Saturday my girlfriend and I drove up to Friendsville, she came as moral support and to make sure I didn't kill myself. I was a little worried about the level because the night before the river was higher than I had ever run it, but once we got there it had stabilized to a decent level of about 900cfs. There was also a special four hour release just for the race. This year it seems that there were less racers than in years past, many of the locals did not show. At around 2:00pm there was a racers meeting with the race order. Racers went at one minute intervals and so my starting time was at 4:19pm. On our way to the put-in we gave a ride to a boater that needed to go to the put-in. He was a local who had raced many times in years past. I asked him for any advice for a first time racer and he replied, "Just don't crash and burn." He said that about three times, not very comforting. We got to the put-in, unloaded the boats, and met up with Nathan Sass and Peter Lutter. There were all kinds of boats from wavehoppers to Green boats to creek boats. I decided to paddle Tom's Diablo, Nathan paddled a Green boat, and Peter paddled a wavehopper.
I put-in about 3:15pm and paddled down to the waiting rock which is above the first class 3 rapid. The race began promptly at 4:00pm with Geoff going first in his wildwater boat. Generally the faster boats went first, but somehow it ended up that two racers in Green boats went right after me. Before I knew it, it was my time. It was an amazing feeling paddling the first few rapids by myself. I couldn't see anyone in front of me, I was on my own. I knew most of the lines of the major rapids, but I made up my own lines on most of the boogie water. After Charlie's Choice , which is the second major rapid I was wiped . I remember back endering out of a drop and thinking that if I had flipped I probably would have been too tired to roll. Each rapid came so quick that I didnt really have time to think . After National there were other paddlers that were not racing, which made me feel better to see other people. I eddied out twice not on purpose and once intentionally because I forgot where to go. After the last major rapid I knew I was almost done and booked it. It was an amazing feeling to complete the race in one piece. By the end, my boat was full of water and my back was gone. Peter finished an expected 2nd and Nathan finished 9th. My goal was to get under 45min and my final time was 39.33min.
Click here for the results. After the race there was a festival with food and music. I cant wait till next year when I will be better prepared. After all it seems that going to Ohio for school has not killed my paddling, totally.
ferrying...then added a boat and paddle to the mix. Wend threw some ropes, towed some swimmers, and attempted a human chain. We then paddled down to Carderock and briefly tried a group rescue before heading back to the cars, completely late.
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