The notorious Green River Narrows Race is well known in the whitewater racing community here in the US for being one of the steepest sprint competitions in the country. With the course being just under a mile long and choked with steep and shallow rapids such as go left, chiefs, and gorilla, pacing yourself is key but you also must paddle hard the entire time if you want to crack the top 20. Some of the most respected kayakers from all over the world show up to put it all on the line. People such as Eric Deguil from France and Marcelo Galizio from Brazil are just two examples.
This year, we had a great turn out of team representation for the race. We had some fresh talent just added to the team competing, with Nic Williams competing in the short boat class. US Director Mike Patterson decided to make a surprise appearance this year, coming into the race with no practice laps and laying down a time of 4:52 to take 41st place. Fresh off paternity leave, Jared Seiler dusted off the cob-webs but unfortunately missed the finish line gates, docking him some serious time. He shrigged the crowd several times and won the show but finished with leisurely time of 5:17.
KLCG showed up to compete and party this year, all having great laps on race day. Howard Magley had a few seconds on Patterson, finishing with a time of 4:44 seconds to land him in 32nd place overall. Benny’s Drew just barely held off Howard with a 4:42 which earned him a 29th finish. Bernie Engleman almost broke the four-and-a-half-minute mark, coming into the finish line at 4:35 and a 22nd place overall. Billy ‘Reverend’ Jones demonstrated that living at the takeout may give you an advantage over the rest, coming out of rapid transit hot and through the gates at 14th place with a time of 4:31. Returning 2018 Green Race Peoples Champ Holt McWhirt showcased again why he is a premier athlete on the rise in the competitive field, finishing in 8th place with a 4:23.3, just behind Matt Anger who clocked a 4:23 flat. Young gun Jeremy Nash took the fastest time for Team Pyranha this year, finishing 5th with a blazing fast 4:22.8.
In 4th place, Daggers Junior Isaac Hull made a solid impression finishing one tenth of a second behind Liquidlogics Pat Keller who placed third behind Michael Ferraro, with Dane Jackson setting the new course record at 4:04.
Big congrats to all of our Team Athletes who showed up and represented the brand this year! You make us all proud to be apart of this big family of talented paddlers.