Contact: Tim Zigila Weyerhaeuser AuSable River Canoe Marathon Ph:989.348.4425 Cell:9893902007 Email: aricm@i2k.com

PO Box 911 Grayling, MI 49738

Weyerhaeuser AuSable River Canoe Marathon www.ausablecanoemarathon.org

Press Release

Triebold and Rimer Win 60^th Weyerhaeuser AuSable River Canoe Marathon

Former Champion and partner win North America’s Richest, Longest and Toughest Canoe Race-Margin of Victory 35 seconds

Oscoda, MI July 29, 2007:  

     For the second time in three years the Weyerhaeuser AuSable River Canoe Marathon came down to two teams battling for the lead position for the majority of the race. The team Andrew Triebold of Spring Arbor Michigan and Matthew Rimer of Grayling Michigan out dueled Steve Corlew of Grayling Michigan and partner Matt Streib of Bristol Indiana to the finish line in Oscoda Michigan. This is the second win for Triebold and the first win for Rimer. Triebold and Rimer finished the race with a time of 14:48:58 (fourteen hours, forty eight minuets and fifty eight seconds) thirty five seconds ahead of  Corlew and Streib who finished with a time o 14:49:33 (Fourteen hours forty nine minutes and thirty three seconds). Early on in the evening Triebold and Rimer raced out to an early two minute lead, which they held until Mio Dam. Coming over the portage at Mio the two teams were side by side and stayed that way through the rest of the evening. From McKinley Bridge to Foote Dam the teams traded the lead back and forth at the timing points. However in the end it was Triebold and Rimer crossing the finish line first, “We made our move in a good spot where the water is slow and it is hard to follow someone” said Matthew Rimer, he also added winning the race “was a relief, I have put in a lot of time and it feels good to finally win” Rimer placed second in 2005 with partner Andrew Triebold. When asked about the race Triebold said “we tried to get out of town (Grayling) and get a nice lead and Corlew and Streib reeled us in” the end result was the teams were no more than five seconds apart until the end. At the race start Corlew took a spill in the run to the river and it resulted in he and Streib getting into the water in fifteenth place. By the first timing point Corlew and Streib had passed thirteen teams to move into third place.

Top ten finishers and their times: (Format-Hours, Minutes and Seconds)

3^rd    Ryan and Rodney Halstead of Grayling MI       15:06:42

4^th   John Sullivan and Ted Kolka of Grayling MI     15:14:38

5^th   Tony Short of Sault Saint Marie MI and Brad Bauer of Spokane WA 15:17:08

6^th   Josh Taylor of Grayling MI and Mitch McMillen of Clare MI      15:20:55

7^th   Brad Gross of Pinconning MI and Dave Jensen of Sunnyvale CA 15:27:42

8^th   Bill Torongo of Roscommon MI and Calvin Hassel of Grand Island NE   15:38:34

9^th   Bruce Barton of Homer MI and Matt Meersman of South Bend IN   15:41:36

10^th   Pete Mead of Traverse City MI and Nick Walton of East Lansing MI 15:42:58

     The 2007 race also featured twelve mixed (co-ed) teams, with Allen Limburg of Wausau WI and partner Barb Bradley 16:03:39 (17^th place overall) finishing ahead of Ray Trudgeon of East Lansing MI and Carrie Montgomery of Mikado, MI 16:06:19 (18^th place overall) to win the mixed division. Finishing 3^rd Steve Peterson of Oak Grove MN and Emily Peterson of Minneapolis MN 16:17:41 (22^nd place overall)  4^th place went to the team of Gary Aprea of Austerlitz NY and Gloria Wesley of Pittsfield MA 16:21:05 (23^rd place overall) 5^th place was Jim Bauer of Spokane WA and Allison Scott of Spokane WA 17:10:19 (41^st overall).

In the Women’s Division, Lynne Witte of Mt. Clemens MI and Connie Cannon of East Lansing MI finished with a time of 16:49:07 (35^th place overall) ahead of Sarah Webb of Hubbard Lake MI and Marcia Rimer of Horton MI 18:27:53 (54^th place overall).

Other items of note:

     Finishing in 13^th position was 64 year old Bob Bradford of Lapper MI with partner Mike Bradford of Lapper MI with a time 15:44:27. Finishing in 26^th position with a time of 16:27:37 was 82 year old Al Widing Sr. of Mio MI and surpassed Rick Joy’s consecutive starts record with his 31^st race in a row with partner Sean Casey of Grayling MI. This was the 35^th race for Widing.

Twenty-two (22) first time paddlers finished the race. Over 25% of the 150 paddlers were attempting the race for the first time. 

Overall, seventy five (75) teams started the 60^th Weyerhaeuser AuSable River Canoe Mararhon with fifty eight (58) completing the race course. Fatigue, sickness and equipment failure are some of the reasons teams pulled out of the race. 

The Weyerhaeuser AuSable River Canoe Marathon starts in Grayling Michigan and ends in Oscoda Michigan traveling over 120 Miles through Northeast Michigan with a total prize purse of $50,000. The “Marathon” is widely recognized as “North America’s Longest, Richest, Toughest Canoe Race”. 

A complete list of competitors, race information, video and photos can be accessed at www.ausablecanoemararhon.org