Au Sable‘s canoe craze

July 19, 2009

AuSable’s Canoe Craze
120-mile canoe marathon draws
crowd of up to 25,000

By Rick Coates 7/20/09

The Weyerhaeuser AuSable River Canoe Marathon is billed as “America’s longest, richest and toughest canoe race.” The race starts in Grayling at 9 p.m. on July 25 and is a 120-mile trek of the AuSable River throughout the night, finishing in Oscoda around 11 a.m. the next morning.
Now in its 62nd year, the race has become the largest spectator sport event in Northern Michigan.
“We have lots of taglines for it such as The World’s Toughest Spectator Sport,”’ said Phil Weiler, board member and spokesman for the race. “I like to call it ‘The Most Exciting Two Minute Start In Sports.’”
Those taglines reference the fact that spectators have to work to watch the race and its LeMans-style start, with competitors sprinting for two-minutes through the streets of Grayling with canoes in hand to the river.
“We do just like NASCAR does -- we have time trials for a couple of days before the start of the race to determine your starting position for the run through town to the river,” said Weiler. “The fans who line the streets and the river banks love this. So do the competitors.”
While it is hard to estimate the number of spectators who turn out, some claim that more than 25,000 are at the start of the race with thousands more lining up at their favorite spots along the river and at bridges and dams along the way.

SIX PORTAGES
“Last year they estimated that there were more than 5,000 lined up at the Mio Dam,” said Weiler. “This is the first of six portages. Some years it is so foggy that competitors rely on the loud cheers of the spectators to make their way to the portage area. This is also tough because the competitors have been cramped up in their canoes for five to six hours and now they have to get out and start running with their canoes.”
Weiler points out that there are spectators who like to watch the race from start to finish, hence making it the “toughest spectator sport” but suggests anyone who wants to do it plan ahead.
“You have to pick your spots, it is too hard to get to every bridge and every dam,” said Weiler. “The spectator part of this event is crucial to the competitors because there are some long stretches where you are out there just with partner and remember, it is at least 14 hours from start to finish. So when you go through these long stretches in the dark with no one around and you are tired and it is 2 a.m. and you are questioning why you are doing it, all of a sudden a small band of people along the bank start cheering ‘looking good, keep going.’ This is just the spark these competitors need -- it is an adrenaline rush.”
Weiler adds that this race is so grueling that prospective competitors are required to read the following warning:

“The AuSable Canoe Marathon is one of the most physically and mentally demanding events in the world. To successfully complete this event you must have a C-2 racing canoe, be an expert canoeist, in excellent physical condition, and able to navigate in darkness the upper 80 miles of the AuSable River while avoiding deadfalls, stumps and being lost in the vast impoundments upriver of the Mio and Alcona dams. Those unprepared for these conditions risk their own well-being and that of their partner.”

“Remember the race starts at 9 p.m. and so eight to nine hours of this race is in complete darkness,” said Weiler. “What a lot of competitors from outside the area do is find a strong partner from the area, someone who knows the river quite well.”

THE TRAINING
Training for the AuSable River is similar to that of training for running a marathon. Canoeists start by making long runs, and as the race nears they work on sprints to save their energy days before the race starts.
“This really has become a three-week event for us as many competitors start coming in early to train and participate in some of the shorter races that take place in the area,” said Weiler.
This has become Graylings biggest week of the year economically. Weiler, who has been with the event for more than 20 years, knows this first-hand.
“I used to be a manager with McDonalds in Grayling and this was always our best week, even better than the weeks when the National Guard units were in town,” said Weiler. “The economic impact of AuSable River Canoe Marathon is huge. Our sponsors know this as well, and that is why despite difficult economic times, we have not lost one sponsor. We already have a record number of teams competing (87) and that number may exceed 90.”
With campsites, hotels and B&Bs reporting in and a girls softball state tournament taking place the same weekend, Weiler is “confident that this will be our biggest year from a spectator perspective as well.”
He points out that each team brings a support crew, family and friends. Plus, the number of people helping is staggering.
“While there are 12 of us on the board, six from Oscoda and six from Grayling, there is somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000 volunteers that make this happen,” said Weiler. “It is pretty impressive. But when you think about all of the needs we have, it takes a lot of people to make this race a success.”

WHO’S WHO
Competitors come in from all over North America, but this was not always the case.
“For years there was not a sanctioning of canoes, so a canoe that qualified for our race didn’t meet the specs in races out east and in Canada,” said Weiler. “So one of the things we did was to create these universal specs that allowed for competitors to use their same canoes in all these races, and that really opened up the doors to having, for example, this year a team from Alaska. There is even a Triple Crown with the races being ours, one in New York and one in Canada.”
As for the ages, they range from 15 to 84.
“Certainly, at the age of 84, Al Widing Sr. of Mio is a fan favorite here. He has competed in this for 38 years,” said Weiler. “I mean compete too, he is in excellent shape, and you have to be to do this race.”
Weiler points out that first-time spectators are quickly drawn in.
“Last year one of the sports writers from the Detroit Free Press came and told us, ‘I had no idea what this was all about, and this is definitely going to be on my radar.’ There is so much to do over that weekend from the time trials, to watching the canoes go through inspection, to watching the start.”
As for the future, the board is always looking at ways to improve the race.
“We have to start asking if we are going to cap the number of entries. It will be interesting to see how it goes this year,” said Weiler. “We have tried things in the past like making it two days with competitors stopping overnight at the halfway point. That didn’t work as it took away from the personality of the race.”
So why race at nighttime?
“Essentially to stay away from the heat,” said Weiler. “Stretches of this river are a challenge during the day, so certainly when you add the darkness element we not only have one of the most unique sporting events in the country, we have one of the most challenging.”
Festivities are already under way for the 62nd Annual Weyerhaeuser AuSable River Canoe Marathon. The sprint time trials begin this Thursday and Friday in Grayling and there are several activities on Saturday with pre-race starting at 6:30pm (though some start lining the streets and start line at noon to get prime positions) leading up to the 9 p.m. start in Grayling. Event organizers have created “The AuSable Canoe Marathon Spectator Guide” that is a laundry list of everything you need to watch this event. The guide, along with many other details may be found online at ausablecanoemarathon.org or for additional details call (989) 348-4425.