2010 MR340 Canoe and Kayak Race

I have just returned from a week on the river participating in one of the greatest adventures that it has been my pleasure to enjoy.
The 5th annual MR340(http://www.rivermiles.com/) has finally come and gone and again the great stories abound. I saw disasters and triumps and victories and defeats. I witnessed people reaching into the depths of their souls and pulling out strengths they never knew existed and may never have discovered had they not had the courage to enter this race.
Sadly I also saw people defeated, sometimes by the river itself and sometimes by poor planning or lack of experience or countless other reasons.
Actually, there were exactly as many reasons to quit as there were boats that did not finish. No two stories are the same, but even those who didn't finish displayed the courage to make the attempt. And if everyone could pull it off, it wouldn't be the magnificent event that it is.
Many of those who failed will return with knowledge gained and they will succeed next time. Many who barely finished will modify their training and preparation, or change their equipment, or maybe just their attitude and they will compete at a higher level next time.
All the entrants and their teams will have memories to relive and stories to tell. And some very lucky people like myself will have many tales to share. It will take a little time for me to organize my thoughts and present them in a manner befitting the efforts I witnessed. Heroic or triumphant moments, Pain and suffering, crushed goals and crushed boats, comraderie and competition, these were flourishing on all fronts. I saw friendships established, and simple acts of kindness to strangers were abundant.
All these things happen on a daily basis in the natural world but in the condenced time frame of an 88 hour endurance race events happen so quickly and in such rapid succession that it presents a verson of life that comes at the observer compressed and so intense that only by thinking it through afterwards can one sort out the golden moments.
That is what I'll be doing for a while, sorting and recording those moments. A few I will share if I can figure a way to do justice to the efforts of these paddlers. Though I fear I may not be eloquent enough to display their talents and their character in the fashion they deserve.
I have entered this race in the past as a paddler. I have finished and I have failed, I have never won or come close but I have never walked away a poorer man. Tired, sore, dazed and daffy, but never with less than when I began.
This year I was offered the opportunity to man one of the safety boats (maybe they thought that anyone who had gotten himself into as many difficulties as I would be a natural at this) and I take great pride in the fact that I ran over not a single contestant. And I'm certain that with proper therapy many of the paddlers will get over their newfound fear of bearded bald guys driving fast boats.
This position gave me the chance to interact with many more people and witness the race from new perspectives and I hope I will use that wider vision to advantage. So, as I say, give me a short time to organize myself and I will offer a view that few have seen, a canoe race from the seat of a power boat.