2001 Race - May 23, 2001, Wednesday
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!
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!
Teams called in to Safety Officer between 5 and 7 AM
Updates/Comments 5-7 AM calls, Reported from Mary Potter, Webmaster and Event Organizer:
Team Alaska - Kerm called about 6 AM CST from Mile 258. Kerm called in his usual tremendous humor and wanted to know when the party in New Orleans was so he could make sure all of Team Alaska would be there to celebrate! Kerm said when it gets closer to the party date (June 1, 2001, at the Hard Rock Cafe in New Orleans, 6 PM) their team was going to pull off the water, get ahead of Kruger's team and then get back in the water and "let" Kruger's team pass them :-) Kerm is not looking forward to the barrage of river traffic "just waiting" below Lock and Dam 25 to go upstream but as usual, I suspect that sturdy Alaskan living experience and perseverance will guide this team through just about anything..... Team Double Helix - mile 767 at 5 AM. Andrew called at 5 AM CST sharp. Andrew reports the whole team stayed on shore last night and was at the Ed DuVall Boat Lake in Tennessee, the Volunteer State. Andrew did a great job of explaining who Ed DuVall was but I have no recollection of what he said at this writing (sorry Andrew!). Andrew said the paddlers were eating oatmeal on the shore and I asked to speak to Clark (my husband). Clark said yesterday during the daylight they had some headwinds and had run into a very strange section of water that was full of erratic popping waves that danced about the race boat (kayak). He said there were stacks of waves travelling constantly in all directions - like true Brownian motion. Thank you Clark! for that molecular analogy :-) Clark sounded tired to me, but well, and reports that he and Kurt will continue on to make the best time possible although the World Record for best time on the Mississippi is extremely unlikely at this time. He indicates he doubts they will travel at night at this point due to the dangers of barges, bad weather and at times, very dangerous river conditions due to high waters and flooding (which can change rapidly as seen in the example from above). Team Kruger - Stan called about 7:20 AM CST, mile 729, south of Memphis by about 7 miles. Stan reports it's a beautiful day! Paddlers left this mile at 7 AM. Verlen and Bob paddled through the previous night, all night. After finding there was no landing in Memphis (due to flooding) the team stayed at Tom Sawyer RV Park and had a perfect site - not more than 50 feet form take out. Stan reports the paddling goal for the next 24 hours is about 150 miles, and will have to stay at that pace every day to beat the current Guinness speed record (Webmaster note: this speed record attempt is not part of the GMRR 2001). Stan remains hopeful but not optimistic that they can hold that pace for the remainder of the race unless all conditions are literally perfect. End of Safety Report
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