He Did It Again

Carter Johnson, the holder of the Class 1 solo record in the WaterTribe Everglades Challenge, the Yukon River Quest, and the Guinness world record for longest distance paddled in 24 hours, just set a another new solo record at the Texas Water Safari race, he was 2nd overall (1st and 3rd place was made by 6 men canoe teams).

The Texas Water Safari is advertised as the world's toughest canoe race, 260 miles on the San Marcos and Guadalupe Rivers. All manner of boats from recreational kayaks and canoes to surfski's enter (Carter was paddling his surfski).

How tough was it? Here is Carter's report on the race:

I will not down play the race at all, it was a BRUTE!!. With 100’s degree temps, 15+ portages, log jams, rocks, dams, sweepers, more mud than Florida bay, Snakes, alligators, 300 lb gars and wild boars as well as some stiff competition, It may be truly the worlds toughest Canoe/Kayak race. Like the watertribe, there are no distracting boat rules and regulations either as well as no mandatory layovers. The race is coordinated to perfection.

My only comment is that there is a great comfort and inner peace knowing that you will not die of hypothermia and directly in path behind you on the river are 100's of boats coming to help you out if you get into trouble. This comfort does not compare to the shear terror of being alone in Florida bay or off the coast of the everglades at 3:00am in a small craft advisory, where if you mess up, you may just fall off the face of the earth.

Check this site for some unbelievable race photos (his sister put together). I think this race is one I'll skip :)

Marek, also known as Mountain Wayfarer, is also both a Watertribe and Texas Water Safari alumni. He sat the Safari race out this year, but his "Fitness Paddling Blog" contains lots of information, stories and photos from this years and previous years races.