Run of the Charles

The Run of the Charles is the first race of the season for us. This 19-mile race starts in the suburbs of Boston and finishes near downtown Boston. Of all the races we compete in, this one has the best mix of racing canoes, kayaks and recreational canoes. It holds a special place for us since it was the first race we competed in.

Each race has it's own unique flavor. This one is marked by the number of portages. Six different times, we hop out of the boat, hoist it on our shoulders and run over trails and city sidewalks until the next put-in is reached. It's exhausting and it always feels great to get back in the canoe.

This spring, there hasn't been much rain so the river water level was much lower than typical. Paddling in shallow water is a weakness for us, so we expected it to be a long day. We just didn't know how long.

At the first portage, Seth hung his feet over the edge of the boat into the water to slow us down. His one foot caught a rock and before he knew it, he was flopping around in the water. He regained his footing and we started down the trail.

The race was went well after that. We were battling a couple of other canoes and the portages went better than the first. After portaging the Moody Street dam, the river is narrow and the water was shallow. We had done well on the portage and were putting in an effort in order to put some distance on the trailing canoe. Suddenly, Seth says, "Watch out!" and we hit a rock and I'm out of the boat and in the water. Amazingly, he stays in the boat.

Not five minutes later, Seth says, "Oh, shit!" and we hit another rock. Again, I'm in the water and Seth stays in the boat. This time, the canoe behind us took some evasive moves and thankfully avoided running into me as I lay in the water.

By this time, we were pretty discouraged and we still needed to get past the breached dam in Watertown. This has been a trouble spot for us in the past. Last year, we went for a swim. As we approached, we were were in a pretty good position, but we started drifting into the standing waves. The boat suddenly tips dramatically and we were all but going for the swim. But something different happened. We both fought it as hard as we could and we managed to stay upright. It was a miracle.

The rest of the race was uneventful as we cruised to the finish. We finished first, second and last - we were the only canoe in our category.