and social aspect…plus a huge diversity, heritage, family and community aspect…plus a strong tie in with nature (at all hours!). (A big downtown bike crit has similar energy and if there are race-side cafes it can have the sociability, too—but the Marathon seems to have a bigger, wider range of action going on.)
On a hot summer night, it’s a great thing to follow the race from bridge to bridge. …If only from your computer at home. Check it out!
https://www.ausablecanoemarathon.org/
