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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- 7/22/03 Grayling, Michigan

 

 

 

ANTICIPATION BUILDS FOR $50,000 WEYERHAEUSER AuSABLE RIVER CANOE MARATHON

 

RACING ACTION GETS UNDERWAY WITH INDY-STYLE “SPRINTS FOR POSITION” THURSDAY & FRIDAY

NORTH AMERICA’S TOUGHEST, RICHEST CANOE RACES STARTS @ 9 PM SATURDAY NIGHT

 

 

The excitement is building throughout Northern Michigan as the clock ticks toward Saturday night’s start of North America's richest, toughest non-stop marathon canoe race - the $50,000 Weyerhaeuser AuSable River Canoe Marathon. 

 

An estimated 50,000 fans and many of the top marathon canoe racing teams from throughout North America, have already arrived or are en-route to northern Michigan's fabled AuSable River Valley for the 56th running of this granddaddy of ultra-endurance events.  The AuSable River, long recognized as one of North America’s finest recreational canoeing and trout fishing streams, will be the scene of intense competition throughout the balance of “Marathon week”.

 

At the sound of the starter’s pistol at 9:00 P.M. Saturday night, July 26, the two-person teams will run with their canoes several blocks through the streets of the Grayling to the AuSable River in front of Ray’s Canoe Livery, beginning a race has long been recognized as one of North America’s most grueling ultra-endurance events.  

 

Excitement is at a fevered pitch among the participants and fans alike during the frenzied start of the race, which has been described as the most intense two minutes in competitive sports.  The running LeMans start kicks off a race of fourteen to nineteen hours & 120 miles non-stop through the night from Grayling, in north-central Michigan, to Oscoda, on the shores of Lake Huron, in north-east Michigan.  

 

Sixty-five [65] two-person teams from 15 U.S. states and Canadian provinces plus the island-nation of Belize are registered to participate in the Marathon.  The darkness, any inclement weather, portaging six hydroelectric dams and the sheer torture of up to 19 hours of non-stop paddling at 50 to 80 paddle strokes per minute will all combine to play on the contestants' physical and mental capabilities.

 

There seems to be little chance that the Marathon’s all-time record is in jeopardy of being broken this year.  Quebec’s Serge Corbin, 45, a 16-time AuSable winner, set the Marathon record time of 13:58:08 (13 hours, 58 minutes, 8 seconds) with Saskatchewan’s Solomon Carriere in 1994.  Recent rains have raised water levels somewhat, but the river is still lower than normal throughout the 120-mile length of the AuSable River course which will likely lead to slower times during the race.  

 

On Thursday and Friday the 65 two-person teams entered in the Marathon compete in the Sprints for Position.   Much like Indy 500 qualifying, the teams sprint a short looped course to determine their starting row position for the three-block run with their canoes to the river for Saturday’s start of the 56th Weyerhaeuser AuSable River Canoe Marathon.  The team with the quickest sprint time is awarded the Pole Position in the line-up for Saturday’s running start.  The Sprints for position are staged on the river at Penrod’s Resort [on Maple Street] in Grayling; Thursday 5-8PM, Friday 2-6 PM.

 

Defending seven-time Marathon Champs, Jeff Kolka, 44, of Grayling, Michigan, and Serge Corbin, 46, of St. Boniface, Quebec, will be gunning for an unprecedented eighth consecutive victory at the AuSable Marathon, the middle jewel of the prestigious Triple Crown of Canoe Racing.  The pair won the Triple Crown of Canoe Racing championship in the past year three years and are gunning for a fourth consecutive Triple Crown Championship in 2003.  New York’s General Clinton Canoe Regatta, and Quebec’s La Classique de Canots complete the three-race championship. 

 

Kolka-Corbin won the first leg of the 2003 Triple Crown on Memorial Day, the 70-mile General Clinton race from Cooperstown to Bainbridge on New York’s Susquehanna River, taking a 4 minute, 54 second victory [elapsed time 7 hours, 13 minutes, 13 seconds] Al Rudquist, of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, and his partner Mike Vincent, of Regina, Saskatchewan.  The final leg of the Triple Crown, Quebec’s La Classique, is a 3-day, 3-stage race covering over 100 miles from La Tuque to Trois Riviere over September’s Labor Day weekend.

 

The $50,000 Weyerhaeuser AuSable River Canoe Marathon starts with the teams making a spine-tingling LeMans-style run several blocks through the streets of Grayling to the river at Ray's Canoeing at 9:00 P.M., Saturday, July 26.  The pre-race program begins at 5:30 P.M. at Ray’s. Thousands of fans will view all or part of the race, driving to public access sites, bridges, dam portages and other viewing locations along the AuSable River race course to cheer on the teams through Saturday night and on to the finish line in Oscoda between 11 A.M. and noon on Sunday, July 27.

 

The Weyerhaeuser AuSable River Canoe Marathon is held in conjunction with Grayling's "AuSable River Festival", and Oscoda’s “AuSable River Days”, featuring a host of events throughout Marathon week.  The Festivals recognize the unique importance of the AuSable River to these northern Michigan communities.   For more information about the Weyerhaeuser AuSable River Canoe Marathon and festivals, or for information about tourism and recreational opportunities in the AuSable River valley area, contact:

            Grayling Area Visitors Council    (989) 348-2921  (800) 937-8837      http://www.grayling-mi.com

            Oscoda-AuSable Chamber of Commerce   (989) 739-7322   (800) 235-4625       http://www.oscoda.com

 

Extensive information, photographs, course maps and frequently updated race results for the Weyerhaeuser AuSable River Canoe Marathon are available on the world-wide web at:  http://www.AuSableCanoeMarathon.org

 

 

 

WEYERHAEUSER AUSABLE RIVER CANOE MARATHON
2003 ENTRY LIST AS OF 7/21/03
For entry list update and other race information, visit our website at www.ausablecanoemarathon.org
Canoe #	Name		Age	City	State
1	Andrew Triebold		27	Homer	Michigan
1	Steve Lajoie		27	Mirabel	Quebec
2	Jim Harwood		38	Grayling	Michigan
2	Matt Streib		39	Bristol	Indiana
3	Matt Rimer		19	Horton	Michigan
3	Mo Harwood		24	Grayling	Michigan
6	Dragan Olajdzija		43	Toronto	Ontario
6	Doug VanMeter		34	Homer	Michigan
8	Nick D'Amour		19	Grayling	Michigan
8	Matthew Ashton		24	Grayling	Michigan
9	Don Brooks		34	Midland	Michigan
9	Al Widing, Sr.		78	Mio	Michigan
10	Jeff DeFeo		48	Chester	Massachutes
10	Karen Levitt		35	Keene	New Hampshire
11	Rick Joy		44	Silverwood	Michigan
11	Ted Kolka		37	Grayling	Michigan
12	Chad Brandt		29	Hale	Michigan
12	Mike Thomsen		35	Hale	Michigan
13	Dave Skillman, Jr.		35	Waterford	Michigan
13	Garth Greenan		48	Traverse City	Michigan
14	Bill Torongo		41	Roscommon	Michigan
14	Bruce Barton		46	Homer	Michigan
15	Tad Hill		25	Grosse Ile	Michigan
15	Bill Schmitz		49	Commerce Township	Michigan
16	Jeff Kolka		44	Grayling	Michigan
16	Serge Corbin		46	St. Boniface	Quebec
17	Nicholas Bauer		42	Spokane	Washington
17	Brad Bauer		29	Seattle	Washington
18	Bruce Byrnes		51	Lapeer	Michigan
18	Russ Reker		39	Lapeer	Michigan
19	Timothy Feldkamp		37	Ann Arbor	Michigan
19	Doug Heady		45	Ann Arbor	Michigan