The crew has benefitted from high water and good weather. Some observers reacted when a safety boat helped the paddlers in swift current at a lock and dam.
Paddling passion: Mississippi River record becomes obsession
JOHN ENGER, Minnesota Public Radio News
May 24, 2021
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BEMIDJI, Minn. (AP) This idea of paddling the whole length of the Mississippi River in record time it’s addictive.
It’s not for everyone: The obsession only seems to affect a very small set within the already pretty small subculture of endurance canoe racers. But for those few people, it’s all-consuming.
Every year or two, someone gets a group of paddlers together and they make a run maybe to raise money for a charity, or for more personal reasons and they usually fail. Pretty much always. Somebody gets hurt or sick, or there’s bad weather, or exhaustion overwhelms their motivation and they throw in the towel.
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Everyone’s trying to paddle the length of the Mississippi River in record time. But really, they just want to beat each other, and to do it soundly. That’s the thing about this trip. You have to have the right sort of motivation, and setting a record alone doesn’t seem to be enough.