we have no idea how this is going to work but we're going to try and post blog updates during the race. tricky things about this,  we're in the race, wireless communications can be questionable, we have to keep stuff dry.  these won't be up-to-the-minute reportings of who's where, etc., but more from the viewpoint of what it's like to be in the race. expect only 2-3 posts a day. we do have to paddle!
you can search WARRIOR ANT PRESS in your favorite search engine or goto:
theministerofinformation.blogspot.com

Just got this in...

Liz Lincoln, wife of solo paddler Dave Lincoln, from the great state of Virginia has lost her watch.  She thinks it would have been lost at Kaw Point.  If anyone has found a watch, please call Liz at 703-966-6121.

This was posted on luv2paddle.com

From this morning:

MR 3:40
A report from Ginsie.
Labenite Park.
These are paddling times for just the Texans.
Bugge 1:15
Steppe 1:15 they are within 2 seconds of each other.
Carter 1:22
Jeff Wueste 1:25
Lee and Phil 1:25
Grumpy old men 1:30
Erin 1:36 there is another solo close to her.
Diesel and Greg 1:40

The weather is beautiful and they are going faster than last year.
She will call me when they get through Lexington.

Barb,

Thanks! Keep the updates comin'  these are some FAST times this year, hope the weather holds out!

Wow Barbara.
You are on top of this thing.
Thanks.
C.J. Hall

Great Job Barbara! Looks like Hermann is next for the leaders of the pack...
UPDATE REQUEST: If possible, could someone post here, email me crew@thebigmuddy.net or call my cell 314-604-0317 when the lead RACERS LEAVE HERMANN?  I'm trying to get a better timeframe....so I can watch closely the net cam I have set up on my site http://www.thebigmuddy.net Just click the yellow dot between New Haven and Washington. My intention is to catch some pics of racers so I can add to my photo gallery and add a page dedicated to the 340 race on my web site.

By the way, once through Hermann, it is only 21.5 miles to the cam, so grab a look.

Thanks to anyone who can help me out with an update.  Dave and I are going to be working the check point Friday 7am to 4pm in Washington. Hope to see you there.

The first boat went through 12:22--12:28.  Let me know what time you expect them in camera sight.  I have it pulled up on another computer and am watching.

Thanks Barbara

[font=Arial][/font] Hello Barbara...from Massachusetts! Thanks for your updates, especially since the official site update function appears to be frozen at 6:45 AM this morning, your time. I have a friend who's first ever paddling experience began yesterday when the gun was fired to signal the start of the race. He's competing in the solo division in a 15-1/2 foot home made riverboat...so he's fairly easy to spot. If anyone catches a glimpse of him, I'd really appreciate a heads up. Thanks.

What is his name and I can let you know how he is...?

The first boat just passed the webcam...missed the pic though.  They were at the bottom of the screen.

Absolutely! His name is Mitchel Burns in Boat #5166. Thanks. All I can tell you for sure was that he left Miami at 1:16 this morning...and was in the Top 150!!!

I have a feeling he's talking about my Father-in-law, Mitchel Burns.  Mitchel is an amazing competitor and is quite known in the farming community for his corn husking abilities, as he won the 2006 National Championship in the sport.  He was so excited to be able to compete in the MR340 and we are cheering him on every step of the way!

I'd also like to thank you Barbara for all your updates, keep up the good work!

And good luck to all competitors.

That's him! Nice to meet you. I'm Dennis from GARR. And, obviously, I've been excited about his newest adventure for months. Do you have a more current update on your father-in-law?

Unfortunately no, I know my wife spoke with his parents this morning but the most recent spreadsheet reflects later information.  When I get home from work I'll call for updates!  Should be around 5:00pm.

Okay folks, I've missed all ops to catch boats on the cam, but I'm getting reports that the first to go through was an orange kayak (I think the lead) went by roughly 1:30pm. Sorry, don't know other details. Also, another report of a boat w/crew of 8 "paddling like hell". So, that's all I know. I'm trying to post details as they come in to my cam. This makes me less likely to see whats on my own cam, so I'm asking if anyone does catch a boat, please save the pic (right click) and e-mail it to me. I may run to Washington too for some pics.

This is so exciting!!!!

I'll post what I know from this end.

Shelly http://www.thebigmuddy.net

Officially, the first boat through is a 6-man Team Texas.  Not sure if the kayak was a pleasure boater but they aren't leading the race.  The 6-man went through very fast and by the time I right-clicked they were gone.  The next couple of boats will be by in about 2.0 hours.  They left Hermann just a little bit ago.  If they are staying close to the trees we might not see them.  Now...I have seen a train in the trees and a man mowing the lawn two days in a row.  There has been a jet skier and a speed boat.  I will do my best to get a picture and let you know when the next ones go by.  It's really a cool cam...thanks

Barbara, thanks for your updates.  I've been looking for info on the Meers brothers throughout the day (boat #1778) and haven't seen any new info on them since the 6:45 posting this AM.  If anybody has any news on Dan and Dave, could you let me know?  Thanks a ton, I'm excited about hopefully participating in one of the next few years myself.

Oops, you beat me to it!  Their Glasgow stop was added with your last update, thanks.

UPDATE FROM THE BIG MUDDY - Hi all, I just ran to Washington to see the first boat come in. TEAM TEXAS is the only boat that has checked through Washington. I had to leave the cam, so I don't know if others had passed by. TEAM TEXAS was brutualized, but NOT broken. I told them a lot of people from across the country watched them pass by the camera. (Some of you saw it, but I missed it!) Anyway, that put a smile on their faces. It is painfully hot down at the boat ramp. I know TEAM TEXAS will keep "paddling like hell" to get done and get some relief.

I'm going to mess with my cam and grab some pics of TT and throw them up to my net cam page. I'll put them on a link, much like my net cam gallery, for now. When the race is over, I'll do a photo montage. Give me a chance to put them up. Thanks!
Shelly

7/16/08  5:18 P.M.

Just got word the checkpoint at Washington isn't accessible.  They will be moving to a spot 19 miles down river called Weldon Springs.  They are passing out info to all teams from Coopers/Jeff City & Hermann.  The times will show a difference since 3 boats will have gone to Washington but the overall times won't be affected.  If anyone needs info I will do what I can to help.

Barbara

Big Muddy - I was able to capture a few shots of one racer around 5:41 pm and emailed them to you.

Barbara - thanks for the great updates!  Keep up the good work, you must be getting tired too!

Barbara, We were just down there at Washington and all appeared well. What happened? We're supposed to work Friday at the check point. Weldon springs has no facilities either...just a ramp. I just can't imagine what happened??? Could you advise?
Thanks
Shelly
http:/www.thebigmuddy.net

Team Texas arrived at finish line at 8:19p.m.  All are in good spirits, feeling great, walking around and laughing.  Some are eating real food and visiting with local supporters.  Now to show our support to the other approximately 140 boats still paddling the Great Missouri River.

heard from don wilkison men's solo. at boonville around 430. anyone know when the online updates will be back up? let me know if anyone hears any more updates! (thats my daddy!)

7/16/08  9:19

You just need to click on my attachment here in the forum.  I've been as up-to-the-minute as we can get.  I always delete the old one when I post a new one so no need to figure anything out.  If you have any questions, just let me know.

Barbara

woops of course you post that right as i'm asking! thanks for the info. i actually found the blog mentioned in the top of the forum to be helpful at least with funny quips and an insider's view of the race.
thanks for the help.

Thank you Barbara for the updates.  My "family" is Team Belize.  Unfortunately I had to work and couldn't be there - your efforts in getting info was sooooo helpful to me.  

Does anyone have status on Carter Johnson and Erin Magee?

Congratulations Team Texas!

Megan Yeager[timestamp=1216299275]

Meaghan,

Go to forum and under the MR340 you will see "latest updates".  Click on the attachments and you will see the most updated times called in by the checkpoints.  

Great job by Bugge and Cabb for getting their 6-man boat to the finish with only two men.  What a committment!  Erin was through Hermann at 5:48 this morning.

Barbara

Thanks again, Barbara for all your tracking and support for the spectators.
You may have seen it already, but here's a nice news feature.  Video is in the right sidebar.  I was not able to download the video but it should cut and paste into a browser.

http://www.myfoxstl.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=7000843&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1

It's a good thing our team members photograph so well!  It was great to see a video of my brother (West) and his team finishing and looking so good!  Thanks for sharing the video link with us all.

I hope next year I can follow the race on the shores instead of over the internet, although Barbara (and the other race officials on the banks) has made it very easy to follow both day and night, all while feeding and putting my 5 week old baby to sleep!

I'm so proud of our team!

Hi,
I'm a men's solo wife and I just wanted to say I really appreciate the updates! If anyone sees Travis O'Hara on the river please give him a pat on the back.  His family is rooting for him!
:) Amber O.  

i received word that don wilkison was out of jeff city at 7:00am - but not showing up on the race sheets. Is it possible they just havent all reported in yet?

i'm with all of you - the updates have been awesome. i'm a men's solo daughter and the peace of mind of the updates is great! plus its very cool to see how great everyone is doing. This year seems so relaxed and really great.
Congrats to the mens solo winner too! WOW.

Sarahstar -- I agree.  I'm amazed at what these men and women are doing! I just took the kids to the pool for an hour and it's sooo hot!

I know! I only wish I could be there when they all come in at st charles. it must be awesome to see them finish such an amazing feat! perhaps next year. i have to say, as the 3rd year of being a complete nervous nellie during the race, its a little easier this year now that i can just post here.

Barbara, I wanted to let you know your spreadsheets have been really great. I've been following them closely so that I know when to expect the bulk of the paddlers go by the first cam at 76.5.

I think when we saw Team Texas smokin up the trail it sent us into a big "anticipation mode", but unfortunately, not all are as fast as the tandem crew. Several have already crossed the finished line, but it looks like the bulk of folks are headed to Hermann now. From Hermann to my first cam is 21.5 miles. Team Texas did that stretch to my cam in about 2 hrs, so a slower might be 3 hrs?? 3.5 I'm guessing?? I'm hoping we see some before nightfall. There's that anticipation! :)

We just set up another cam in Washington. I know the checkpoint is not there anymore, but it seems that some paddlers are stopping there, just to refresh and get supplies (I guess) from their support teams. Some are going on by.

For those who don't know about the cams, which has been fun for some, go to http://thebigmuddy.net you will see a yellow dot at Washington and a yellow dot between New Haven and Washington. Click those for the cams. If you have been looking at Dundee cam and want to check out the Washington cam. Go to The Big Muddy home page link above and click REFRESH. You should see the new dot pop up at Washington.

Have fun everyone, I'm going to keep watching too!

I'll be looking for your next report Barb, you're doing a superb job.
Shelly

Since this is the only active forum... I'm thinking of driving down for the awards Fri, does anyone need a vehicle transported or does anyone want to carpool?  I just have to make a stop near jeff city on the way and I should be coming back sat, not sure of the time.

Contact me on here before 10 A.M. Fri or email NWBeerKat@yahoo.com

Thanks,
  Michael J Mans.

Outstanding job Barbara and volunteers :)

Lee Deviney (lide from St. Charles)

Barbara,
Nice job you have done. I have been keeping up with the race.
I was at St Charles yesterday when only 6-8 boats came in, and I was there this morning. I was told by Russ that almost half the boats came in....wow!
I have been talking with Shelly with bigmuddy.net sending her pics of crafts passing Dundee Cam.

I want to race next year for sure. I plan to be at the dinner tonight....just to watch.
Hey, if JoJo's there I want to look at her again...yum.

I would like to meet you just to say nice job!

Todd

dont know if any of you had time to check out the website/blog mentioned at the beginning of this post - but i found it to be cool. a good insight into the race and what it feels like to be on the river like all these people are!

loved the post about the smilies. good stuff.  ;D

http://www.theministerofinformation.blogspot.com

7/18/08  9:25 p.m.

Hello all!  We are waiting on two tandem boats.  All have been updated.  If your total finish time is not correct, it's because I'm not great at figuring out the total times.  They can be corrected.

Barbara

---

Barbara, thank you so much for the updates on the website!  I noticed that "The Outlaws," boat number 9959 didn't have a time out updated at St. Charles, we signed in at 5:52pm on Friday night, 7-18-08.  I know that Karin had called my teammate last night at the hotel to confirm that we were off the river because they didn't have our signature on the actual ledger.  At the finish line we signed in with a lady (sorry don't know the name) who had us sign a note pad that she said she would append/transfer to the official ledger because they were calculating the official one in the boat house.  We did however recieve a certificate with our time out and everything so someone has the peice of paper that we signed.  Thanks again to all of you for making this experience one that Scott Schieber and I will remember for the rest of our lives.    

Kenneth Brown
"The Outlaws"

7/19/08  10:43 pm

Thank you.  I did receive that delayed information and am updating that now.

Barbara

2008 MR340 Results
2008 Missouri River 340 Results

---

Looks like a typo in the 2nd place men's solo, unless Chuck was jumping from boat to boat.

http://rivermiles.com/Race_results/mr340results2008.html

The typo with 2nd place solo will be corrected.  It was just typo'd from the conversion of the spreadsheet to the home page.