World Kayak Event Coverage

This past Saturday (10-18-2008) was the 1st real cool day of the fall season in the Southeast US.  Skies were partly cloudy and a nice breeze was whipping about in the trees.  Autumn colors were almost to full peak and the smell of fall was in the air.  A great day to bring the heat for the 2nd annual Upper Green Race in NC!

The race was created by Patrick Elliott and some other local Asheville boaters last year.  The race starts from the river right eddy above Bayless Boof and finishes at the small beach on river right below Devils Elbow (The rapid below Wanda’s hole).  The total race course is less than 1/4 of a mile, but it has the most gradient in the entire run of the Upper Green.  Patrick and crew had about 10-12 people participate last year and the winning time was 1:55.

World Kayak joined forces with Patrick to sponsor this year’s race.  World Kayak’s sponsorship included: help to promo the event on WK’s website, coordinate the event before/during race day, host event coverage / results, and donate prizes from Smith Optics and Jackson Kayak.  We also had some really nice prizes to give out from .  Everyone who participated in the event and met up for the awards ceremony after the race went home with a prize thanks to all of our sponsors!  We had a total of 35 racers who participated this year… an awesome turnout!  Thanks again to all who came out to join us!  Check out the official race results below to see how you stacked up against the rest of the field…

2008 Upper Green Race Results

Place   Name                                Boat                       Division                   Time

1.       Daniel Kreykes                    Overflow                  1^st Place Long            1:36

2.       Scott Brown                       Mirage                    2^nd Place Long           1:37

3.       Scott Sidener                     Green Boat              3^rd Place Long            1:40

3.       Christine Boush                   Mystic                    1^st Place Women         1:40

3.       Peyton Elliott                     H3                         1^st Place Short            1:40

3.       Seth Richardson                 Remix                     1^st Place Short            1:40

3.       Taylor Brandt                     WaveSport 74         1^st Place Short            1:40

8.       Derek DelBuono                  Jefe                       2^nd Place Short           1:45

9.       Carl Gittings                      Rockit                     Long                         1:47

10.     Leif Ellsworth                     Nomad                    3^rd Place Short           1:48

11.     John Wright                       Salto                      Short                        1:49

12.     Patrick Elliott                     Jefe                       Short                        1:50

12.     Reid Moore                        Micro                      Short                       1:50

12.     Wesley R. Bradley               Mega Rocker            Short                       1:50

15.     Hayden Smith                     Solo                       Short                       1:52

16.     Sarah Stuart                      Lil’ Joe                    2^nd Place Women       1:54

16.     Brian Pickett                      Mystic                    Short                       1:54

16.     Matt Scruggs                     Jefe Grande             Short                       1:54

16.     Rhett Flowers                     Burn                       Short                      1:54

20.     Amy Little                          WaveSport              3^rd Place Women       1:56

20.     Tom Benton                       Skip                       Short                       1:56

20.     Zach Ashley                       Nomad                    Short                      1:56

23.     Mike Nail                           Solo                       Short                       1:58

24.     Brent Summerfield               Cascade                  1^st Place C-1            2:00

24.     Justin Benton                     Burn                       Short                       2:00

26.     Adam Trunnell                    Spanish Fly              2^nd Place OC-1          2:03

26.     Bruce Burke                       EZG                        Short                       2:03

28.     Corinne Finney                   EZ                         Women                     2:05

28.     Chris Clevenger                  Zephyr                    3^rd Place OC-1          2:05

30.     Harrison Metzger                Mad River                OC-1                       2:10

30.     Mark Hall                           ?                           Short                      2:10

30.     Paul Rushton                     Habitat                   Short                       2:10

33.     Jennifer Southerland           Chico                      Women                    2:20

34.     Craig Baker                        Gus                        Short                      2:26

35.     Kevin Cox                          H3                         Short                      7:09

The race was fun and safe fun all competitors.  We gave out only one award for swimming and the old race record (1:55) was shattered by 19 of our racers.  Congrats goes out to Daniel Kreykes for having the new best overall time of 1:36.  Congrats also goes out to all the Division winners listed above.  Great race!

Check out the Upper Green Race Photo Gallery from Patrick Elliott for some of the shots of the action.

A big THANK YOU goes out to Jennifer Southerland & Jerry Griffin who helped me keep time.  I would also like to thank Taylor Samples and Andy for taking photos and setting safety at Bayless.  The event would have not been a success without these volunteers… Thanks again guys!

Big plans are already in the making for next year’s race, so stayed tuned to World Kayak for upcoming event news.  Until the next race day… start training!  See you on the river.