Oh, What Fun Sports Can Be...

Kenduskeag River Race

By Aimee Dodge
4/17/2010

The 44th annual Kenduskeag River Race took place today, starting at 8:30 a.m. Although the sky was over cast and the temperature chilling, 479 boats made their way from Kenduskeag Village to downtown Bangor, 16.5 miles total.

889 people took to the river, ranging in ages from twelve to seventy. The race was completed first by Trevor Maclean, clocking a time of 2 hours, 19 minutes, 5 seconds. He received a canoe shaped plaque to commemorate his trip down the river. Although finishing first is exciting, most of the excitement today was located at the infamous Six Mile Falls. Every year countless numbers lose the river race to the rapids located there and this year was no exception. While watching the boats go through the falls, at least a quarter of them got dumped into the 40 degree water. People on shore clapped for those who made it through and cheered for those who didn’t.
Although the largest crowd for the event was gathered around Six Mile Falls, there were spectators all along the river. In the small parks along the river, closer to downtown Bangor, people had set up lawn chairs and in some cases portable grills to watch and celebrate the race. Another spot where people gathered were the portage points, points during the race where participants were required to take their boat out of the water and move it via land downstream to avoid particularly dangerous parts of the river. Spectators stood around and watched as cold and tired paddlers hauled their crafts out of the river and carried them up steep inclines and across roads.
Even though the weather was less than favorable for water activities and the river was low, both participant and spectators had a good time. The race, overall, had a good turnout this year.