The paddling has already proved to be a challenge with this swift moving water. One team has gotten a hole in their own lightweight kayak they brought to the race. It's a two man team that is out for the paddle and will move to next TA that bypasses the water essentially as they're limited to just bike and foot legs at this point.
Another team that is 4 person were on two kayaks provided for the race. The one kayak got pinned in this fast water and is completely tacoed, also their tracking device is stuck in that. I don't know much about paddling stuff, but I think that speaks to how fast and powerful this river is right now. All four people hopped into their other tandem kayak to continue on.
Its still early, but Aaron and team seem to be going smoothly. I passed them a couple times in the town of Douglas and they looked good. They have a few points to get here on foot around town before getting back on wster. One of the checkpoints in town as at an old bar, where there are whiskey shots for the racers (or iced tea). I was there earlier to help set up. The owner is just awesome, an old guy just hanging out with no worries it seems.
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