2003 AuSable River
Canoe Marathon

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FLASH RELEASE – 5:30 PM  July 27,2003

 

AuSable Marathon Finish Line – Oscoda, Michigan 

Complete Race Results & Release

 

 

REIGNING CHAMPS TAKE UNPRECIDENTED EIGHTH CONSECUTIVE WIN

 

AT 56th WEYERHAEUSER AuSABLE RIVER CANOE MARATHON

 

MARGIN OF VICTORY IS NARROWEST IN 11 YEARS

 

Seven-time defending champs Jeff Kolka [coal-kah], 44, of Grayling, Michigan, and Serge Corbin [surge core-bin], 46, of St-Boniface de-Shawinigan, Quebec, held off a stiff challenge to take an unprecedented eighth consecutive victory Sunday, July 27 at North America’s richest, toughest non-stop canoe race: the Weyerhaeuser AuSable River Canoe Marathon.  The pair claimed the $5000 first place prize from a total purse of $50,000, the richest in North American canoe racing.

 

The race started with a bang at 9 PM Saturday night in Grayling Michigan.  At the sound of the starter’s pistol, 65 two-person teams made a frenzied Le-Mans style 1/8-mile run with their canoes through the streets to the AuSable River for the start of this 120 mile, 14 to 19 hour non-stop race. 

 

Corbin and Kolka did not get a clean start; Corbin fell face first into his canoe at the start and several teams sprinted away from the defending champs and pre-race favorites.  At Burton’s Landing, the first official timing location and 43 minutes into the race, Andy Triebold [tree-bold], 27, of Homer, Michigan and Steve Lajoie [lah-zwah], 27, of Mirabel, Quebec, were holding first place.  The next three teams trailed by only 13 seconds and the defending champs held fourth place, 2 minutes behind the leaders.

 

Kolka and Corbin pressed hard and another hour into the race, at the third timing location - Wakeley Bridge – they had moved to the front of the pack, leading Triebold & Lajoie by just 3 seconds and the top two teams began to open a gap over the rest of the lead pack.  The defending champs kept the pressure on and by the mid-point of the 120-mile race had opened a lead of over 9 minutes.  Meanwhile, several other teams had caught Triebold & Lajoie and there was now a 4-canoe pack battling for second place.

 

However, Triebold and Lajoie were not done challenging the reigning champs yet!  After portaging Alcona Dam at dawn, 9 hours into the race, they poured it on and by the Cooke Dam portage, 12 hours into the race, had caught Kolka & Corbin and vaulted into first place.  The champs and challengers remained locked in a back & forth, then side-by-side battle over the last portage, at Foote Dam, and on toward the Oscoda finish line. 

 

Just 20 minutes above the finish line, Kolka and Corbin sprinted and were able to pull away from Triebold & Lajoie, crossing the finish line in 14:55:03 [14 hours, 55 minutes, 3 seconds] to take their eighth consecutive Weyerhaeuser AuSable River Canoe Marathon win.  Triebold and Lajoie crossed the finish line 1 minute,  48 seconds later, with an elapsed time of 14:56:51, to take second place. 

 

The 1:48 margin of victory was the closest in 11 years, since the 1992 race when Serge Corbin and Brett Stockton beat Bruce Barton and Tim Triebold by 1 minute, 24 seconds.  Tim Triebold, the 1992 second place finisher, is 2003 second-place finisher Andy Triebold’s father. 

 

This year’s winning time of 14:55:03 is the first time that the 15-hour barrier has been broken since the 2000 race.  Though water levels were slightly higher than in 2001 and 2002, the winning pace for the race was relatively slow.  Kolka and Corbin’s elapsed time of 14:55:03 was the third slowest Weyerhaeuser AuSable Marathon winning time since 1978.  In 1994, Corbin, with partner Solomon Carriere of Cumberland House, Saskatchewan, set the AuSable Marathon record with a winning time of 13:58:08. 

 

Tony Short, 39, of Indian River, Michigan, and Denis Berthiaume [bear-tee-oom], 38, of Pre’vost, Quebec, finished third, with an elapsed time of 15:02:45.  The pair finished 2nd in the 2001 Marathon.  Fourth were Rick Joy, 44, of Silverwood, Michigan and Ted Kolka, 37, of Grayling, Michigan, completing the Marathon in 15:13:16.  Ted Kolka is eight-time Marathon champ Jeff Kolka’s brother.  Rounding out the top five were the 2002 second place finishers, Matt Rimer [rhymer], 19, of Horton, Michigan and Mo Harwood, 24, of Grayling, Michigan.

 

The first Mixed Team to finish was a father-daughter team from Grayling, Michigan, Tom Trudgeon [trudge-on], 44, and Mandy Trudgeon, 22.  They completed the course in 16:06:03, good for 17th place overall.  Finishing in 18th pace overall and the second place Mixed Team were Dwayne Barnes, 41, of Copemish, Michigan and Amy Solak, 38, of Traverse City, Michigan.  The third place Mixed Team finishers and finishing 41st overall were another father-daughter team, Jon Webb, 43, and Cassie Webb, 16,of Hubbard Lake, Michigan

 

The first place Amateur finishers were the youngest paddlers entered in this year’s Weyerhaeuser AuSable River Canoe Marathon, Donald Starks, 17, and Brian Borchers, 16, both of Grayling, Michigan.  They finished 47th overall with an elapsed time of 18:16:

 

A favorite among Weyerhaeuser AuSable River Marathon fans – Amazing Al Widing, Sr., 78, of Mio, Michigan, and partner Don Brooks, 34, of Midland, Michigan, finished 29th out of 49 finishers, in 16:40:58.  Widing has competed in the Marathon during six (6) decades, entering and finishing over thirty of these grueling contests during that time span and finishing as high as 2nd on several occasions.  At the finish of this year’s race, Widing commented that he hopes to compete in two more AuSable Marathons so that can finish the race in the year when he turns 80 years old.

 

Rejean Huard, the Executive Director of Quebecs’ La Classique de Canots, the final jewel of the Triple Crown of Canoe Racing, was making his 5th attempt to successfully complete the AuSable River Canoe Marathon.  Together with his partner Jason Snell, 32, of Gaylord, Michigan, Huard, 60, of Shawinigan, Quebec, were the last team to successfully complete the race, finishing 49th with an elapsed time of 18:55:09, just 4:51 before the mandatory 19-hour official end of the AuSable Marathon.

 

Of the 65 teams that started the 56th Weyerhaeuser AuSable River Canoe Marathon, 49 teams completed the race within the qualifying time of 19 hours.  Sixteen teams withdrew from the race due to illness, injury, damage to the canoe or due to missing mandatory cut-offs at timing stations.

 

The Weyerhaeuser AuSable River Canoe Marathon, the middle jewel of prestigious Triple Crown of Canoe Racing, is considered to be one of North America’s most extreme endurance events.  The two-person teams must paddle 120 miles and over 50,000 paddle strokes non-stop through darkness, inclement weather, and portage six hydroelectric dams while battling the sheer mental and physical torture of up to 19 hours paddling at 50 to 80 paddle strokes per minute. 

 

Not only are the eight-time champs, Kolka and Corbin, on a roll at the AuSable Marathon, they also won the Triple Crown of Canoe Racing championship in both 2000, 2001 and 2002.  The General Clinton Canoe Regatta, staged Memorial Day on New York’s Susquehanna River is the first jewel of canoe racing’s Triple Crown.  La Classique de Canots, a three-day race on the St. Maurice River, from LaTuque to Trois Riviere in Quebec over Labor Day weekend, is the final jewel of the three-race championship.   Cash and prizes awarded at the three races in the series total over $100,000. 

 

Extensive information including complete race results of and photographs for the Weyerhaeuser AuSable River Canoe Marathon is available on the at:        http://www.AusableCanoeMarathon.org

 

WEYERHAEUSER AUSABLE RIVER CANOE MARATHON

2003 FINISH LIST 7/27/03

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finish Place

Finish Time

Canoe #

Name

Age

City

State/ Province

Comments

1

14:55:03

16

Jeff Kolka

44

Grayling

Michigan

8th Consecutive AuSable Win and

1

 

16

Serge Corbin

46

St. Boniface

Quebec

1st Place Masters Team

2

14:56:51

1

Andrew Triebold

27

Homer

Michigan

 

2

 

1

Steve Lajoie

27

Mirabel

Quebec

 

3

15:02:45

81

Tony Short

39

Indian River

Michigan

 

3

 

81

Denis Berthiaume

38

St. Jerome

Quebec

 

4

15:13:16

11

Rick Joy

44

Silverwood

Michigan

 

4

 

11

Ted Kolka

37

Grayling

Michigan

 

5

15:16:50

3

Matt Rimer

19

Horton

Michigan

 

5

 

3

Mo Harwood

24

Grayling

Michigan

 

6

15:19:14

2

Jim Harwood

38

Grayling

Michigan

 

6

 

2

Matt Streib

39

Bristol

Indiana

 

7

15:22:22

82

Clark Kent

43

Lapeer

Michigan

2nd place masters team

7

 

82

Louis Berthiaume

44

Berthierville

Quebec

 

8

15:42:56

50

Tim Valko

34

Pickney

Michigan

 

8

 

50

Erich Podjaske

21

Grayling

Michigan

 

9

15:43:03

28

Steven Landick

50

Marquette

Michigan

 

9

 

28

Armin Lopez

30

San Ignacio

Belize

 

10

15:50:58

14

Bill Torongo

41

Roscommon

Michigan

3rd place masters team

10

 

14

Bruce Barton

46

Homer

Michigan

 

11

15:53:48

74

Tim Sheldon