2000 AuSable River
Canoe Marathon
Press & Media Information

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

       KATE SOUTHARD or STEVE SOUTHARD

RACE OFFICE (517) 348-4425

CELL PHONE W/ VOICEMAIL (517) 370-9843 FAX (517)348-5966

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ü      Al Widing, Sr., 75, Mio, Michigan – Has raced the AuSable Marathon in 6 decades; was a top paddler in 50’s & 60’s, finishing 2^nd 5 times & won the Texas Water Safari; regularly finishes the Marathon ahead of a LOT of teams that are very much his “junior”.   Al finished 15^th in a field of 46 at the 1999 Marathon, his fastest Marathon ever, [15:21:22] 15 hours, 21 minutes, with partner Mike Bradford, age 56 [combined age 130!]  Al’s partner this is Joe Pollock, 41, of Edmore, Michigan.

ü      Serge Corbin, 43, St. Boniface Quebec – Has dominated the sport for over 20 years; won over 85% of major races he has entered; his record of victories in major marathon canoe races has been compared to winning 50 PGA golf tournaments or grand-slam tennis tournaments in 20 years; he is a 13-time winner of the AuSable River Canoe Marathon.  His partner this year is:

ü      Jeff Kolka, 41, Grayling, Michigan.  Together Kolka and Corbin are looking for an unprecedented 5^th consecutive AuSable victory; Jeff’s father, Jack, competed in the AuSable Marathon many times, finishing 2^nd a number of times; Jeff also finished the Marathon 2^nd several times before he broke into the winner’s circle 4 years ago; his brother Ted [who finished 3rd last year] is also entered

ü      Matthew Rimer, 16, Horton, Michigan – Last year, at age 15 and the youngest contestant in the field, Matt finished ninth in his first AuSable Canoe Marathon!  He is returning this year with last year’s partner, Tim Triebold, 46, of Concord, Michigan

ü      Bill Torongo, 38, Roscommon, Torongo has several AuSable 2^nd place finishes under his belt, several with Jeff Kolka, the current champ, and would very much like to break into the winner’s circle.

 

 

WOMEN AND THE MARATHON: There are 2 women’s teams and 7 mixed teams entered in this year’s Marathon. Among the women entered this year are:

 

ü      Lynne Witte, 46, Mt. Clemens, Michigan – this will be Lynne’s 21^st  AuSable Marathon, she has completed 20; she holds the Marathon mixed-team record of 15:05:26, set with Jim Myers in 1988 – a fourth place finish, also the best ever by a woman.  Lynne’s partner is Karen Levitt, 32, of Keene New Hampshire. 

ü      Abby Kingman, 38, Goshen Massachusetts and Lisa Salvini, 36, Montgomery, Massachusetts  - last year they competed in their first AuSable Marathon & had such a positive experience that theirs was the first entry received for this year’s Marathon; Abby is a national whitewater champion; both were attracted to the Marathon by the immense challenge, plus the great fan support thoughout the race

ü      Among the six mixed teams entered are several with family ties, as detailed below

 

 

 

FAMILY TIES AND THE MARATHON:  Family ties have always played a major role in the AuSable Canoe Marathon.  Some examples of the strong influence of family relationships in this year’s AuSable Canoe Marathon include:

   

  Parents And Their “Kids”  - 

 

ü      Ken Kolonich, 54, Eaton Rapids, Michigan & Steve Kolonich, 28, Lansing, Michigan – A father & son team who have consistently been a top 5 finisher at the AuSable Marathon and last year’s 2^nd place team; Ken also paddled the Marathon with HIS father.

ü      A mom & son team:  Connie Swander, 53, of Grayling, Michigan is competing in her 4^th Marathon, this year with son Chad, 32, also of Grayling.  Connie has completed the Marathon with son Eric and wants to repeat the feat with Chad.

ü      Fritz Hansen, 59, Union Grove, Wisconsin & Kai Hansen, 38, Belleville, Wisconsin - Also a father & son team;  they’ve been to the Marathon before and came back for more; Kai said he started paddling at an early age because he’d “rather do that than go to his grandparents”

ü      Jim Corlew, 47, and Steven Corlew, 19, of Grayling, Michigan.  Steve got inspired to compete in the Marathon watching his dad in the Marathon

ü      Richard Lajoie, 53, and Steve Lajoie, 24, of Vaudreuil-Sur-Le-Lac, Quebec.  Richard was favorably impressed by the atmosphere and “ambience” of the Marathon while serving as a member of son Steve’s support crew at the Marathon last year.  The father-son duo made it a “special goal” to compete in the Marathon together this year.

ü      Frank Smutek, 66, of Luzerne, Michigan is entered with his daughter, Amy Solak, 35, of Traverse City, Michigan.  Frank, who first paddled the race in 1952, raced with son Ted in 1998.  Ted is also entered in this year’s Marathon.

ü      Bob Bradford, 57, and son Mike, 35, both of Lapeer, Michigan, first entered the Marathon a number of years ago to compete together.  Since that time, Bob has completed 11 Marathons and Mike has completed 5.  This year Bob is competing with John Nemeth, 58, of Grand Blanc, Michigan and Mike is entered with Clark Kent, 40, of Lapeer. 

 

Other Family Ties

 

ü      Husband & wife Peter Heed, 50, and Tricia Heed, 48, of Westmoreland, New Hampshire – This husband & wife are competing “against each other” in this year’s Marathon.  Peter, a trial attorney, is a national Marathon & whitewater champion, and 1998 World Masters Game C-2 [two-man canoe] champion. Tricia, an elementary school teacher & also a national Marathon & whitewater champion.  Pete is teamed with Nick Lyesiuk of, 57, of Orange, Massachusetts.  This will be the first AuSable Marathon for Tricia, who will be paddling with Tom Warner, 52, of Westmoreland, Massachusetts.  Tricia’s reason for competing in the Marathon: “It is the only way to get out of being part of the support crew for Pete”. (Her husband).

ü      Brother’s Fred Mills, 46, of Roscommon and Tom Mills, 44, of Okemos, Michigan.  The Mills brothers were the 1^st place Amateur Division finishers in the 1995 Marathon.

ü      Ray Wonders, 39, of Anchorage, Alaska, grew up in the Grayling area and “always know someday he’d like to paddle it” and is entered with brother-in-law Rick Sika, 37, of Traverse City, Michigan.  This will be the first Marathon for the pair.

ü      Brothers Denis and Louis Bertiaume of Quebec paddled together at the General Clinton Regatta in New York, finishing 5^th in a field of 55 teams.  At the Marathon they will be competing against each other for a top-five finish, both with teammates who are AuSable Marathon veterans from Roscommon, Michigan.  Louis is teamed with John Sullivan and Denis with Bill Torongo.

ü      Bruce Barton, 43, Homer, Michigan – a former Olympic team member, whose brother-in-law Tim Triebold, is also entered in this year’s Marathon, comes from a VERY paddling family.  His sister Connie & wife Roxanne have both competed in the AuSable Marathon; Brother Greg Barton was a double Olympic gold medal winner in the kayak.