GRAYLING, MICHIGAN
FOR
MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
RACE OFFICE (517)
348-4425
CELL PHONE W/ VOICEMAIL
(517) 370-9843 FAX (517)348-5966
MANY
OF TOP CANOE RACING TEAMS IN NORTHERN MICHIGAN FOR
SPIKE’S
PADDLERS’ TRIBUTE CANOE
RACE THIS WEEKEND > 7/22-7/23
Many of North America’s top canoe racers are
arriving in Northern Michigan’s AuSable River Valley and the small north-central
Michigan town of Grayling to compete in the Spike’s
Paddlers’ Tribute canoe race this Sunday.
The Spike’s Paddlers’ Tribute canoe race is the final warm up before next weekend’s $50,000 Weyerhaeuser AuSable River Canoe Marathon, North
America’s toughest, richest non-stop canoe race.
During the AuSable Marathon, July 29-30, the upper
shallow, twisting portion of the 120 mile non-stop course will be paddled in
twilight and then darkness following the 9:00 P.M. start of the Marathon on
Saturday, July 29. The Spike’s Paddlers’ Tribute race offers teams entered in
the AuSable Marathon the opportunity to compete on this most difficult part of
the upper AuSable River course in the daylight. The race is sponsored
by Spike’s Keg O’Nails tavern in Grayling, known as “the meeting place of the north” and is co-sponsored by The Grayling
Restaurant.
Paddlers Tribute canoe racing events get underway
on the AuSable River Saturday from Noon to 3:00 P.M. with Sprints for Starting
Position in the Grayling City Park.
Each team’s starting position for Sunday morning’s running LeMans-style
start of the Paddlers’ Tribute Race will be determined by their elapsed time
during Saturday’s sprints. The
Paddlers’ Tribute C-1 [one-person canoe] race will start at Borcher’s Canoe
Livery [on Maple Street] in Grayling on Saturday at 6:00 P.M. The C-1 race ends at Burton’s Landing,
located at the end of Burton’s Landing Road, approximately 3 miles east of
Grayling on M-72.
The main event, the Spike’s Paddlers’ Tribute Canoe
Race, will start at Ray's Canoeing at 9 a.m. on Sunday, July 23, and will end
at McMasters Bridge, covering about 20 percent of the AuSable River Canoe
Marathon course. The C-2 [two-person
canoe] Amateur State Championship race will start 5 minutes after the Expert
Division event. Ray’s Canoeing is
located on the I-75 business Loop at the AuSable River Bridge in Grayling and
McMasters Bridge is 16 miles east of Grayling, approximately four miles north
of M-72 on McMasters Bridge Road [F-97].
Several
of the AuSable Marathon top contending teams are expected to be on hand for the
Spike’s Paddlers’ Tribute Race including the defending four-time Marathon
Champs Serge Corbin, 43, of Shawinigan, Quebec, and Jeff Kolka, 41, of
Grayling, Michigan. They will likely
try to “make a statement” to a number of would-be challengers, including the
father & son team of Ken Kolonich, 54, of Eaton Rapids, Michigan and son
Steve Kolonich, 28 of Lansing, Michigan, who finished second at the 1999
AuSable Marathon.
Tactics employed during the Marathon include running in the darkness with no light on [to illuminate the river course] and also trying to “dump” or lose closely following teams by “ducking into” narrow flowing shortcuts in the twisting river course. Over one-third of the record AuSable Marathon field of 66 two-person teams entered for the 2000 event will be competing in their first AuSable Marathon, widely recognized as North America’s most grueling canoe race. These first-time Marathon competitors will especially benefit from the opportunity to make a competitive run on the upper river.
The Michigan Canoe Racing Association (MCRA) sanctions the Spike’s Paddlers Tribute Race. MCRA’s stated purpose is to promote the sport of canoe racing, develop public awareness of the sport and encourage good sportsmanship. Find out more about canoe racing in Michigan and MCRA at: www.cass.net/~mcra/ Extensive information, photographs and frequently updated race results for the Weyerhaeuser AuSable River Canoe Marathon is\will also available on the world-wide web at: www.ausablecanoemarathon.org