Monday afternoon, James loaded up his supplies and headed to KC to participate in the 4th annual MR340 boat race. This race is on the Missouri river and starts in Kansas City and finishes in St. Louis (St. Charles). Last year, James and Slebos did this race for the first time and really enjoyed it. They came in second by only a few minutes and found that despite the fact that they did not have a fast canoe, they were pretty darn good paddlers.



This year they had a faster (lighter and tippier) canoe and had hopes of posting an even better time than the year before. So, Tuesday morning they reported to the start. This year the race was a lot bigger than last year with over 100 more boats entered. Right from the start, things were not going smoothly; the race started about 1.5 hours late due to a nasty storm that came through the area.

I worked all day Tuesday, as usual, and tried not to worry about the boys out on the river. After work, Grandma Rae arrived at the house and we had a nice evening at home just us three girls. Alli was super thrilled to play with her Grandma.

Around 4:30 am Wednesday, Grandpa showed up. He had been helping at the check points all through the night. On his way to bed, he reported to me that the boys were not feeling so great when they checked in at Miami around 10 pm, but later at the Glasgow check point, at 2:30 am, they were feeling much better.

Wednesday morning, all 4 of us drove down to Coopers Landing to see Daddy and Slebos and assess how they were doing and pass them fresh water and food. As soon as they docked, it was apparent they were not in the best of moods. James muttered something like “that was the longest 24 hours of my life”. They discussed quitting, but opted to eat and restock and head to the Jefferson City check point with the plan being that if they did not feel better by then, they would probably call it quits.

At this point Grandma and Grandpa took Alli home for her nap and Nancy and I got pizza for the boys and headed to Jefferson City to support their next rest stop or bring them home……we didn’t know which. We got there a bit early and sat in the shade watching all the excitement. Last year when I did support at this check point it was very quiet; one other team's support crew and the official check point race personel were the only people there. This time there were crowds and camera crews. We even had a hard time finding a place to park.

Our team arrived around 1 o’clock in the afternoon and they were not looking happy. James had pretty much decided that if they were feeling lousy and making bad time, the trip would just be miserable (and long) so why bother to continue. I think he had a project at work that was calling him as well. Now both these two are loath to quit a race, so there was a lot of indecision about how to proceed. THEY HAVE NEVER NOT FINISHED A RACE EVER BEFORE!!!

Nobody wanted to let anybody down. It was a delicate situation. Finally, after I was starting to get sunburn from standing on the beach for so long, they agreed to call it a race and we packed up and drove home. Everyone was disappointed and relieved all at once.

On the drive back to Columbia, James dozed off and I was quiet and let him sleep. I was really glad they were going home, not back out on the river. When we arrived at the house, James went right to bed and I chatted with Grandma and Grandpa for a while. We all cleaned out the car and unpacked all the supplies. Then the Grandparents headed home to Kansas City.

James got up and ate dinner but was back in bed by 8. He went to work today and said he was even sorer than he was last year when they had completed the whole 340 miles for an additional 12 hours of paddling. This year, they were not in as good of shape; having chosen to focus on other parts of their lives…………not just training. And you really can't fault them for being well rounded human beings now can you.