05/09/17 AT 21:46:53
Welcome to the 12th Annual Missouri American Water MR340
These dispatches will help you prepare for the MR340.
For this first dispatch, we focus on the nuts and bolts.
DATES: August 7th-August 11th, 2017
Mandatory Check In and Safety Meeting:
Hilton Garden Inn, 520 Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, Kansas
Monday, August 7th, 2017
All racers must sign in between 2-6pm and pick up tshirts, etc. Meeting starts at 7pm and is over by 8pm. We call it the Mandatory Safety Meeting because attendance is MANDATORY. It's part of our safety plan with the United States Coast Guard to conduct the training and to account for you being there. So just be there. It's actually quite fun to see all the paddlers and ground crews assembled in one place. It's a huge group of over 1000 anxious, excited people. We will go through some last minute instructions and review many safety bullet points. But most of it you will have read in the series of dispatches and other online resources.
Race START:
Tuesday, August 8th, 2017
Kaw Point Park
Solo Start is 7am
Everything else, 8am
Parking the morning of the race is always quite crowded. Many will have to hunt for parking outside the flood wall in the industrial park. For this reason, it is best to stage your boat the night before. (Monday) As usual, we will have security at the park starting Monday at noon. You can leave your boat staged there anytime after noon and we will have folks there to watch over things. You are ultimately responsible for the boat. Our guys will have a roster and boat numbers and would question anyone they saw removing a boat from the premises. They cannot prevent your boat from being damaged by someone running over it, sitting on it, tripping over it, etc. Please don't leave paddles or any expensive items that can be walked away with.
The meeting is at the hotel less than a mile away from the starting line. You will get lost 4 times trying to get back and forth. By the 5th time you'll have it figured out.
Check the Roster:
http://www.rivermiles.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1481992368
Make sure your entry is correct. Some of you need to choose a new boat number because the one you originally chose was taken. I know this is disappointing. Every year the classics like 8008 get snatched up early leaving only 9,999 other possible combinations to choose from. If you need a new boat number, email it directly to me, scott@rivermiles.com
Your boat number must be a minimum of 3 inches high and be reflective. Mailbox numbers work great for this. Place these on your port and starboard bow.
Also, many of the tandem and team boats still need to get their partners registered. Please get this taken care of asap. We are trying to get shirt sizes, etc. finalized. Also, it will help you assess the commitment level of your partner. We've found that the longer a partner is TBD, the more likely he or she is of NOT racing and leaving you high and literally dry come race day. Please get your partner registered by June 1st.
Training and Preparation Resources
MR340 Book!
Written by a veteran and can be either ordered in hard copy or electronic version. This book will be a comfort and will help shorten your learning curve. Preview pages below.
Chris Luedke's Training Videos
Wow, what can I say. Chris is a multi year veteran with some great finishes under his belt. His video series is crazy good. Entertaining and very informative. This will literally shave hours off a first timers finish time. And also minimize a lot of anxiety.
Once you get started on these it will be hard to stop. There are dozens of them in easy to digest sizes. A good place to start might be here with the one about the Kaw Point starting line. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usdNJPGIYhc&list=PLzoUC3XH8qEW1XgcPcGmrvB7USj6Ir...
Again, these are top notch and will go a long way towards getting you ready for the race. They've made my job of writing the dispatches very easy. A video is worth much more than a 1000 words. Thanks again, Chris Luedke!!!
Training Races
Once you've read the book and watched the videos, why not test what you've learned with some real live racing on the great rivers of Missouri? It's the best way to test your boat, your nutrition and your racing strategy. And maybe most importantly, your seat cushions. Here's a calendar of upcoming races:
http://www.rivermiles.com/forum/YaBB.pl?board=OlatheLakeSeries
Next dispatch will highlight some of the Luedke videos that deal with race strategy, navigation and safety boats. So do your homework and catch up on your reading and watching. And check out some of the races coming up as quickly as THIS WEEKEND.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Scott
scott@rivermiles.com
