Kansas City News Blog

It was an ominous start. On Tuesday morning, as hundreds of racers were supposed to be slipping into the Missouri River, a drenching storm with flashing lightning settled over Kaw Point in Kansas City, Kansas. For more than an hour the athletes were stuck on shore, anxiously pondering the brutal headwind they would face when the race got underway.

​Lucky for the 255 kayaks, canoes and pedal-powered craft that muscled through the Missouri River 340, a marathon paddle from Kansas City to St. Charles, the gloomy start was the darkest hour.

Yesterday afternoon, Scott Mansker, the Olathe resident who started this annual outbreak of mass paddling insanity, was kicking back at a picnic table at Cooper's Landing, a river-rat paradise halfway between Missouri's coasts. The race doesn't technically end until midnight tonight, but Mansker says people are already asking about 2010.

Last year, when I followed the race from start to finish, there was plenty of drama: a delirious cancer victim so determined to finish other racers had to steal his paddle, a former Marine nearly sucked under the dicing blade of a river barge, a heat exhaustion victim who fell asleep on a picnic table and woke up in a seizure. This year wasn't as nerve-wracking. "We've had no mishaps of any newsworthiness," Mansker says with a laugh. "But, actually, sending 255 boats down the river and nothing bad happening is newsworthy, I guess."

Which is somewhat surprising, since the huge majority of participants were on their rookie run. "For the safety meeting this year, we had to open up two ballrooms," Mansker says. "It seated 600 people and every seat was full; it was standing room only. When I asked how many people are doing their first 340, it looked like everybody raised their hands. They all gasped."

Among the newcomers this year, Mansker says, are the youngest participants to ever paddle the MR340. Marissa Weber and Hannah Grow -- 12 and 14 years old, respectively -- trained for a year back in their home state of Wisconsin. They're racing to raise money for breast cancer research. "They're doing it on their own, no special privileges," Mansker says. "And they're ahead of a lot of boats."

Among the adults, records have already been broken. West Hansen, a powerhouse paddler from Texas (and about the nicest guy on the planet), teamed up with 2008 female champ, Katie Pfefferkorn, in the mixed tandem division. They beat the previous record -- by 20 hours.

The other racers' are hauling ass, too, Mansker says. "The back end of the race has never been this far forward in all four years," he says. "We shortened the deadlines this year, made it a tougher race, but they've risen to the challenge." Though the deadline isn't until midnight tonight, Mansker says everyone is on pace to waddle up the bank in St. Charles in time for the 7 p.m. awards ceremony.

When Mansker started the race in 2006 it was nothing more than a bizarre outing for 15 friends. Now it's become a sporting phenomena that draws participants from as far away as Canada and an economic engine that boosts small Missouri towns.

"You know, I'm going down the river, closing these checkpoints and I'm hearing the nicest things from the town folks, the mayors," Mansker says. "They're so excited about it. They're exhausted, like I am, because they've been up all night grilling burgers for racers, but they're so impressed with an event that's brought people from all over. I've got racers right here from Pennsylvania, drove here to do this race and already said they'll be back next year. I'm at Cooper's Landing, and I asked Mike [Cooper], 'How'd it go?' and he said, 'It was a lot of fun, I hope you do it next year. But I hope you don't let it get much bigger.' Of course, we'll do it next year. I don't think people would let us skip it."