I found this article on my computer about the Green Race in November. I never sent it in. The photos aren’t of the actual race but in practice. Check it out::

Last weekend was the 13^th annual Green Narrows race. This was my first time racing the green. I went with Clay and Nick. I had run it many times before and always wanted to race it. But I never had, this year I finally had the oppurtinity to race it. When we were at home packing for the trip, I couldn’t decide what boat to bring. At first I was going to bring a little hero, because that was the creekboat I was using at the time and I just wanted to race. I wasn’t worried about being fast or anything like that. Then I was bringing a little hero and a punk rocker, because I wasn’t sure which one was faster. Then Nick told me that there were a couple classic heros at the factory, so I was going to bring the punk rocker and the classic hero. We were loading up the car and we were going to run to the factory to outfit our boats and I was going to pick up a hero. Then Clay suggested that if I was going to bring a classic hero I should go ahead and bring the classic superhero instead. He said it would be faster and more stable for me. I really didn’t think I would want to race it but we picked up my dad’s super hero which was a warrenty boat that picked up on tour from somebody. It had a crack in the hull, but my dad patched it so it was fine. So we went and outfitted our boats, I got the superhero, and we were off on the road. I had watched some videos on youtube of the green and I had run it like a week before so I was trying to memorize the lines and stuff. We Stayed at Shane Benedicts house which was awesome because we had internet and a comfortable place to stay. I paddled the superhero on the first day and decided that was what I was going to paddle in the race. We had 4 days to train for the race and it was going great. We all were having great lines, and the superhero was going great for all of us. Then it was race day and I was fired up. I watched go left for a little while and watched some lines. The race started at 12:00 and I was at 1:37, so I had some time. Then I went back to the top and waited till it was my turn to go. Then it was me and I started my race, Frankenstein went great, fairly fast, then it was some boogie water all the way to Boof or Consequence. The left line at Boof or Consequence wasn’t runnable because there was a tree in it, so everyone had to do the right line. That went great for me, then right after that was Go left or Die. It went great for me, I didn’t flip and I was right on line after heading towards Swicks Backender. Swicks went fine for me, I petoned I little on the 2^nd drop but still made the slide on the right. It was Chiefs right after this so I took it easy through it and relaxed my self coming in to Gorrila. When I was ready I boofed off of Pencil Sharpener great with some left momentum so I would be able to drive right on the knotch. The knotch went great, I subbed out a little bit but still kept my speed going and went Straight off Gorrilla. Gorrila wasn’t my best line but still not bad, I flipped right at the bottom and got pushed a little bit left into the eddy a little bit. But I paddled really hard to get out of it and I went down the next slides. Stream Machine went great, I went flying into Neices Pieces, that went bettter than most pratice runs I think. Powerslide went great, I mystery moved a little bit but I stayed in the main flow. I paddled hard down to Rapid Transit, I stayed on line on this and soared out the bottom and paddled as hard as I could to the finish. I was super fired up that I finished the race with no major mess ups. I wound up getting a 5:10, which is not super fast, but it got me in 8^th place in mens short boat so I was really fired up about this. I most definetely will come back next year and probably will try to find a long boat to race. Well, that wraps up the green race for me and I had a great time, and I already miss Gorrilla. Thanks for reading,

Dane Jackson