March 27, 2024 • 40 mins
In season two of Paddle Sports Lifestyle, we are introducing you to the people and stories behind this epic endurance race. And, what a perfect kick off to the season: a conversation with Steve Schnarr and Scott Mansker!
A few highlights from this episode:
👥 There's a unique culture thriving within the MR340 community – one of support, generosity, and an endless supply of advice for newcomers. It's about the journey, the river, and the people you meet along the way.
🏞️What drives the MR340 paddlers? A shared love for the untamed beauty of the Missouri River, and a passion for its preservation. Every racer is an advocate for this historic waterway. The MR340 is not just a race; it's an event to raise funds and awareness for the mission of Missouri River Relief.
‼️ Reminder: Preparation is key! Safety measures, gear adequacy, and weather awareness are essential. Our guests, stewards of the race and river, remind us of some precautions.
🆕 Newbies: do not fear! You can do this! There's wisdom in joining forces with veteran voyagers, harnessing collective knowledge, and training and communicating with those who have done this before!
🚣🏽♀️The rising tide of female participation in MR340 speaks volumes. Word is getting out, and this race is breaking boundaries and empowering women!
Steve Schnarr is a devoted steward of the Missouri River, serving as the Executive Director of Missouri River Relief, a Columbia, Missouri-based nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering a profound connection between people and the river. Steve's leadership at Missouri River Relief has seen the cultivation of numerous programs, events, educational opportunities, river cleanups, and races, all with the goal of creating enduring and impactful experiences for individuals and communities drawn to the preservation and appreciation of the Missouri River.
Scott Mansker founded the MR340 in 2006, and has since grown the race from 16 racers the first year to the world-class challenge it is today. His unparalleled knowledge of every bend on the Missouri River and mastery at simplifying the most tangled logistics make him the go-to resource for all things Mr340. Having turned ownership of the race over to Missouri River Relief, Scott now serves as the Safety Boat Coordinator.
Some Additional Details:
Want a quick way to shop for your 2024 MR340 experience? Check out my "What's on the boat?" list! Amazon Storefront - WHAT WAS ON MY BOAT
Do you own or manage a business along the river? Do you want help getting people interested in your community? Embrace the future of tourism by offering Digital Audio Tours, an innovative and immersive solution that takes sightseeing to a whole new level. Learn more.
Connect with Kim and Paddle Sports Lifestyle:
Instagram: @PaddleSportsLifestyle / @kimberlylpeek
Kim's Amazon Storefront with links to favorite gear
Amazon Storefront - WHAT WAS ON MY BOAT
Paddle Sports Lifestyle website and blog
MR340: July 23-26, 2024 - https://mr340.org/
Buy Paddling Shirts and Gift Items at the Paddle Sports Lifestyle Store!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
Welcome to the Paddle Sports Lifestyle. I'm your host, Kim Peek.
In our first season, I took on the MR 340, a grueling
340 mile paddling race across the Missouri River. With
4 months of intense training, I pushed my limits and discovered what it
truly means to embrace the paddle sports lifestyle. Now as I
dive into season 2, it's time to shift gears and tackle the
(00:27):
burning question that have been on your mind. I'll leave no
stone unturned in my quest to equip you with the knowledge
and confidence to take on the MR 340 while we
uncover the stories behind this epic endurance race. Join me for a
journey filled with adventure, determination, and triumph.
(00:50):
Welcome. Welcome. Welcome to a new season of Paddle
Sports Lifestyle. I am so excited today to kick off this
new season with an interview with 2 of the big
names behind the m r three forty, Scott Mansker
and Steve Schnarr. We recorded this interview in February
of 2024, and I'm so grateful that these two guys
(01:13):
took time out of their busy schedules to have a chat with me.
Do you guys wanna just start out by telling me
we'll we'll start with Scott. Tell me who you
are and what your role is with the MR 340.
Okay. Well, I am Scott Masker and
I helped start the MR 340 back in 2,006.
(01:37):
And, it's evolved a whole bunch over the years.
And now it is in the capable hands of Missouri River Relief.
And I am a part of their team to
get the race done, mostly working on the
logistics and safety boat side of things. So that's kind of my
current role and I love it. Awesome. And we'll have
(02:00):
some follow-up questions on that here in a second. And,
Steve, tell us who you are and what your role is
with the race. Oh,
my name is Steve Schnarr. I'm the executive director
of Missouri River Relief, and we are a
non profit based in Columbia, Missouri. We've been around for
(02:22):
about 23 years and our mission is all about
connecting people to the Missouri river. So
we build programs, events, river
cleanups, education, and races, and
more to create really long lasting,
sometimes life changing experiences for people that help build
(02:45):
this community of folks that really get to know the
Missouri river and want to protect it and look out for it.
As far as the MR3, I've been involved since 2,008 as
a safety boat pilot and just kind of
helping Scott with things over the years and
that kind of grew over time. But it was, I
(03:08):
believe 2021 is the year that
Scott passed the race on over to Missouri River Relief. So
we took, took over leadership on the race and thank God that
he has continued to be involved as we lean on him
all the time and, and we're constantly calling
Scott or with questions as, as things pop up. Like how did
(03:30):
he do this again? Yeah. I bet. Scott, now when you first
started this race, what was your original intention? Well,
I mean, I, I loved the Missouri river. I had been
finding ways to get out on it, whether it was paddling or boating for
many, many years since probably 89, I guess.
And I was aware of these other ultra distance
(03:53):
canoe races that existed like the Texas water
safari. And I would read about the Texas waters for, I read
the rules and so on, look at the venue that that
was taking place on. And I thought, man, we have here
just such a great venue for a race like that. I
thought call point, it was the perfect place for a race to start.
(04:15):
I knew all these little towns with, the little
cafes and, boat ramps and parks. And I
just, thought this is the perfect venue for an ultra distance
race. Why is it there want to, and,
just shoot on that idea for, I mean,
at least 10 years of, of getting out a
(04:37):
yellow legal pad and just kind of sketching it out.
Like, what would this rates be like? What, where would you start? What would be
the conditions? How much time would you allow? And it would all just sit on
these legal pads. And I never did anything about it. And finally just
reached a point where I was like, you know what? I don't know anything about
putting on a race, but I'm just gonna
(04:58):
start putting the wheels in motion. And if I hit a brick
wall, then I'll stop there. So I just
started acting on those ideas. And before
we knew it, there was a permit and, a date
and, 15 people had signed up. And then it was like, Oh my gosh,
we gotta, we gotta try this. We gotta do it. So.
(05:21):
It was a decade of just thinking
this river is ripe for this kind of
participation. Why, when I go out there, why am I the only person out here
paddling? Why am I the only one that enjoys this
wilderness that's right in our backyard in the Kansas City areas where
I operate? So, yeah, it was just like, I gotta show
(05:42):
people what's out here. I gotta tap into this
energy that I know will exist out here. If we can just get people
to try it. I have an endurance sports
background, and one of my friends sent me the documentary.
And I saw the MR340 documentary, and I was
immediately, like, I have to do this. And then I started trying to find
(06:04):
friends who would do it. And, you talk about it being life
changing. I would say it has changed my life, and it's also changed
my perspective about all that Missouri
has to offer. I used to be like, why do I even live here?
But just seeing everything that I saw on
the river and as we trained, I mean, it really opened my
(06:27):
eyes to just how much more there is to appreciate in this
state. Definitely. So few people understand
that, but still kind of a secret. So I'm excited for
the documentary and those kinds of things that are getting the word out. Yeah.
Now, Steve, how does the MR340 play
into the goals of Missouri River Relief? How does
(06:50):
hosting this giant race help your
organization? Well, our, our mission is all is really about
we're we're known in in a lot of
circles as, a river cleanup organization, and we do
organize big river cleanups on the Missouri River.
And that is an important part of of what we do.
(07:13):
But we we also have a very robust
education program, especially kind of in the mid Missouri
area with students, but also reaching out to
teachers across the state of Missouri in particular.
The race has always been, I feel like
a perfect fit for our mission. And that's why we
(07:35):
just jumped on being involved as soon as we realized there was
an opportunity for us. Because we we have
boats that are really great for the Missouri River and they're good
safety boats, so that was kind of our our first
role. But then we would also do promotional
programs in different parts of the state to showcase
(07:58):
the race and what it brings to the state of Missouri and the attention that
it brings to the Missouri River. So we'd always kind of done that in
partnership with Scott. And, the, the,
the race is huge and Scott and his family has done an
amazing job managing it over the years and scaling
(08:19):
it to meet this increasing demand and
interest. But he, I guess he kind of felt like
it would benefit from being part of a larger organization
that might have some more resources to bring to the table.
And that that I think that is a a good role
for Missouri River Relief to play. But not only
(08:42):
are we really interested in in connecting individual people to the river
and and creating experiences for people to get to know
it better, We're really interested in connecting different
communities along the river to each other. I think the tendency of a
lot of books that may love the Missouri River and may
live in a small town or a big city along the river, most of us,
(09:04):
it's just our human nature. We tend to just think of it as the river
at the place we live, and that's the Missouri River. And it takes a little
bit of thinking and sort of breaking out of patterns to
start to see the connection between all of
these communities, towns, agricultural areas
that the river actually weaves through and connects. And then when you kind of look
(09:27):
back through history, it starts to connect you back
through time too. And, but because we do
these really hands on programs on the Missouri River,
we meet a lot of different people across the state And
through, like, our programs, they start to meet each other. And then the
3:40, it's it's just like it brings it
(09:50):
all together in one week. Like, all these people
that might come to a river cleanup
or an education program, one part of the state or the another, like, now
they're part of this thing that is statewide and they and
we have volunteers that help with the race that might start in
Kansas city and literally like they barely sleep either. And
(10:13):
they're following the race along the way, helping get all the boat ramps.
It's honestly just a perfect fit for our mission. And
it's also a fundraiser for for us as well. So that
provides a little cushion to our budget and some cash flow that really helps
us just be able to respond throughout the year to opportunities
and just it just sort of strengthens the whole the whole thing.
(10:36):
So that was another question that I had for you. I know it is a
fundraiser, and so that's a big way that the
individual paddlers and their crews and their families can help support
the organization. But are there other things that other
ways that you would like the people involved in the MR 340
to help support the mission of Missouri River Relief? Yeah. I
(10:59):
mean, there's a lot of things, I think. But basically, for
people to feel empowered to know
that the Missouri River is their river and they can
be, they can be boosters for the river. They,
they can be activists that pay attention to what's going on
politically, if that's what they're interested in. They,
(11:21):
can help introduce other people to the river. If they're teachers,
they can help sort of weave the story of the river
into what they're already teaching already and through
the 3:40 and and really just all the things that we do that that
bring us in contact with different people along the river.
That's rippled out and there are groups that
(11:44):
adopt the boat ramp in their community and make sure it's clean
and, and try to just kind of put the best foot forward
for their community in terms of, like, other people
that might utilize the river in their area and and trying to get to know
them or supporting people who might be paddling the whole
river for a year. All of those things build
(12:07):
community and connection and help broaden
that, the larger community of people that care about the river,
that want to share the river. In addition to that, we
always have paddlers with the race that they're just
like really good promoters or they're really good fundraisers. They've
got really good connections, and so they can help
(12:29):
help us make relationships with people that are interested in our mission, maybe
didn't even know we existed, but would be interested in supporting it.
All of those things kind of built too. Right. And I just think
that a race that I mean,
marathons are amazing. Some of these bike expeditions
are amazing, but there's just something about pushing off
(12:52):
from shore onto this river and literally crossing the state
with 700 people that you don't know, and
everyone is kind of depending on each other that really
it really catalyzes something. It it it kinda takes it to the next
notch when you're talking about that community building aspect of
things. I think that that is another really
(13:14):
amazing aspect and something that I was pleasantly surprised
by as a first time participant was just
people are not just in it for themselves. Like, they really
wanna be helpful. What do you think
contributes to that? What makes this community special in your eyes?
Well, I know Scott's gonna have some things to add on this.
(13:36):
I'll say a little bit. For one thing, there's something about rivers,
and if you if you love rivers and you spend time by
rivers, half the time you're thinking about, I wonder what's going on
upstream or, like, I don't know, where did that log come
from? Or the just sort of pondering, like, the
flow of the water and how it connects you to other people and things. And
(13:59):
I've I have a lot of friends who've done, like, long paddling expeditions on
the Missouri River and other rivers, and everyone talks about
this. Like, there's the credence, like, right, like or
is that actually, like, Tina Turner? I'm not sure who did that one
first, but people on the river are happy to give that line
from Proud Mary. That it is
(14:21):
just true. Right? Like and so people that are connected to rivers, I
think, understand sort of
we're all out here on our own, and we can all use a little help,
so there's that, but I also think that
it's built into the culture of the race because of Scott. And so
Scott and the other volunteers that
(14:45):
really helped build this race,
that that's part of them too. That's just who they are. Like, and
so it's been projected into the culture of the race.
We used to have this really wonderful computer
or web based forum that was
pre Facebook days where people could share
(15:07):
questions and answers and, and everyone had
these anonymous fake names. So
over time you'd start to realize, oh, that's that's so
and so. I'm gonna whatever their their tag was, but
but that it's like Scott just sort of, like,
crafted this thing for people and was like, go forth
(15:29):
and build community, help each other. And, like, that has just
been in the, it's just been built into the culture of the
race. I'm sure Scott has, has things to add
about that too. Well, Steve, I think you're right. Like those first
participants that 1st year, it was the enormity of
what we were taking on. No one had ever done it
(15:52):
before in the, in the context of a nonstop race. And,
and so those 15 first racers,
we shared that experience together and it was so vast
and we did help each other at every
turn because it was like, it was like a lunar landing.
And so they set the template as we gathered at the forum
(16:15):
afterwards, just to talk about that experience,
to process it with each other. And then that was
commingled with, the re the initial race
was a big success and got a lot of press. And so there were
already a bunch of new, people coming
into our forum within days of that race concluding
(16:37):
who wanted to do it year. And so
it wasn't this insular why I have this knowledge and I earned
it and now you have to go earn it. It was like, yes. Welcome. You
will love this experience. Thank you for joining. And so that, that
momentum happened from year 1. And, I was
a teacher for 27 years. I learned very early. Once you set the
(16:59):
culture of a classroom, you can maintain that culture as
new students come in. They will adapt to the culture that's
there. As long as you do a little maintenance on it now and then. And
so that culture was set at 18 years
ago and through a whole bunch of growth
and it has just continued. And when there are negative
(17:23):
personalities that come into the group, they just don't last long. I mean,
they're not, that's not reinforced with any positivity.
The group just sort of handles it itself. And, there are some
race communities that I've seen that are very
keeping of the knowledge of how to do that race and their
forums are no fun to be on, but ours are great. I
(17:45):
was just such a happy, welcoming, funny,
joyful group of people. And there is an
abundance of free resources out there,
whether it's the I'm blanking on his name, the m
r three forty guy that does the YouTube channel. Chris
Lutkea. There we go. Whether it's that or the people that
(18:09):
share the PDFs that the guides that they've created or the information
about their, just their race plans. It's amazing. All the just
free information that there is out there. So I love that. Now
last year, we had a very unusual race. I
hear this is not the norm. And,
Scott, maybe you were a little bit more busy than usual on
(18:31):
the safety boat. Well, it was certainly strange
because because of the strong headwinds and the
storms we had, we had the strong headwinds all day and then the
storms all night. And so the entire race
was backed up. Normally I'm at Miami all
night carrying boats up and down the ramp. I couldn't get out of
(18:53):
Waverly because there were just so many people stuck in Waverly.
And the Reaper, our pace boat had eliminated, I don't know,
50 boats at Waverly where a normal
year, she might eliminate 2 boats or some years,
0 boats. So those headwinds were just absolutely
brutal. And, yeah, the safety boats were
(19:16):
taxed. Our whole system of where to put them was all
upended because of the bell curve of racers was way behind. And
so we had safety boats stage downstream that weren't seeing any
significant number of paddlers. And then we had safety boats where they would normally
be. You had paddlers everywhere. Thankfully through the
efforts of Christina, our race director and
(19:38):
at the time and everybody else on the team, the racers were very well
prepared for, how do you handle situations out there?
How do you handle the stress of long days and difficult
nights and storms, and what's the best toughest way to proceed.
So we didn't really have a lot of insane
calls in the night to go help people. It, that seemed pretty
(20:00):
like pretty much like a normal year because the paddlers were
just educated and handled the situation very well.
But those first 50, 70 miles out of call
point, we did have a lot of racers pull out at various ramps that, we
just normally didn't see that, but they were just absolutely exhausted by the
conditions. That was crazy. This year was just unusual
(20:23):
anyway. But what do you tell people who are
afraid to do this race? Because we've, at least, I know
I, growing up, was taught I grew up in Omaha, and you're just taught the
Missouri River is dangerous. You don't get on the Missouri River. What
do you tell people to make them realize that if you take the
proper precautions, it's not I don't wanna say it's not dangerous,
(20:44):
but that you can go on the Missouri River with a kite. Well,
and Steve can address this as well. I mean, because he's a
great contact for people who wanna get on the river for the first time, all
he has been. You, you talk through, usually it's, it's
somebody reaching out to me via email who's just Googled paddling on the Missouri
river and they find my contact information. And so they'll
(21:06):
ask exactly that question. What do I need to get on the river? Do I
need a special permit? Do I need I have a lot of questions
and you just start answering those, but you, you stress the idea
that, want to be aware of the conditions of the
river. So you want to be able to show them the tools of how to
determine if it's at flood stage or not. You wanna be
(21:27):
aware of the weather. And you want to make sure you're either
with a paddler, an additional person, or that
somebody knows your plan so that you can have kind
of a float plan figured out. People are
also very, it's difficult still, unfortunately, somewhat
difficult to find the boat ramped. That's sort of a, a
(21:49):
trick for folks and to understand what kind of mileage is sensible for
a first time. But once you determine that the weather's good, the
river's good, you have the right equipment for it, meaning you have a,
personal flotation device, a PFD, and, a
boat that you would trust to be on a body of water
for an extended period of time, you have enough water
(22:13):
and food for such an endeavor, then there's no reason
not to do it. You you can explain to them things like how paddling and
current, especially landing your boat and current is different
than at a lake or something. You you would warn them about
fixed objects in the water that you want to make sure you
don't, get in the way of something like a bridge pier or a pile of
(22:36):
brush, anything like that. That's that's a risk.
But these are pretty simple things. And the thing I always end with when I
tell them to that is like, you're gonna get to that ramp, you're gonna be
face to face with the river, and it's going to look really fast and it's
going to look really scary, but once you're out on her,
it'll just feel like a lake and it's going to be, it's
(22:58):
going to feel very lake like, and it's going to be beautiful and
you're going to have opportunities to explore sandbars and little
creeks and things along the way, but it's gonna that first moment. Cause I remember
my first moment of being face to face with the river about to embark
on a long, long trip. Had never been that
close to it before. And it was pretty scary. I was pretty
(23:21):
intimidated as we were preparing to shove off. I was
trying to act like I wasn't, but I was a 20 year old kid and
I thought, Oh man, this is, I've bitten off more than I can chew.
But sure enough, once we were in it and floating after
2 or 3 hours, you just kind of forget that you're even on a river.
I mean, it's just, you're so engaged with the
(23:42):
experience of it, that the fear is gone. So, and I
think too, another cool thing about the 3:40
existing is that there's been all these other
events now that are paneling related that happened on the Missouri
river. So it's super easy just to tell somebody, Hey, there's,
there's a group of people doing a training paddle. Just get on the
(24:05):
Facebook group and, and you can latch onto a group of 5 or 6 boats
that are going to go out there for the first time. They're leaving Call Point
Saturday morning, just join them. There's smaller
shorter races that occur during the race season. There's 1,
I don't know, couple of months, really all the way to the 3:40.
Go sign up and jump in and be in a kind of
(24:25):
a escorted first try at the Missouri river,
surrounded by people that can help you out. So it's
not, you're not going in, blind and alone. It's like,
there's all sorts of opportunities and, and Riverleaf has events,
paddling groups in Kansas city area that are
very welcoming. And so it's never been easier to
(24:49):
experience your first time on the Missouri river than it is now. What would
you say is your biggest tip for somebody
who is training? Let's say for a newbie first,
somebody who this is their 1st year, what's your biggest training tip? What should they
do? I would say find, find your tribe. I would,
I would, this is a conversation I've had many times. So I would say, the
(25:11):
Percher Creek gut buster is coming up April. I don't know,
13 or something like that. I don't have it in front of me, but go
to that in mid Missouri, race 12 miles on
Perchey Creek, the round trip race. You don't have to worry about shuttling or anything.
You're gonna meet a bunch of 3 40 folks. You're gonna see the kind of
boats and rigging that are familiar to the MR 3
(25:31):
40, connect with that group. And, and then look at
the calendar of races that are coming up and set your goal. I try to
do some of those early spring and early summer
races on the Missouri, get on our Facebook group
and just absorb that, get to know
some people, get to know the culture, look for opportunities
(25:53):
where, as frequently someone's just posting, Hey, we're doing a, doing a
training around anybody who want to show up, we'll be there at 7 am, jump
in on those. You don't have to, and it's probably not
advisable to go from absolute newbie to
super slick, fast, pink seller, stepping stone
boats are the way to go. Start with what you have, try it
(26:16):
out, see if it works. There's always used
gear for sale on our forum. There's great sponsors like
John McCoy. You mentioned that definitely can help
somebody choose the right boat for the goals they have.
So, but mostly, I mean, just get ready to have
fun. I mean, the, the coolest compliment
(26:39):
that I think the race gets, one of them
is that people say, I think about this race all
year long. Like I'm sitting at work
and I'm sketching out my checkpoints that I want to
stop or skip and the paddle stops I want to stop or skip and where
I want to be night 1, night 2. And so it's kind of that
(27:02):
people, a healthy obsession that people have about the Missouri
river, that just supports their
daydreams all year round and,
and their families, their ground crew, everybody. I mean, everybody gets into it.
So that's cool. I mean, people are
thinking about this river and how to enjoy it and
(27:25):
recreate on it. And so then by default, they're also
thinking about, they see an article in the
news site or something about something that puts the
river in jeopardy, whether it's pipeline issue
or a sewage spill, or you name it, they
are instant advocates for the river
(27:47):
and the river needs all the advocates it can get.
So I don't even remember what your question was, and I'm sorry. I couldn't read
this all. Oh, no. It was all great though. Steve, did that spark any thoughts
for you that you anything you wanna add? I mean,
the, the one thing that I would say for folks training for the
race, especially if this is their first one, is like
(28:09):
start now. It is important to know, and I have no
idea when this podcast will actually be launched,
go to air, but right now we're still in
February and the temperature of the river is very cold.
It's 45 degrees. And that, if you fall into
the river in those temperatures, it it can very
(28:31):
quickly deteriorate into some pretty severe hypothermia and and
people can have body bodily reactions
to hitting the water that that that cold where all of a sudden
your your mind doesn't work as well, just like right off the bat. We have
trouble breathing, those kinds of things. So, like, it is important if you do
start training now that you're properly prepared
(28:53):
for those water temperatures and that you are not alone. Eventually,
as people gain comfort with the Missouri River and an
understanding for it and the humility around it, people may
go training and paddling on their own, and they know what they're
doing. That's relatively safe. They've let people know what they're doing.
But if you're starting out, you absolutely need to do this with other
(29:15):
people. And while getting on the river and getting
experience on the river is super, super important, and if you have
the opportunity before the race, you really should do it. See a few
different places on the river. You can train, like Scott mentioned,
in lakes and reservoirs all over the area, wherever you live.
And there are these local groups that do yearly sprint
(29:38):
races or training paddles. Like, tapping into that community is
super important. But the other thing I would say is, like, not to
wait until it gets close to the race to,
like, fine tune your systems and figure out, like,
what technology do you actually want on your boat? What's too
much? How does it work out there? How are you gonna mount
(30:00):
it? Are you gonna do a rudder? Like, get that
dialed in, make sure you test all those things beforehand.
All of those things are going to make you more comfortable. Figure out where that
sore spot on your butt is gonna be. Try to deal with it. All of
those things will help you have a much more pleasant
experience on the river during the race. Not too
(30:22):
pleasant though. There's so much information
on on the three forty website and
maps, other things online that you can plot out some
training as you're getting some experience under your belt where you're just in a safer
situation, got some safety valves.
That makes sense. Okay. Another big question I have is when you pull up the
(30:44):
roster and you look at who all is registered for this
year or even last year, you see that it's very
male dominated. What do you think it will
take to get more women to
do this as either as part of a group or
a tandem or as solo paddlers? Well, I'll say
(31:06):
that the, the number, the percentage of women
participating has gone up and up and up and up. So
I remember when we were just blown away when we had 20 women's solos for
the first time, and now it's just way past that. I
always joke that the reason we have so many more men's solos than
women's solos is because women are so much smarter.
(31:30):
I mean, I really think a lot of these guys
sign up with just, well, I can do it. And they're not
super prepared. Whereas women tend to be more
methodical in their process of like, okay, this is a task I'm
interested in. I will research it. I will network. I will do
my due diligence before I sign up. And so I
(31:53):
think that's one reason, but I really do think
that it's the trend is super positive.
I mean, and, and women like you with large networks are
able to influence that and, and be a
resource for women who are, curious about
joining up. So, but
(32:15):
yeah, I, I really think it's less a reflection
of women not knowing about it and more
a reflection of men just being overconfident
and quick to jump into something that maybe
they should do a little more research on. But it's just an
observation. Yeah. I mean, I think that at least some of the
(32:38):
key lies in women who
have done the race or been involved in some aspect of the
race, like sharing the word. Like, this is doable.
You can do this. People do this. Obviously, some of
the the best paddlers in all the divisions in this
race have been women from the very beginning. So
(33:00):
that, that the roots are there and
it, it keeps getting better and it will keep getting
better. Yeah. That's a good point, Steve. I mean, in this,
in this kind of event, the distance
is such an equalizer of gender.
I mean, routinely, we have women who beat
(33:24):
the majority of the men's solo roster.
And just year after year after year. And in 1 year we had a 5
woman team. They were the 1st boat across the state. They
beat everybody. Similarly, it's a great
equalizer of, of the size of the boat. Like
the right paddler in the 14 foot boat is going to do really well.
(33:46):
A ill prepared paddler in a 21 foot,
$6,000 boat isn't gonna do very well. So, it
unlike a sprint, unlike a 100 yard dash, just the
sheer distance just turns it into, like, who's
got the mental capacity and the planning and
everything to pull this off best? I like that part of the race
(34:08):
too. To me, that was my one of my favorite parts last year was, like,
you are not going to out mental
toughness me. I mean, like Okay. I had that part
dialed in and so when people would come at me,
well, do you know how far that is? I'd be like,
yeah. Do you know me?
(34:30):
Right. Yeah. Right. I mean, I think the documentary that that
helped inspire you, there's a really accomplished,
female paddler featured in that Lauren Rodriguez.
And I mean, I think having them feature her,
I mean, I just love that she was such a prominent part of that.
And it just showed a lot of, of women
(34:54):
that this is absolutely accessible. I mean, she
works really hard to do it, but she's not and never has been an
Olympian or anything. So, yeah, I think she's an
inspiration for sure. One of my first times paddling
out at Longview Lake, Garen, who
is also in the documentary, came up and just
(35:16):
started chit chatting and talking to our group. But I was like, to me, that
just reinforced how friendly the community
was. Somebody who doesn't even know me, who's like
a big enough superstar that everybody knows his name. You come to find
out when you get there, everybody knows who Garin is. And, you know, that that
he was like, it was not beneath him to come talk
(35:39):
to somebody who didn't know a thing. I mean, that just really impressed me too
right from the very beginning. Yeah. That's pretty cool. And he's, he's
a great ambassador for the sport for sure. Yeah. And I mean, I
think back to the 1st year we had 15 paddlers
and I mean, I can think 5 of the
15 were women. So right from the gun, we had
(36:02):
a pretty good representation of, just
adventure, seeking well prepared individuals who are
ready for the challenge. Yeah. Yeah. So any other final
thoughts about the race or Missouri River Relief? Anything that
you'd like to leave people with? Well, I'll, I'll start by
saying River Relief is an inspiring organization.
(36:23):
And if you're watching this and maybe
you're not, maybe you're not cut out to be a racer. You don't want to
be a racer. There are so many other ways to be involved with the river
as a volunteer or participating in a cleanup or, helping with the
race in another capacity outside of racing. You
will never regret attending a river relief event
(36:46):
and connecting with those good souls there. I'm talking about their
staff and crew, but also just the kind of people
that come to those events. Hock about a welcoming community.
So, some of the finest people I know I've met through
Missouri river relief events. And so I just
really encourage you to take the leap and get out there.
(37:08):
And this river does not belong to the navigation
industry, the barge industry. It does not belong, to anybody,
but the citizens and the people that live
here and want to access this river. You should never feel
like there, there are any barriers to your enjoyment of the Missouri
river. Yeah. To kind of follow that up and, and bring it back to the
(37:30):
race to like, like you said earlier, Scott, you don't
need a special permit to enjoy the Missouri River. It's our
river and and you and you don't have to be an
Olympian to finish the MR 3 40
in time. We've seen people of all, all
abilities and terrible boat shapes or whatever,
(37:52):
all the things. And it comes down to that
heart, that mental toughness that you talked about in
and community together, you know, so it comes down to
each individual, bringing everything that they got the
community helping each other, but anyone can do this
and you just take it one step at a time, build that comfort level,
(38:14):
find your people, find your community, get out there,
try it, do some of these practice races. The
Midwest paddle racing races are just, you know, epic.
The there's just so many great paddlers involved in
those events that you can learn from. Other times of the year, the race for
the rivers, race to the dome. Those are those are how you meet
(38:37):
people. You learn. You get out there and try this,
and, and then you'll surprise yourself by paddling into St. Charles.
But by then it won't be a surprise. You, you will know that you're going
to make it. And, and then you're gonna buy a bigger
boat and you're gonna come back. We
talked to John McCoy again. We got to send more friends
(39:00):
to do it with you. Yeah. Yeah.
Well, I really appreciate the 2 of you coming on and talking to me today.
This was really great. Thanks for asking. Yeah. We really appreciate it. And
we appreciate you sharing your personal story with with
folks. It's important for people to know that
experiences like this are open open to all.
(39:22):
And by hearing your path and your stories,
and now you're digging into some of the other stories out there, it just sort
of helps helps open that up to everyone. I appreciate you
putting the effort into it.
Thank you for listening, my friend. I know that within you lies a
(39:43):
spirit of adventure, a hunger for new experiences,
and a thirst for life that's anything but ordinary. It's
time to unleash that inner explorer to let go of any doubts or
hesitations and take that leap of faith. Do me a
favor. Connect with Paddle Sports Lifestyle on Instagram. Share this
podcast with a friend. Visit the Petalsports Lifestyle store
(40:05):
on Etsy, and let's make plans for an epic meetup on
the water.
Welcome to the Paddle Sports Lifestyle. I'm your host, Kim Peek.
In our first season, I took on the MR 340, a grueling
340 mile paddling race across the Missouri River. With
4 months of intense training, I pushed my limits and discovered what it
truly means to embrace the paddle sports lifestyle. Now as I
dive into season 2, it's time to shift gears and tackle the
(00:27):
burning question that have been on your mind. I'll leave no
stone unturned in my quest to equip you with the knowledge
and confidence to take on the MR 340 while we
uncover the stories behind this epic endurance race. Join me for a
journey filled with adventure, determination, and triumph.
(00:50):
Welcome. Welcome. Welcome to a new season of Paddle
Sports Lifestyle. I am so excited today to kick off this
new season with an interview with 2 of the big
names behind the m r three forty, Scott Mansker
and Steve Schnarr. We recorded this interview in February
of 2024, and I'm so grateful that these two guys
(01:13):
took time out of their busy schedules to have a chat with me.
Do you guys wanna just start out by telling me
we'll we'll start with Scott. Tell me who you
are and what your role is with the MR 340.
Okay. Well, I am Scott Masker and
I helped start the MR 340 back in 2,006.
(01:37):
And, it's evolved a whole bunch over the years.
And now it is in the capable hands of Missouri River Relief.
And I am a part of their team to
get the race done, mostly working on the
logistics and safety boat side of things. So that's kind of my
current role and I love it. Awesome. And we'll have
(02:00):
some follow-up questions on that here in a second. And,
Steve, tell us who you are and what your role is
with the race. Oh,
my name is Steve Schnarr. I'm the executive director
of Missouri River Relief, and we are a
non profit based in Columbia, Missouri. We've been around for
(02:22):
about 23 years and our mission is all about
connecting people to the Missouri river. So
we build programs, events, river
cleanups, education, and races, and
more to create really long lasting,
sometimes life changing experiences for people that help build
(02:45):
this community of folks that really get to know the
Missouri river and want to protect it and look out for it.
As far as the MR3, I've been involved since 2,008 as
a safety boat pilot and just kind of
helping Scott with things over the years and
that kind of grew over time. But it was, I
(03:08):
believe 2021 is the year that
Scott passed the race on over to Missouri River Relief. So
we took, took over leadership on the race and thank God that
he has continued to be involved as we lean on him
all the time and, and we're constantly calling
Scott or with questions as, as things pop up. Like how did
(03:30):
he do this again? Yeah. I bet. Scott, now when you first
started this race, what was your original intention? Well,
I mean, I, I loved the Missouri river. I had been
finding ways to get out on it, whether it was paddling or boating for
many, many years since probably 89, I guess.
And I was aware of these other ultra distance
(03:53):
canoe races that existed like the Texas water
safari. And I would read about the Texas waters for, I read
the rules and so on, look at the venue that that
was taking place on. And I thought, man, we have here
just such a great venue for a race like that. I
thought call point, it was the perfect place for a race to start.
(04:15):
I knew all these little towns with, the little
cafes and, boat ramps and parks. And I
just, thought this is the perfect venue for an ultra distance
race. Why is it there want to, and,
just shoot on that idea for, I mean,
at least 10 years of, of getting out a
(04:37):
yellow legal pad and just kind of sketching it out.
Like, what would this rates be like? What, where would you start? What would be
the conditions? How much time would you allow? And it would all just sit on
these legal pads. And I never did anything about it. And finally just
reached a point where I was like, you know what? I don't know anything about
putting on a race, but I'm just gonna
(04:58):
start putting the wheels in motion. And if I hit a brick
wall, then I'll stop there. So I just
started acting on those ideas. And before
we knew it, there was a permit and, a date
and, 15 people had signed up. And then it was like, Oh my gosh,
we gotta, we gotta try this. We gotta do it. So.
(05:21):
It was a decade of just thinking
this river is ripe for this kind of
participation. Why, when I go out there, why am I the only person out here
paddling? Why am I the only one that enjoys this
wilderness that's right in our backyard in the Kansas City areas where
I operate? So, yeah, it was just like, I gotta show
(05:42):
people what's out here. I gotta tap into this
energy that I know will exist out here. If we can just get people
to try it. I have an endurance sports
background, and one of my friends sent me the documentary.
And I saw the MR340 documentary, and I was
immediately, like, I have to do this. And then I started trying to find
(06:04):
friends who would do it. And, you talk about it being life
changing. I would say it has changed my life, and it's also changed
my perspective about all that Missouri
has to offer. I used to be like, why do I even live here?
But just seeing everything that I saw on
the river and as we trained, I mean, it really opened my
(06:27):
eyes to just how much more there is to appreciate in this
state. Definitely. So few people understand
that, but still kind of a secret. So I'm excited for
the documentary and those kinds of things that are getting the word out. Yeah.
Now, Steve, how does the MR340 play
into the goals of Missouri River Relief? How does
(06:50):
hosting this giant race help your
organization? Well, our, our mission is all is really about
we're we're known in in a lot of
circles as, a river cleanup organization, and we do
organize big river cleanups on the Missouri River.
And that is an important part of of what we do.
(07:13):
But we we also have a very robust
education program, especially kind of in the mid Missouri
area with students, but also reaching out to
teachers across the state of Missouri in particular.
The race has always been, I feel like
a perfect fit for our mission. And that's why we
(07:35):
just jumped on being involved as soon as we realized there was
an opportunity for us. Because we we have
boats that are really great for the Missouri River and they're good
safety boats, so that was kind of our our first
role. But then we would also do promotional
programs in different parts of the state to showcase
(07:58):
the race and what it brings to the state of Missouri and the attention that
it brings to the Missouri River. So we'd always kind of done that in
partnership with Scott. And, the, the,
the race is huge and Scott and his family has done an
amazing job managing it over the years and scaling
(08:19):
it to meet this increasing demand and
interest. But he, I guess he kind of felt like
it would benefit from being part of a larger organization
that might have some more resources to bring to the table.
And that that I think that is a a good role
for Missouri River Relief to play. But not only
(08:42):
are we really interested in in connecting individual people to the river
and and creating experiences for people to get to know
it better, We're really interested in connecting different
communities along the river to each other. I think the tendency of a
lot of books that may love the Missouri River and may
live in a small town or a big city along the river, most of us,
(09:04):
it's just our human nature. We tend to just think of it as the river
at the place we live, and that's the Missouri River. And it takes a little
bit of thinking and sort of breaking out of patterns to
start to see the connection between all of
these communities, towns, agricultural areas
that the river actually weaves through and connects. And then when you kind of look
(09:27):
back through history, it starts to connect you back
through time too. And, but because we do
these really hands on programs on the Missouri River,
we meet a lot of different people across the state And
through, like, our programs, they start to meet each other. And then the
3:40, it's it's just like it brings it
(09:50):
all together in one week. Like, all these people
that might come to a river cleanup
or an education program, one part of the state or the another, like, now
they're part of this thing that is statewide and they and
we have volunteers that help with the race that might start in
Kansas city and literally like they barely sleep either. And
(10:13):
they're following the race along the way, helping get all the boat ramps.
It's honestly just a perfect fit for our mission. And
it's also a fundraiser for for us as well. So that
provides a little cushion to our budget and some cash flow that really helps
us just be able to respond throughout the year to opportunities
and just it just sort of strengthens the whole the whole thing.
(10:36):
So that was another question that I had for you. I know it is a
fundraiser, and so that's a big way that the
individual paddlers and their crews and their families can help support
the organization. But are there other things that other
ways that you would like the people involved in the MR 340
to help support the mission of Missouri River Relief? Yeah. I
(10:59):
mean, there's a lot of things, I think. But basically, for
people to feel empowered to know
that the Missouri River is their river and they can
be, they can be boosters for the river. They,
they can be activists that pay attention to what's going on
politically, if that's what they're interested in. They,
(11:21):
can help introduce other people to the river. If they're teachers,
they can help sort of weave the story of the river
into what they're already teaching already and through
the 3:40 and and really just all the things that we do that that
bring us in contact with different people along the river.
That's rippled out and there are groups that
(11:44):
adopt the boat ramp in their community and make sure it's clean
and, and try to just kind of put the best foot forward
for their community in terms of, like, other people
that might utilize the river in their area and and trying to get to know
them or supporting people who might be paddling the whole
river for a year. All of those things build
(12:07):
community and connection and help broaden
that, the larger community of people that care about the river,
that want to share the river. In addition to that, we
always have paddlers with the race that they're just
like really good promoters or they're really good fundraisers. They've
got really good connections, and so they can help
(12:29):
help us make relationships with people that are interested in our mission, maybe
didn't even know we existed, but would be interested in supporting it.
All of those things kind of built too. Right. And I just think
that a race that I mean,
marathons are amazing. Some of these bike expeditions
are amazing, but there's just something about pushing off
(12:52):
from shore onto this river and literally crossing the state
with 700 people that you don't know, and
everyone is kind of depending on each other that really
it really catalyzes something. It it it kinda takes it to the next
notch when you're talking about that community building aspect of
things. I think that that is another really
(13:14):
amazing aspect and something that I was pleasantly surprised
by as a first time participant was just
people are not just in it for themselves. Like, they really
wanna be helpful. What do you think
contributes to that? What makes this community special in your eyes?
Well, I know Scott's gonna have some things to add on this.
(13:36):
I'll say a little bit. For one thing, there's something about rivers,
and if you if you love rivers and you spend time by
rivers, half the time you're thinking about, I wonder what's going on
upstream or, like, I don't know, where did that log come
from? Or the just sort of pondering, like, the
flow of the water and how it connects you to other people and things. And
(13:59):
I've I have a lot of friends who've done, like, long paddling expeditions on
the Missouri River and other rivers, and everyone talks about
this. Like, there's the credence, like, right, like or
is that actually, like, Tina Turner? I'm not sure who did that one
first, but people on the river are happy to give that line
from Proud Mary. That it is
(14:21):
just true. Right? Like and so people that are connected to rivers, I
think, understand sort of
we're all out here on our own, and we can all use a little help,
so there's that, but I also think that
it's built into the culture of the race because of Scott. And so
Scott and the other volunteers that
(14:45):
really helped build this race,
that that's part of them too. That's just who they are. Like, and
so it's been projected into the culture of the race.
We used to have this really wonderful computer
or web based forum that was
pre Facebook days where people could share
(15:07):
questions and answers and, and everyone had
these anonymous fake names. So
over time you'd start to realize, oh, that's that's so
and so. I'm gonna whatever their their tag was, but
but that it's like Scott just sort of, like,
crafted this thing for people and was like, go forth
(15:29):
and build community, help each other. And, like, that has just
been in the, it's just been built into the culture of the
race. I'm sure Scott has, has things to add
about that too. Well, Steve, I think you're right. Like those first
participants that 1st year, it was the enormity of
what we were taking on. No one had ever done it
(15:52):
before in the, in the context of a nonstop race. And,
and so those 15 first racers,
we shared that experience together and it was so vast
and we did help each other at every
turn because it was like, it was like a lunar landing.
And so they set the template as we gathered at the forum
(16:15):
afterwards, just to talk about that experience,
to process it with each other. And then that was
commingled with, the re the initial race
was a big success and got a lot of press. And so there were
already a bunch of new, people coming
into our forum within days of that race concluding
(16:37):
who wanted to do it year. And so
it wasn't this insular why I have this knowledge and I earned
it and now you have to go earn it. It was like, yes. Welcome. You
will love this experience. Thank you for joining. And so that, that
momentum happened from year 1. And, I was
a teacher for 27 years. I learned very early. Once you set the
(16:59):
culture of a classroom, you can maintain that culture as
new students come in. They will adapt to the culture that's
there. As long as you do a little maintenance on it now and then. And
so that culture was set at 18 years
ago and through a whole bunch of growth
and it has just continued. And when there are negative
(17:23):
personalities that come into the group, they just don't last long. I mean,
they're not, that's not reinforced with any positivity.
The group just sort of handles it itself. And, there are some
race communities that I've seen that are very
keeping of the knowledge of how to do that race and their
forums are no fun to be on, but ours are great. I
(17:45):
was just such a happy, welcoming, funny,
joyful group of people. And there is an
abundance of free resources out there,
whether it's the I'm blanking on his name, the m
r three forty guy that does the YouTube channel. Chris
Lutkea. There we go. Whether it's that or the people that
(18:09):
share the PDFs that the guides that they've created or the information
about their, just their race plans. It's amazing. All the just
free information that there is out there. So I love that. Now
last year, we had a very unusual race. I
hear this is not the norm. And,
Scott, maybe you were a little bit more busy than usual on
(18:31):
the safety boat. Well, it was certainly strange
because because of the strong headwinds and the
storms we had, we had the strong headwinds all day and then the
storms all night. And so the entire race
was backed up. Normally I'm at Miami all
night carrying boats up and down the ramp. I couldn't get out of
(18:53):
Waverly because there were just so many people stuck in Waverly.
And the Reaper, our pace boat had eliminated, I don't know,
50 boats at Waverly where a normal
year, she might eliminate 2 boats or some years,
0 boats. So those headwinds were just absolutely
brutal. And, yeah, the safety boats were
(19:16):
taxed. Our whole system of where to put them was all
upended because of the bell curve of racers was way behind. And
so we had safety boats stage downstream that weren't seeing any
significant number of paddlers. And then we had safety boats where they would normally
be. You had paddlers everywhere. Thankfully through the
efforts of Christina, our race director and
(19:38):
at the time and everybody else on the team, the racers were very well
prepared for, how do you handle situations out there?
How do you handle the stress of long days and difficult
nights and storms, and what's the best toughest way to proceed.
So we didn't really have a lot of insane
calls in the night to go help people. It, that seemed pretty
(20:00):
like pretty much like a normal year because the paddlers were
just educated and handled the situation very well.
But those first 50, 70 miles out of call
point, we did have a lot of racers pull out at various ramps that, we
just normally didn't see that, but they were just absolutely exhausted by the
conditions. That was crazy. This year was just unusual
(20:23):
anyway. But what do you tell people who are
afraid to do this race? Because we've, at least, I know
I, growing up, was taught I grew up in Omaha, and you're just taught the
Missouri River is dangerous. You don't get on the Missouri River. What
do you tell people to make them realize that if you take the
proper precautions, it's not I don't wanna say it's not dangerous,
(20:44):
but that you can go on the Missouri River with a kite. Well,
and Steve can address this as well. I mean, because he's a
great contact for people who wanna get on the river for the first time, all
he has been. You, you talk through, usually it's, it's
somebody reaching out to me via email who's just Googled paddling on the Missouri
river and they find my contact information. And so they'll
(21:06):
ask exactly that question. What do I need to get on the river? Do I
need a special permit? Do I need I have a lot of questions
and you just start answering those, but you, you stress the idea
that, want to be aware of the conditions of the
river. So you want to be able to show them the tools of how to
determine if it's at flood stage or not. You wanna be
(21:27):
aware of the weather. And you want to make sure you're either
with a paddler, an additional person, or that
somebody knows your plan so that you can have kind
of a float plan figured out. People are
also very, it's difficult still, unfortunately, somewhat
difficult to find the boat ramped. That's sort of a, a
(21:49):
trick for folks and to understand what kind of mileage is sensible for
a first time. But once you determine that the weather's good, the
river's good, you have the right equipment for it, meaning you have a,
personal flotation device, a PFD, and, a
boat that you would trust to be on a body of water
for an extended period of time, you have enough water
(22:13):
and food for such an endeavor, then there's no reason
not to do it. You you can explain to them things like how paddling and
current, especially landing your boat and current is different
than at a lake or something. You you would warn them about
fixed objects in the water that you want to make sure you
don't, get in the way of something like a bridge pier or a pile of
(22:36):
brush, anything like that. That's that's a risk.
But these are pretty simple things. And the thing I always end with when I
tell them to that is like, you're gonna get to that ramp, you're gonna be
face to face with the river, and it's going to look really fast and it's
going to look really scary, but once you're out on her,
it'll just feel like a lake and it's going to be, it's
(22:58):
going to feel very lake like, and it's going to be beautiful and
you're going to have opportunities to explore sandbars and little
creeks and things along the way, but it's gonna that first moment. Cause I remember
my first moment of being face to face with the river about to embark
on a long, long trip. Had never been that
close to it before. And it was pretty scary. I was pretty
(23:21):
intimidated as we were preparing to shove off. I was
trying to act like I wasn't, but I was a 20 year old kid and
I thought, Oh man, this is, I've bitten off more than I can chew.
But sure enough, once we were in it and floating after
2 or 3 hours, you just kind of forget that you're even on a river.
I mean, it's just, you're so engaged with the
(23:42):
experience of it, that the fear is gone. So, and I
think too, another cool thing about the 3:40
existing is that there's been all these other
events now that are paneling related that happened on the Missouri
river. So it's super easy just to tell somebody, Hey, there's,
there's a group of people doing a training paddle. Just get on the
(24:05):
Facebook group and, and you can latch onto a group of 5 or 6 boats
that are going to go out there for the first time. They're leaving Call Point
Saturday morning, just join them. There's smaller
shorter races that occur during the race season. There's 1,
I don't know, couple of months, really all the way to the 3:40.
Go sign up and jump in and be in a kind of
(24:25):
a escorted first try at the Missouri river,
surrounded by people that can help you out. So it's
not, you're not going in, blind and alone. It's like,
there's all sorts of opportunities and, and Riverleaf has events,
paddling groups in Kansas city area that are
very welcoming. And so it's never been easier to
(24:49):
experience your first time on the Missouri river than it is now. What would
you say is your biggest tip for somebody
who is training? Let's say for a newbie first,
somebody who this is their 1st year, what's your biggest training tip? What should they
do? I would say find, find your tribe. I would,
I would, this is a conversation I've had many times. So I would say, the
(25:11):
Percher Creek gut buster is coming up April. I don't know,
13 or something like that. I don't have it in front of me, but go
to that in mid Missouri, race 12 miles on
Perchey Creek, the round trip race. You don't have to worry about shuttling or anything.
You're gonna meet a bunch of 3 40 folks. You're gonna see the kind of
boats and rigging that are familiar to the MR 3
(25:31):
40, connect with that group. And, and then look at
the calendar of races that are coming up and set your goal. I try to
do some of those early spring and early summer
races on the Missouri, get on our Facebook group
and just absorb that, get to know
some people, get to know the culture, look for opportunities
(25:53):
where, as frequently someone's just posting, Hey, we're doing a, doing a
training around anybody who want to show up, we'll be there at 7 am, jump
in on those. You don't have to, and it's probably not
advisable to go from absolute newbie to
super slick, fast, pink seller, stepping stone
boats are the way to go. Start with what you have, try it
(26:16):
out, see if it works. There's always used
gear for sale on our forum. There's great sponsors like
John McCoy. You mentioned that definitely can help
somebody choose the right boat for the goals they have.
So, but mostly, I mean, just get ready to have
fun. I mean, the, the coolest compliment
(26:39):
that I think the race gets, one of them
is that people say, I think about this race all
year long. Like I'm sitting at work
and I'm sketching out my checkpoints that I want to
stop or skip and the paddle stops I want to stop or skip and where
I want to be night 1, night 2. And so it's kind of that
(27:02):
people, a healthy obsession that people have about the Missouri
river, that just supports their
daydreams all year round and,
and their families, their ground crew, everybody. I mean, everybody gets into it.
So that's cool. I mean, people are
thinking about this river and how to enjoy it and
(27:25):
recreate on it. And so then by default, they're also
thinking about, they see an article in the
news site or something about something that puts the
river in jeopardy, whether it's pipeline issue
or a sewage spill, or you name it, they
are instant advocates for the river
(27:47):
and the river needs all the advocates it can get.
So I don't even remember what your question was, and I'm sorry. I couldn't read
this all. Oh, no. It was all great though. Steve, did that spark any thoughts
for you that you anything you wanna add? I mean,
the, the one thing that I would say for folks training for the
race, especially if this is their first one, is like
(28:09):
start now. It is important to know, and I have no
idea when this podcast will actually be launched,
go to air, but right now we're still in
February and the temperature of the river is very cold.
It's 45 degrees. And that, if you fall into
the river in those temperatures, it it can very
(28:31):
quickly deteriorate into some pretty severe hypothermia and and
people can have body bodily reactions
to hitting the water that that that cold where all of a sudden
your your mind doesn't work as well, just like right off the bat. We have
trouble breathing, those kinds of things. So, like, it is important if you do
start training now that you're properly prepared
(28:53):
for those water temperatures and that you are not alone. Eventually,
as people gain comfort with the Missouri River and an
understanding for it and the humility around it, people may
go training and paddling on their own, and they know what they're
doing. That's relatively safe. They've let people know what they're doing.
But if you're starting out, you absolutely need to do this with other
(29:15):
people. And while getting on the river and getting
experience on the river is super, super important, and if you have
the opportunity before the race, you really should do it. See a few
different places on the river. You can train, like Scott mentioned,
in lakes and reservoirs all over the area, wherever you live.
And there are these local groups that do yearly sprint
(29:38):
races or training paddles. Like, tapping into that community is
super important. But the other thing I would say is, like, not to
wait until it gets close to the race to,
like, fine tune your systems and figure out, like,
what technology do you actually want on your boat? What's too
much? How does it work out there? How are you gonna mount
(30:00):
it? Are you gonna do a rudder? Like, get that
dialed in, make sure you test all those things beforehand.
All of those things are going to make you more comfortable. Figure out where that
sore spot on your butt is gonna be. Try to deal with it. All of
those things will help you have a much more pleasant
experience on the river during the race. Not too
(30:22):
pleasant though. There's so much information
on on the three forty website and
maps, other things online that you can plot out some
training as you're getting some experience under your belt where you're just in a safer
situation, got some safety valves.
That makes sense. Okay. Another big question I have is when you pull up the
(30:44):
roster and you look at who all is registered for this
year or even last year, you see that it's very
male dominated. What do you think it will
take to get more women to
do this as either as part of a group or
a tandem or as solo paddlers? Well, I'll say
(31:06):
that the, the number, the percentage of women
participating has gone up and up and up and up. So
I remember when we were just blown away when we had 20 women's solos for
the first time, and now it's just way past that. I
always joke that the reason we have so many more men's solos than
women's solos is because women are so much smarter.
(31:30):
I mean, I really think a lot of these guys
sign up with just, well, I can do it. And they're not
super prepared. Whereas women tend to be more
methodical in their process of like, okay, this is a task I'm
interested in. I will research it. I will network. I will do
my due diligence before I sign up. And so I
(31:53):
think that's one reason, but I really do think
that it's the trend is super positive.
I mean, and, and women like you with large networks are
able to influence that and, and be a
resource for women who are, curious about
joining up. So, but
(32:15):
yeah, I, I really think it's less a reflection
of women not knowing about it and more
a reflection of men just being overconfident
and quick to jump into something that maybe
they should do a little more research on. But it's just an
observation. Yeah. I mean, I think that at least some of the
(32:38):
key lies in women who
have done the race or been involved in some aspect of the
race, like sharing the word. Like, this is doable.
You can do this. People do this. Obviously, some of
the the best paddlers in all the divisions in this
race have been women from the very beginning. So
(33:00):
that, that the roots are there and
it, it keeps getting better and it will keep getting
better. Yeah. That's a good point, Steve. I mean, in this,
in this kind of event, the distance
is such an equalizer of gender.
I mean, routinely, we have women who beat
(33:24):
the majority of the men's solo roster.
And just year after year after year. And in 1 year we had a 5
woman team. They were the 1st boat across the state. They
beat everybody. Similarly, it's a great
equalizer of, of the size of the boat. Like
the right paddler in the 14 foot boat is going to do really well.
(33:46):
A ill prepared paddler in a 21 foot,
$6,000 boat isn't gonna do very well. So, it
unlike a sprint, unlike a 100 yard dash, just the
sheer distance just turns it into, like, who's
got the mental capacity and the planning and
everything to pull this off best? I like that part of the race
(34:08):
too. To me, that was my one of my favorite parts last year was, like,
you are not going to out mental
toughness me. I mean, like Okay. I had that part
dialed in and so when people would come at me,
well, do you know how far that is? I'd be like,
yeah. Do you know me?
(34:30):
Right. Yeah. Right. I mean, I think the documentary that that
helped inspire you, there's a really accomplished,
female paddler featured in that Lauren Rodriguez.
And I mean, I think having them feature her,
I mean, I just love that she was such a prominent part of that.
And it just showed a lot of, of women
(34:54):
that this is absolutely accessible. I mean, she
works really hard to do it, but she's not and never has been an
Olympian or anything. So, yeah, I think she's an
inspiration for sure. One of my first times paddling
out at Longview Lake, Garen, who
is also in the documentary, came up and just
(35:16):
started chit chatting and talking to our group. But I was like, to me, that
just reinforced how friendly the community
was. Somebody who doesn't even know me, who's like
a big enough superstar that everybody knows his name. You come to find
out when you get there, everybody knows who Garin is. And, you know, that that
he was like, it was not beneath him to come talk
(35:39):
to somebody who didn't know a thing. I mean, that just really impressed me too
right from the very beginning. Yeah. That's pretty cool. And he's, he's
a great ambassador for the sport for sure. Yeah. And I mean, I
think back to the 1st year we had 15 paddlers
and I mean, I can think 5 of the
15 were women. So right from the gun, we had
(36:02):
a pretty good representation of, just
adventure, seeking well prepared individuals who are
ready for the challenge. Yeah. Yeah. So any other final
thoughts about the race or Missouri River Relief? Anything that
you'd like to leave people with? Well, I'll, I'll start by
saying River Relief is an inspiring organization.
(36:23):
And if you're watching this and maybe
you're not, maybe you're not cut out to be a racer. You don't want to
be a racer. There are so many other ways to be involved with the river
as a volunteer or participating in a cleanup or, helping with the
race in another capacity outside of racing. You
will never regret attending a river relief event
(36:46):
and connecting with those good souls there. I'm talking about their
staff and crew, but also just the kind of people
that come to those events. Hock about a welcoming community.
So, some of the finest people I know I've met through
Missouri river relief events. And so I just
really encourage you to take the leap and get out there.
(37:08):
And this river does not belong to the navigation
industry, the barge industry. It does not belong, to anybody,
but the citizens and the people that live
here and want to access this river. You should never feel
like there, there are any barriers to your enjoyment of the Missouri
river. Yeah. To kind of follow that up and, and bring it back to the
(37:30):
race to like, like you said earlier, Scott, you don't
need a special permit to enjoy the Missouri River. It's our
river and and you and you don't have to be an
Olympian to finish the MR 3 40
in time. We've seen people of all, all
abilities and terrible boat shapes or whatever,
(37:52):
all the things. And it comes down to that
heart, that mental toughness that you talked about in
and community together, you know, so it comes down to
each individual, bringing everything that they got the
community helping each other, but anyone can do this
and you just take it one step at a time, build that comfort level,
(38:14):
find your people, find your community, get out there,
try it, do some of these practice races. The
Midwest paddle racing races are just, you know, epic.
The there's just so many great paddlers involved in
those events that you can learn from. Other times of the year, the race for
the rivers, race to the dome. Those are those are how you meet
(38:37):
people. You learn. You get out there and try this,
and, and then you'll surprise yourself by paddling into St. Charles.
But by then it won't be a surprise. You, you will know that you're going
to make it. And, and then you're gonna buy a bigger
boat and you're gonna come back. We
talked to John McCoy again. We got to send more friends
(39:00):
to do it with you. Yeah. Yeah.
Well, I really appreciate the 2 of you coming on and talking to me today.
This was really great. Thanks for asking. Yeah. We really appreciate it. And
we appreciate you sharing your personal story with with
folks. It's important for people to know that
experiences like this are open open to all.
(39:22):
And by hearing your path and your stories,
and now you're digging into some of the other stories out there, it just sort
of helps helps open that up to everyone. I appreciate you
putting the effort into it.
Thank you for listening, my friend. I know that within you lies a
(39:43):
spirit of adventure, a hunger for new experiences,
and a thirst for life that's anything but ordinary. It's
time to unleash that inner explorer to let go of any doubts or
hesitations and take that leap of faith. Do me a
favor. Connect with Paddle Sports Lifestyle on Instagram. Share this
podcast with a friend. Visit the Petalsports Lifestyle store
(40:05):
on Etsy, and let's make plans for an epic meetup on
the water.
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