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Mississippi River Ultra Marathons for Rett Syndrome (2001) and Rett Syndrome & Leukodystrophy (2003)
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  • 2003 Challenge
  • 2001 Race
  • 2001 Flagship Double Helix
  • Beyond the Finish
    • Rett Syndrome
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 2001 Race - May 22, 2001, Tuesday
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!
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Teams called in to Safety Officer between 5 and 7 AM
Team Name Time Called River Mile Nearest City/State Estimated Position
Alaska MSC 7 AM 343 Leaving Lock and Dam 20 near Canton MO 3rd
Amazons Withdraws 5/12/01 Stops near St. Cloud, MN 5th
Double Helix 7:15 AM 870 Tiptonville, TN (north TN) 2nd
Kruger 873 Tiptonville, TN (north TN) 1st
Rebels Withdraws 5/13/01 Stops near Monticello, MN 4th
Updates/Comments Received, 5 to 7 AM Calls:
From Mary Potter, Webmaster and Event Organizer

Team Alaska called at 7 AM and reported they were leaving mile 343. All are in good spirits.

Team Double Helix - Andrew called at 8 AM CST and reported the paddlers had left Tiptonville around 7 or 7:15 AM. Everyone is rested.
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Team Kruger - Leaving Tiptonville this morning. Dana reported terrible thunderstorms last night, all night long. Everyone is rested, the outlook appears better than yesterday, but there is some wind.
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Teams called in to Safety Officer between 5 and 7 PM
Team Name Time Called River Mile Nearest City/State Estimated Position
Alaska MSC 5-7 AM 283 Near L&D 23, Louisiana, MO 3rd
Amazons Withdraws 5/12/01 Stops near St. Cloud, MN 5th
Double Helix 7:15 PM 800 Between Caruthersville, MO and Memphis, TN 2nd
Kruger 4 PM 810 Between Caruthersville, MO and Memphis, TN 1st
Rebels Withdraws 5/13/01 Stops near Monticello, MN 4th
Updates/Comments Received, 5 to 7 PM Calls:
From Steve Landick, Race Director

Team Alaska - Kerm called in at mile marker 283 and reports he is in Louisiana! GO ALASKA GO! Oh, Louisiana, MO that is :-). Kerm says they are at lock and dam 23 and would like to paddle tonight until they get to lock and dam 25. Below lock and dam 25 there is a substantial amount of boat traffic just waiting to go through and he'd like to get past that before the traffic flood gates open up tomorrow. Kerm also reported that last night they all stayed at a local college, except Tony, who for some reason got locked out of his room and slept outside. Kerm reports in as usual with a great spirit and lots of laughter.
Clearly this is a hearty group of guys who are determined to have fun while supporting a charitable cause in the longest non-stop and unstaged canoe/kayak race in the world!

Team Double Helix - Andrew M. Gribble reported in at 7:15 PM, mile marker 800. Andrew reports heavy winds all day, but not as bad as yesterday overall. Weather now seems calmer and he wonders if the paddlers will continue through the night.
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Team Kruger - Reported in early at 4 PM, at Mile 810, all is well, everyone is fine. Weather at this time is very nice, just a few puffy clouds, clear skies. Stan wonders if they may go at night tonight....nice time to go!
Webmaster/Mary Potter says - I don't have logs from every team, but I will share what I have:

Team Kruger Log - By Bob Bradford, Enhanced by Stan Hanson
May 22, 2001 Tuesday
 
The trailer rocked and rolled all night and the rain hit the windows. By 5:30 a.m. May 22, it had stopped. We ate breakfast and left by 6:10 a.m. A mile down river, we passed the Double Helix camp on the left. They were eating breakfast, and we waved as we passed.
 
We arrived at Caruthersville at 10:50 a.m. I still don't know how they pronounce Caruthersville, but Stan knows. Believe me, you wouldn't recognize it! It's something like "Cruvill".
 
At 3:25 p.m., we paddled into Barfield boat ramp. It was hard to find, because there were so many barges parked on the bank. We ate on the shore. We had fried chicken, and it was very good. Dana had warned us there was poison ivy all along the ramp.
 
Late that night, May 22, we pulled into Reverie boat ramp to get fed again. Our support team had known we were coming, even before I called. The Helix support team on the other side of the river had seen our light go by when we rounded the turn at Lookout Dikes.
 
When we were ready to pull out of Reverie boat ramp, Verlen realized we had lost our rear strobe light. Verlen had thought it was a good idea to have one, and now I did, too. Jon and Stan rigged up another one, and we pushed off. Verlen was in bed in the stern, and I was doing my late night turn. Not long after, I noticed that I had almost no control of the rudder. I paddled the next 20 miles with no rudder at all. When I was a couple of miles above Memphis, I decided to pull over and take a look. There was no way I wanted to fight barge traffic in Memphis with no rudder. I found that the pin for the rudder was badly bent, and I had to push the rudder down to get it to work. If I hit a log or any floating debris, it would come up again and not work. With flooded conditions, it was hard to never hit debris.


End of Team Kruger Log
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