58th AuSable Marathon to
start Saturday night
Fifty-two paddling teams will depart from Grayling on
Saturday night during the start of the 58th Weyerhaeuser AuSable River Canoe
Marathon, a 120-mile race that features nighttime paddling, several portages, 15
timing cutoffs, thousands of spectators, and a total purse of more than
$50,000.
The AuSable Marathon is the second leg of the Triple Crown
of Canoe Racing. The first is the General Clinton Canoe Regatta, a one-day,
70-mile race held in New York during Memorial Day weekend. The third leg is La
Classique Internationale de Canots de la Mauricie, a three-day, three-stage
race held in Quebec during Labor Day weekend.
The field of entrants for the 2005 AuSable River Canoe
Marathon includes 15 paddlers with at least 10 AuSable Marathons to their
credit: Al Widing Sr., 80, of Mio (35 Marathons), Rick Joy, 46, of Silverwood
(28), Lynne Witte, 51, of Mt. Clemens (25), Bill Torongo, 43, of Roscommon
(21), Jeff Kolka, 46, of Grayling (22), Serge Corbin, 48, of Quebec (19), Jim
Harwood, 40, of Grayling (19), Robert Bradford, 62, of Lapeer (16), Frank
Taber, 55, of Lowell (16) Clark Kent, 45, of Lapeer (13), Frank Smutek, 71, of
Luzerne (13), Bill DuBois, 47, of Jackson (12), Steven Landick, 51, of
Marquette (11), Jon Webb, 45, of Hubbard Lake (11), and Michael Garon, 47, of
Washington, MI (10).
Seventeen paddlers signed up for this year’s race will be
attempting their first AuSable River Canoe Marathon: Mitch McMillan, 30, of
Clare; Matt Meersman, 28, of South Bend, IN; Ed Lazar, 48, of Grosse Pointe
Farms; Chris Hewitt, 15, of Bay City; Troy Winters, 39, of Cedar Springs; Brad
Gross, 36, of Pinconning; Alison Scott, 41, of Spokane, WA; Chris McKenzie, 34,
of Gaylord; Nick Walton, 32, of Haslett; Bob Mitchell, 34, of Redford; Karine
Pellerin, 28, of Quebec; Frank Bailey, 51, of Grand Rapids; Ted Matthews, 40,
of East Tawas; Gary Aprea, 62, of Australitz, NY; Brett Thunstrom, 47, of
Anoka, MN; Mindy Bennett, 26, of Prescott; and Bill Brundage, 54, of Traverse
City.
A few of the teams expected to compete for the top spots in
the 2005 AuSable Marathon, based on final results of several recent canoe
races, include:
* Jeff Kolka, 46, of Grayling, and Serge Corbin, 48, of
Quebec – As a team, Kolka and Corbin won eight consecutive AuSable Marathons
from 1996 through 2003. Last year, they placed 2nd – 13 seconds behind the
winners. They also took 2nd place in the 2004 La Classique. This year, the
Kolka-Corbin team won the first leg of the Triple Crown of Canoe Racing by
finishing 1st in the 2005 General Clinton Canoe Regatta.
* Andrew Triebold, 28, of Spring Arbor, and Matthew Rimer,
21, of Horton – Triebold and Rimer finished 2nd – two seconds behind Kolka and
Corbin – at the 2005 General Clinton race. Triebold won last year’s AuSable
Marathon with Steve Lajoie and Rimer finished 5th with Mo Harwood. Triebold and
Lajoie took 1st at La Classique in 2004 to clinch last year’s Triple Crown
championship. Triebold and Rimer won this year’s Spike’s Challenge C-2 race on
Saturday.
* Rick Joy, 46, of Silverwood, and Bill Torongo, 43, of
Roscommon – Joy and Torongo finished 9th in the 2004 La Classique race. Joy
placed 3rd in last year’s AuSable Marathon with Louis Berthiaume and took 4th
in the 2003 Marathon with Ted Kolka. Torongo finished 10th in 2003 with Bruce
Barton and 3rd in 2002 with John Sullivan. Joy and Torongo have paddled in a
combined 49 AuSable Marathons – the second highest total of any team in this
year’s field. They took 4th in the 2005 Spike’s Challenge.
* Jim Harwood, 40, of Grayling, and Allen Limberg, 47, of
Wisconsin – Harwood placed 8th in the 2005 General Clinton Canoe Regatta with
Steve Rankinen and 4th in the 2004 Marathon with Denis Berthiaume. Limberg took
9th in this year’s General Clinton Canoe Regatta with Tom Trudgeon and 6th in
the 2004 La Classique with John Hugus. Harwood finished 6th in the 2003
Marathon and won the 1995 AuSable Marathon with Patrick Lynch. Harwood and
Limburg placed 3rd in this year’s Spike’s Challenge.
* Rodney Halstead, 20, of Grayling, and Ryan Halstead, 18,
of Grayling – The Halstead brothers finished 10th in last year’s Marathon and
19th in 2003. The Halsteads took 14th in the 2005 General Clinton Canoe Regatta
and 6th in the 2005 Spike’s Challenge.
* Clark Kent, 45, of Lapeer, and Tim Valko, 36, of Pinckney
– In the 2003 AuSable Marathon, Kent placed 7th with Louis Berthiaume and Valko
took 8th with Erich Podjaske. Kent finished 5th in 2002 with Berthiaume. Kent
and Valko were 5th in the 2005 Spike’s Challenge.
* Steve Watson, 33, of Onaway, and John Sullivan, 35, of
Grayling – Watson took 6th in the 2004 Marathon with Dwayne Barnes and 7th in
2002 with Al Shaver. Sullivan finished 3rd in 2002 with Bill Torongo.
The team with the most AuSable Marathon experience
registered for this year’s race is the duo in Canoe #09 – Al Widing Sr., 80, of
Mio, and Robert Bradford, 62, of Lapeer. Widing has paddled in 35 AuSable
Marathons and Bradford has been in 16. The team of Widing and Bradford, with a
combined age of 142, is also the oldest duo in this year’s field. Frank Smutek,
71, of Luzerne, and Rejean Huard, 63, of Quebec, are the second oldest team at
134 years.
The youngest team signed up for this year’s race will be in
Canoe #87 – Rodney Halstead and Ryan Halstead. The Halsteads have a combined
age of 38.
The youngest paddler in the 2005 Marathon is Chris Hewitt,
15, of Bay City. He’s paddling with his father, Chuck Hewitt, 46. The oldest
paddlers in this year’s Marathon are Widing (80), Smutek (71), and Allan DuBois
(71).
The 2005 AuSable Marathon will feature eight mixed teams,
one women’s team, and two amateur teams.
Mixed teams include: Nate Winkler, 33, of Interlochen, and
Lynne Witte, 51, of Mt. Clemens; Kate Ellis, 49, of Minneapolis, MN, and Todd
Ellison, 44, of St. Paul, MN; Stephanie Larsen, 28, of Coon Rapids, MN, and
Jeff DeFeo, 50, of Chester, MA; Jim Bauer, 60, and Alison Scott, 41, both of
Spokane, WA; Joe Shaw, 50, of Worthington, MA, and Karine Pellerin, 28, of
Quebec; Steven Landick, 51, of Marquette, and Lynn Capen, 50, of Boulder, CO;
Barb Bradley, 48, of Waussau, WI, and Bill Brundage, 54, of Traverse City;
Gloria Wesley, 45, of Pittsfield, MA, and Gary Aprea, 62, of Australitz, NY;
Rick Gillings, 47, of Prescott, and Mindy Bennett, 26, of Prescott.
The only women’s team signed up for this year’s Marathon
consists of Connie Cannon, 44, of East Lansing, and Amy Solak, 40, of Traverse
City. Cannon and Solak finished 40th overall (1st women’s) in the 2005 General
Clinton Canoe Regatta. Solak finished 21st in the 2004 Marathon with Ted Smutek
and Cannon finished 34th with Nathan Winkler. In 2003, Solak placed 18th with
Dwayne Barnes.
Two amateur teams are registered for the 2005 AuSable
Marathon: Mark Noorman, 36, of Rockford, and Troy Winters, 39, of Cedar
Springs, in #136A and Frank Taber, 55, of Lowell, and Frank Bailey, 51, of
Grand Rapids in #117A.
AuSable Marathon competition will get under way with time
trials for starting position on Thursday, July 28, and Friday, July 29, at
Penrod’s Canoe Livery. At time trials, paddling teams navigate a looped course
– downstream, then upstream – and final times determine starting row positions
for the AuSable Marathon’s run to the river on Saturday night. Time trials,
sponsored by Scott McNamara Ford of Grayling, will be conducted from 5-8:30
p.m. on Thursday and 2-6 p.m. on Friday.
On the night of Saturday, July 30, AuSable Marathon paddling
teams will line up based on time trial finishes near the Grayling Post Office
for the race’s start. At 9 p.m., teams will run with their canoes to the
AuSable River at Ray’s Canoe Livery to begin the 120-mile journey to the finish
line in Oscoda. The Marathon’s pre-race program begins at 5:30 p.m. at Ray’s.
For more on the AuSable River Canoe Marathon, visit the
event’s internet site at www.ausablecanoemarathon.org.
(Courtesy of the
Crawford County Avalanche)
