2018 Ausable Canoe Marathon

Al Widing Sr. of Mio, an AuSable River Canoe Marathon icon, the record holder for both most starts in AuSable Marathon history and oldest finisher, and perhaps the event’s most popular paddler of all time, passed away last week. He was 92 years old.
“He set an example for all of us,” said Steve Southard of the AuSable River Canoe Marathon Committee. “The folks that took the time to know him, so quiet, so modest, so good with kids, so good with people in general. What a love for the Marathon, what a love for the river.”
Widing was beloved by Marathon fans. He is known for his unprecedented Marathon longevity; Widing is the current record holder for most total AuSable River Canoe Marathon starts with 41, oldest paddler to start the Marathon (age 89), and oldest paddler to finish the race (age 87), according to AuSable Marathon records.
“I was always impressed with Al’s quiet strength and humility,” said Marcia Koppa, a Marathon volunteer. “He was a competitor, no doubt about that. One with a big heart. He could walk out of his canoe at the end of the race and give one the impression that he was ready to paddle back upstream.”
Widing’s last AuSable River Canoe Marathon was in 2014; he raced with his son, Al Widing Jr. Widing Sr. was 89 years old at the time. His most recent AuSable Marathon finish was in 2012 (with Hailey McMahon); he was 87.
It was normal for Widing to get the loudest cheers at pre-race paddler introductions and at a variety of viewing locations throughout the AuSable Marathon.

gHost Spartan wrote:How much do we need to throw in?

The Pantry wrote:This is brilliant

North America’s toughest, richest non-stop canoe race, staged from Grayling to Oscoda on Northern Michigan’s famed AuSable River during the last weekend of July.

The Pantry wrote:This is brilliant

Rocinante wrote:

The Pantry wrote:This is brilliant

Just saw this. If only one person is paddling from the back this is fine, but if there’s someone in the front they would hit the coolers with their paddle. {show killer!}

‘A challenge on a beautiful river.’ Grayling to Oscoda. Hundreds of fans, thousands of dollars in prize money, 120 miles. More than 80 paddling teams. Some of them will be attempting the race for the first time. Others have started it more than 30 times. How many of them will make it to the finish line this year? Will it be another close race? Find out this weekend during the 71st AuSable River Canoe Marathon.

For it to happen one time was rare. For it to happen two years in a row? It was historic. It couldn’t happen a third consecutive time. Could it?

The AuSable River Canoe Marathon, in its seven decades in existence, has featured a one-second margin of victory, a sprint to the finish line at Oscoda to determine a champion, only three times. The first one came in 2005. It didn’t happen again until 2016. Last year, it happened for the second consecutive time.

I’m relatively new to Grayling. Before I moved here, I thought of paddling as a summer leisure activity, an excuse to drink beer and get a tan while floating down one of Michigan’s many rivers. Boy was I wrong. For competitors in the AuSable River Canoe Marathon, paddling is a year-round test of endurance. They race for the physical challenge, for the thrill of being on the water at night and, in some cases, to punish themselves. Mark Koenig, a paddler from Woodstock, Illinois, once explained in his racer bio, “It looked like it hurt a lot and I like pain.”

The AuSable River Canoe Marathon is 120-miles, from Grayling to Oscoda, finishing where the river runs into the cold water of Lake Huron. The race takes between 14 and 19 hours to complete, during which time paddlers will stroke as many as 120 times per minute. In 2004 the temperature dropped to 32 degrees in the middle of the night—in the middle of summer. If the cold doesn’t get to you, the threat of exhaustion and delirium are ever present. Officials routinely pull racers from the river when their bodies fail them. And even then some racers are able to convince the officials to let them continue, at which point they’re strapped into life vests in case they lose consciousness and fall into the water.

If they manage to reach the finish line in Oscoda, racers arrive shell-shocked, their tailbones bleeding from friction against the seat and their bodies torn by a race that takes them from the verge of hypothermia to near heat stroke. Their muscles visibly twitch and spasm as they drag their waterlogged bodies from the finish line to the recovery area. Over long stretches of race, if they have any fluid left in their bodies, paddlers routinely piss on themselves to avoid stopping and losing time, which has to be washed off in Oscoda. During the early stages, before cold and exhaustion drill into their bones, racers seem to enjoy the crowd’s cheers. By the time they reach the finish they’re lucky if they recognize their own applauding families.

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:Most people aren’t going to be racing canoes though...

tGreenWay wrote:

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:Most people aren’t going to be racing canoes though...

If they’re wearing canoe shoes, you know they’re racing. The shoes always give it away. Just like Pylon’s wife.

LooseGoose wrote:That's the best special I've seen on the Marathon . Mio gets a segment for the portage.

Repeats at 1:30am for those of you with a DVR.

LooseGoose wrote:That's the best special I've seen on the Marathon . Mio gets a segment for the portage.

Repeats at 1:30am for those of you with a DVR.