Up A River With A Paddle And A Paddleboard

Lauren Rodriguez from Shawnee, KS likes to be up a river with a paddle and a paddleboard. This July 20, she’ll be up the Missouri River starting in Kansas City and competing in the MR 340, which finishes in St. Charles, MO. The Missouri Water MR340 is the world’s longest non-stop river race and the racers have up to 85 hours to officially complete the course.

As many as 500 racers leave Kansas City in staggered starts and head down river, rain or shine, dodging barges, motor boats and bridge pilings as they look to cross the finish line all the way on the other side of the state. There are no dams or locks or portages that the racers confront, and the river usually has a current speed of 2-3 miles per hour. Racers do need to be careful because there is a certain amount of risk in floating the Missouri River. Some choose to go without stopping and most choose to stop at various checkpoint river-towns along the way to rest and eat. 

Ms. Rodriguez commissioned Shane Camden of New Haven Paddle Stop to build her a custom board to compete in the race, with her goal of beating her fastest time: 62 hours in 2017. 

Lauren first got on a paddleboard when she was attending college in San Diego in 2012. She spent a lot of time surfing and paddleboarding and likes to say that after finishing school she brought a husband and a paddleboard back to her Shawnee home.

Lauren was anxious to pick up her board because, on May 15, she’ll be competing in a short 50 mile race called a shoot out, which is a good warm-up for the 340 mile race. Lauren’s mantra is “the river is [her] sanctuary,” and she will be living it when she competes in the race this year for the third time. With this new board, she is hopeful to add some speed.

Shane was putting some finishing touches on the board and gave Lauren some advice on the operation of her new acquisition. He also explained that it was much harder to make turns with a board of this length, but while that might seem slower at first, it will later compensate for the time that she doesn’t have to make the number of course corrections she would with a smaller board.

With a little help from Camden, Ms. Rodriguez had her new custom paddleboard clamped to her SUV’s roof rack, and she was headed back to Shawnee. 

The New Haven Independent News will be following Lauren and several of Paddle Stop’s clients as they compete in the race on July 20. We will notify people in town when we expect to see them coming through New Haven with their progress posted here on our website and Facebook page.