May 10 2001 6 Thursday

2001 Race - May 10, 2001, Thursday
The Great Mississippi River Race for Rett Syndrome, May 2001
We are Going the Extra Mile..... The Extra 2,348 Miles to Find a Cure!

May 10, 2001, Thursday, Day 6, Teams called in for a Safety check between 5 and 7 AM

Team Name	Time Called	River Mile	Nearest City/State	Estimated Position
Alaska MSC	7 AM	Mile 1078	Aitken, MN	3rd, 4th or 5th
Amazons	6 AM	1078	Aitken, MN	3rd, 4th or 5th
Double Helix	6:20 AM	Mile 929	Champion Dam Sartelle, MN	2nd
Kruger	7:15 AM	Mile 925	last dam at Sauk Radids, MN	1st
Rebels	7:30 AM	Mile 1078	Aitken, MN	3rd, 4th or 5th

Updates/Comments Received for May 10, 2001, Thursday AM From Safety Officer Elizabeth Tynan
This morning is a little quieter on the paddling front than yesterday, in spite of the fact that tornados touched down in Northfield and Rice, MN--about 35 miles away from where the Double Helix Team was this morning. Never fear, they have "tornado tips" among their gear--and will be alert, aware, and take appropriate action if necessary.
Team locations this morning are as follows:
Team Alaska:
Kerm reported at 7:00 that his team was about a mile below Aitken, just preparing to start the day's paddle. They had spend about six hours sleeping near the town of Palisades last night and feel pretty good today.
Kerm said that the biologist-paddler among them (I forgot to ask which one he is, but will next time we talk) is really enjoying this trip, compiling a list of all the different types of birds they see along the way. Not realizing what a seriously scientific and thoroughly wonderful project he was engaged in, the Amazon team paddled by yesterday and yelled across the water, "Hey! What are you guys doing reading a magazine???" How funny!
Team Amazon:
Ah. . . Tony said they spent the night at a hotel in Aitken, complete with hot showers and soft beds, which must have both felt heavenly after five days on the river without either. At 6:00 a.m., Cynthia and Megan were just preparing to leave from river mile 1078.
Team Double Helix:
Andrew's voice--at 6:20--exuded energy, enthusiasm, and double the normal amount of "joy in living." It wasn't long before I found out why. Race Teams, hear this: Take out at the "SuperAmerica" station just below the Champion Dam at Sartelle and buy one of their blueberry muffins. Andrew had just eaten one this morning before we spoke and felt "on top of the world."
He said Clark and Kurt were just then in the process of portaging around some rapids, at river mile 929, about two miles below Champion Dam at Sartelle. (With those magical blueberry muffins, it should be a snap.) He urged all teams behind them to send their land crews out well ahead to scout out the rapids, as portaging them is quite a challenge.
All is well with the team now, though they had a very difficult portage yesterday at Blanchard Dam. Andrew said the water near the put-in was "roiling" with surf-like waves because of the high water, making it impossible to put in. So Clark and Kurt spent about an hour and a half on that portage, foraging through brush and barbed wire fences, before they finally found a safe spot to put in near a stream that emptied into the river. Even then, it was tough going getting back down to the water.
Team Kruger:
When Stan phoned at 7:15 he sounded tired, but was planning to rest soon. Verlen and Bob had just left from river mile 925, near the last dam at Sauk Rapids, so they and Team Double Helix are now very close.
I alerted all teams to the fact that there are thunderstorms, severe weather, and possible tornados developing again just to the south of them, though it doesn't look like they will be close enough by tonight to be affected by the upper edge of the front. According to the weather channel, yet another storm system is just to the west of Minnesota now and will be there in another day or so. We'll keep them posted.
Team Rebels:
Eric called in at 7:30 to say that they were just preparing to leave from river mile 1278, near Aitken. They and the Amazons see each other frequently during the day and have enjoyed some nice companionship on the river.
END OF AM SAFETY REPORT

May 10, 2001, Thursday, Day 6, Teams called in for a Safety Check between 5 and 7 PM

Team Name	Time Called	River Mile	Nearest City/State	Estimated Position
Alaska MSC	6:05 PM		Brainerd Dam, MN	3rd or 4th
Amazons	5:45 PM	Mile 995	Pot Luck Dam, Brainerd, MN	3rd or 4th
Double Helix	7:15 PM	Mile 860	Near Hwy 694, Mpls, MN	Tied 1st/2nd
Kruger	time called	Mile 860	Near Hwy 694, Mpls, MN	Tied 1st/2nd
Rebels	6:28 PM	Mile 1032	Crosby, MN	5th

Updates/Comments Received for May 10, 2001, 5-7 PM From Don Keller, Official Time Keeper
Team Alaska 6:05
Kerm called to say the team is trying to get across Brainard Dam. The lockmaster doesn't know anything about opening any gate for them, so they are going to use the standard portage. They will be overnighting at Crow Wing State Park
Team Amazons 5:45 River Miles 995
Tony said he is waiting for the paddlers below Brainard at Pot Lock Dam. They will overnight at Crow State Park
Team Double Helix 7:14 Near Highway 694
Andrew called to inform us they are with Team Kruger. Clark was being given a tour of the secrets of Kruger's boat Andrew said after a LONG six days of paddling, everyone is laughing and trying to unwind. I told Andrew about Team Alaska's not being able to get the lockmaster to open the gate. Andrew said if you can get the gate opened and get outside of 8 foot fence, the route is much easier than the portage. Since you can go around right next to the fence and put in at a nice sandy beach.
Team Kruger "3:45" Approx . Near Highway 694
Stan says they are stopping river right approx. 5 minutes before the Highway 694 and are being timed at the stopping point by an independent third party. The independent third party is a canoe shop owner/paddler Ken Ketterer. and accompanying witnessess. Stan is asking that all teams stop there to be clocked in, and that all teams be clocked out when they leave.
He also stated that if Double Helix does not stop there, he'll still have the independent party get a time as the Team goes by. He stated many times he doesn't know if this will effect the Guinness record, but feels that this is the only way to maintain the race among the Rett Race teams.
Team Rebels 6:28 River Miles 1032
Eric said they are pulling up for the night. A laundromat to wash and dry clothes is at the top of their list. They will be staying at a motel in Crosby
END OF SAFETY REPORT
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Webmaster/Mary Potter writes:
Team Kruger and Team Double Helix are forced off the water above St. Anthony's Falls by the Coast Guards because Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam is closed. Both teams stop at Ketter's canoes. Kent Spading (Team Double Helix, and employed at the Army Corp of Engineers) was able to find out it would open at 12 noon tomorrow (May 11). Teams elected to wait rather than walk miles and miles in an attempt to portage. Other sections of the river nearby may have been closed as well.   These teams are tied for first place.
Clark and Kent from Team Double Helix called me and the team is staying at Tony Swenson's home tonight.   Tony Swenson and Kent Spading are co-captains for Team Double Helix.   Tony is an old childhood friend.   Clark was icing his forearms.   He was very distracted. I asked to speak to Kent (our old college friend) and he told me Clark was fine, that everyone needed some sleep and Kent kind of chuckled.

Webmaster/Mary Potter writes:
Later I received this note from Elizabeth Tynan, our Safety Officer:
From Elizabeth Tynan, 5/10/01
Due to Stan of team Kruger and Tony Swenson of Team Double Helix requests, I decided to notify the judges. At approx 4:05 PM CST on Thursday May 10, 2001 I, Don Keller left detailed voice mails for Jim Seymore and Hal Marshall.
Hal could not get in contact with Steve Landick or Jim Seymore and appointed Elizabeth Tynan (Safety Officer) and Don Keller (Official Time Keeper and "back up" Safety Officer) as reserve judges. The judges decided to take the time difference the teams arrived at Mile 860 into account for the Great Mississippi River Race for Rett Syndrome, May 2001.
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Note from Chairman and Founder after the Race (June 2001), Clark Eid:
This race is an unstaged and nonstop race, as indicated in Rules 1 and 2. All participants signed a rules agreement form prior to the race agreeing to all rules and safety program. Judges can not modify rules. The 3 judges selected can not be altered by anyone other than the Chairman. Therefore this decision is not valid.
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Webmaster/Mary Potter says - I don't have logs from every team, but I'll share what I have:

Amazons of the Mississippi Log - by Cynthia Belbin, Thursday May 10, 2001
Our best day. We paddled 84 miles today (134 km). This seemed to be exactly what we needed to get our spirits up. Megan was on fire. The GPS was working like a charm and we were able to use the flooding to our advantage with a couple shortcuts.
We had a fairly tough trek across the slower water of Rabbit Lake. We missed the current. We were warned about Potlatch Dam and we were very nervous approaching it. We decided we were in no condition to carry the boat up the riverbank and returned to the road and used Eric's 'wheels' - we scouted around a plant that had "No Trespassing' signs everywhere.
We returned to our boat and made our way through the streets of Brainerd (I never did get that T-shirt, ''Fargo'' is one of my favorite movies). This portage was a little less than a mile and we wasted 90 minutes scouting it out.
Once we got our boat back on the water Alaska had caught up to us. This was very discouraging. 12 miles more and we would call it a day, it was getting dark, we were pleased to have passed the eighty mile mark. We made camp at Crow Wing State Park, and decided that tomorrow we would try to go further than today. My hands were getting better but I was exhausted.
I had to force myself to take a shower and it ended up being a cold one...it was all downhill from there.
End of Team Amazons of the Mississippi Log, Thursday, May 10, 2001

Team Kruger Log - By Bob Bradford, Enhanced by Stan Hanson, Monday, May 10, 2001
During early morning hours, our competitors, the Double Helix, had actually caught us and decided to portage six miles to avoid the rapids. When we put in at dawn, we were not aware that they had passed us. The rapids below the bridge were tricky and very fast, but after some difficulties, we made it safely. Afterwards, we found out that the Helix had actually some difficulties, we made it safely. Afterwards, we found out that the Helix had actually seen us go by in the water while they were still on their portage. We keep the lead!
We arrived at St. Cloud Dam at 7:00 a.m., May 10, 2001. The portage was good, but the put-in was a 20-foot high slick, muddy bank. I remember the slide I took to the bottom with the canoe pushing against my head. Richard Lewis also remembers. He was a photographer taking pictures at the bottom. Below the dam was full of islands, but easy to pick the best line. I usually had a talent for doing that, but Verlen ALWAYS did.
At Montissippi County Park, we beat our crew to the site. It was cool, so rather than wait, we ate some of the emergency food we were required to have with us at all times and started paddling again. At Elk River, our support team met us on river left, and we ate. They gave us the word that the river was closed in Minneapolis. It was unknown when it would re-open.
At Coon Rapids, my friend and fellow canoe racer, Kjell Petterson met us and showed us where to portage. Stan had more word on the closed river. The plan was for all racers to stop above St. Anthony's Falls at Ketter's Canoes. We would then have to wait for word from the Coast Guard.
Kjell led us down to Ketter's place on river right. Kjell lives there and sells canoes for Ken Ketter. This was race day six, and I was about to get my first much needed shower. Such is the life of a marathon canoeist. Verlen and I also got a great dinner from Beth and Ken Ketter and Kjell. I took a one-hour nap.
My plan was to wake up and greet Clark and Kurt of the Helix when they arrived at Ketter's.
When Double Helix arrived 2 hours and 30 minutes later, they had to make a small repair on the bow of their beautiful cedar strip kayak. Ketter's had fiberglass and resin on hand to do that. I thought it was amazing that Double Helix only had one scuff mark on it after that trip. After a short talk, we went to bed in the trailer.
End Team Kruger Log Monday, May 10, 2001