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 Chelsea, Sydney, Cheryl and Ben. (Photo by Dave Marner) Team # 3469 Paddler: Ben (36yo) Ground Crew Captain & Paddler’s Wife: Cheryl Assistants To The Ground Crew Captain, Paddler’s Cheerleaders & Of Course, Daughters Of The Captain and Paddler: Sydney (7yo) & Chelsea (5yo) The following thoughts were going through my head as I was considering entering this race: 1) Wouldn’t it be cool to be standing on the podium on Sunday afternoon and listening to the crowd chant my name after just winning the first ever Missouri 340. 2) I think I could win this, especially if no one else entered the race. 3) Why would anyone want to enter this race anyway? 4) 340 miles. That must be a type-o. He must have meant 34 miles. 5) I can handle 34 miles in 100 hours. Engrave my name on that “big gaudy trophy.” So I decided to bid on that entrance into the Missouri 34. First time I have ever won. I wonder why. It must be a sign of my good luck to come. That night I went to bed and had a nightmare that I signed up for a real 340 mile race down the Missouri River. I woke up in a cold sweat. I realized, I don’t even own a kayak or a canoe. I have never been in a kayak and have only been in a canoe 4 or 5 times. I’m totally out of shape. I’ll probably be the first one to drop out. How can I get out of this? I’ll fake an injury. I’ll tell him my Old Town Otter has been stolen. He will probably tell me to suck it up and swim. Then the emails started coming. Funny. Informative. Challenging. Then there was the team called “Too Danged Old.” I’m hanging with them. The guy jumping off the rock and his wife who kayaks down 18 foot waterfalls scare me. I want their autograph. I think I’ll just tie a rope to their boat and try and hang on. Wait, that’s illegal. Now Scott is saying we have to send in a bio. Isn’t that something you write when you get ready to die? Anyway…We are from Virginia. We moved here in ’99 from California. Cheryl and I just celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. She is definitely my better half and one true love. We have been blessed with two beautiful daughters. Our oldest child is a 10 year old German Shepherd. Unfortunately, he won’t be able to make the trip. I spend much of my time working with youth who have gotten themselves into trouble with the law. My beautiful wife ended her high school math teaching career a couple weeks before Sydney was born and has been a terrific stay at home mother since then. For the past 2 years she has gotten back into teaching by way of home-schooling our girls. Sydney is starting 2nd and Chelsea is our big Kindergartener. We are blessed to be able to attend and serve at a terrific church called Thomas Road Baptist Church. Seeing the faces of my three ladies at the finish line will be my motivation to finish this race. I’m also looking forward to seeing some of God’s creations in Missouri. And I look forward to meeting the other racers and talking with some of them for the first 30 seconds of the race. I think I can keep up for that long. This paddler’s goal is also simple. Finish the race, hopefully by noon on Sunday, and be able to walk to the car for our 1000+ mile trip home. See ya the 2nd.  Ben preps his boat for the next leg of the race while his girls cool off in the river.
(Photo by Dave Marner)  Russ Payzant congratulates Ben Morgan on completing the Missouri River 340 |
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