"The best laid plans...", or so the saying goes! I arrived at this year's Clackamas River Run-Off, held yearly at Milo McIver State Park, with two things in mind. One, I haven't had nearly the time to train this year as I would like, so my conditioning is lacking and two, it has not been raining for 2-weeks straight, like last year, so the trails should be smooth and fast. So, maybe my conditioning wouldn't be so noticeable!

I actually had a third thing on my mind as well. If you read my report from last year, you know all about the sticky little hole in the first 500 yards of the paddle, the one that ate boats whole. This year the water level was up, so it was hidden, but still there. I had a plan for dealing with that. Basically, after scouting the river, I decided rather then "punch it", I was going to sneak down the left side and avoid a rematch. I am overly respectful of a rivers power.

Check-in and organization was superb as always, with the producers obviously experienced in running a multi-event venue. PDXAR folks doing the race, which I know of, were Russ Gober, Robert Birley, Sean McCarthy, Natasha, Michael Cairnes, Mike (Sherpa) Hendrickson, Brandon Brown and I saw at least 1 Wicked T-shirt, so I know there were others. (Apologies if I have misspelled or omitted your name) and of course, yours truly. Weather was perfect, Overcast and about 65 degrees. It was a great day for a great race. I was doing the off-road triathlon others were doing the duathlon.

We lined up in the starting chute and after a brief race rundown; we were off on the 15k Mt. Bike leg. Since these trails are off-limits during the year, they were primed and ready for us! A quick dash along the edge of a field led to a long climb up the road and the start of the single track. What followed, if you are going my speed, was about an hour of dips, rollers, climbs, roots and bombs. In other words, a fun time! I arrived back at the TA about 15 minutes behind my self-imposed schedule and laced up the new La Fuma's for the 8k-trail run. What can I say about running? I am slow, I felt even slower then usual over a lot of the same course as the bike, and there I was at the kayak TA.

Ah yes, the much anticipated rematch of me vs. the hole! I suited up and threaded my way through the throngs of rafters, floaters and tubers and paddled out to do battle. Remember my plan? Well it went off without a hitch and I waved happily to the safety boater (a welcome addition from last year) as I sailed past the infamous hole. My happiness was soon to be swept away in what I now refer to as "the incident".

A goal of every race for me is to have fun and try to learn, or experience, something new. I was already having fun, now for the something new part!

As I approached the second set of rapids I was relaxed and looking forward to about a 2.5 hour finish time. Since this was about 35 minutes faster then last year, I was feeling good. As I entered the rapids, disaster struck in almost slow motion. My boat, a Prijon Combi-356, was about 11 feet long and designed for river running and flat-water work, so longer then a normal white water boat. It caught an unseen rock and swung sideways in the current, normally not a problem I took action to correct my course. Wham! In a "worst case scenario" moment I was slammed broadside into a large boulder in midstream. Helpless to recover in time I moved into crisis management mode as the kayak, with me in it, was pinned dead center on the boulder and sucked under the current. Relying on the excellent tips and training I have been given over the years by excellent kayaker's (thanks guys and gals), I yanked the release on my spray skirt, pushed like hell and scrambled up the boulder before I could be re-pinned. Once out of the water I literally breathed a bit easier, but still had a huge problem. My kayak was fully submerged and pinned flat, dead center against the boulder. I perched on top of the boulder for a few minutes before carefully lowering my feet down and trying to leverage the kayak off the boulder by shoving on the inside of the cockpit and trying to push the boat off-center to the boulder. After cursing and straining for about 10 minutes I was rewarded with a tiny budge in the kayaks position and redoubling my efforts, I gleefully felt the boat slide to the side, cantilever around the boulder and flush out the bottom of the rapids. WooHOO!

Now for me, I slid off the boulder into the eddy and shot out the bottom of the rapids with little more then a few scrapes. On shore now, I bushwhacked through berry vines and river debris as I headed down river in search of my boat. Some "helpful" tubers, laden with beer, kids and no lifejackets had watched it shoot past and apparently couldn't be bothered to lend a hand, sadly explaining the abnormally high number of fatal river incidents this year, so I was on my own. 15 minutes later, I spot my boat. Upside down and pinned in the middle of a rapid! Damn it, I had no safe way to get out to it, so I was left standing on the bank for about 15 minutes until the safety boater swept down the river and came to my aid. He took about 10 minutes to unpin the boat and get it to shore, where I drained it out and we proceeded down river to the take out. Happy to be alive and in one piece, I crossed the finish line about an hour later then I expected. Good news is I had a great adventure and was reminded of the incredible power in a river. I am extremely thankful that skilled people have taken the time to instruct me over the years and that their instruction was right on the money! You know who you are and you have a beer coming...

A perfect end to the day was lounging in the sun, drinking a cold beverage and seeing ALL the people I mentioned above place in the top 3 of their respective age groups! Well done everyone and I'll see you next year as I pursue the "perfect" paddling leg.




Paul Field
Co-Founder, PDX Adventure Racer