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Two Wanderers Survive the Lenape Survival Challenge
On April 16, Susan and I [Randy Clever] accepted
the Lenape Challenge, despite the fact that we could not
find one area canoe rental establishment
open for practice in the weeks before the big day.
Instead,
we had to rely on advice from seasoned canoeists, articles,
and visualization. Visualization was by far our biggest MO,
but once on the
water the
visual fades and plain old survivor instincts kick in with
a vengeance. Fortunate for us, we benefited from the presence
of Coach "Big
Stick" Kretschmann who helped us remain centered and focused.
The
running course itself was 4.5 miles of "rolling hills" before
hitting the uphill ski slope. We were forewarned about
the big ski slope by everybody, but nary a word about those
ferocious rolling hills
that went on and on before it. I arrived at the creek somewhat
before Susan and had the choicest of life vest and paddle
ready for her to
snatch up so we could adroitly slip into our awaiting canoe.
After a slip into the water before we slipped into the
canoe, we were off
with the pack and seemed to progress well, although we
chose the serpentine route over the straight one. They
tell me that the paddler in the stern
has some control over that; unfortunately, not this one.
Actually, there wasn't too much passing or being passed,
once everyone was on the water, except when we got hung up sideways
on a rock and
almost took the rapids backwards. I believe a couple of
boats passed us at that point, but we passed a few others
a little later, especially
those who had capsized or serpentined more than we had.
I must say it was the fine navigational skills of Susan
who kept us on course
with, "Left, left, left" and "we're gonna
hit a rock" in ever increasing crescendo.
She just kept calmly paddling
all the while I'm doing the novice's shifting of the paddle
from side-to-side or the energy-draining side sweep, to
avoid the looming dangers. The final brush with death occurred
at the end. Seeing the
finish line, and knowing that I would not be able to adeptly
steer us into port, I jumped out of the boat to pull us
ashore amidst the
shouts from our boat and the one to my left aiming to sheer
my legs off below the knee. Needless to say, our opponents
arrived before us,
but they weren't in our category anyway, so it didn't matter.
We finished a respectable 5th in our category and right
before we left the site Susan was seen to be scanning the
results board to see what
team combination she had to find to win next year. She
settled on the female >70 (combined ages), as long as she can find
someone who can run at least as fast as she and who has
my minimal paddling skills.
She's offered me a spot in that category as her team mate
if I'm willing to wear a wig next year. I, on the other hand, am
thinking of petitioning the race committee for more categories,
like over 90, maybe even over 100. Maybe I'll have a chance
of winning in one of those next time.
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