FIBArk closes with big water
by Kristen M. White
The Mountain Mail, Salida, Colorado
June 20, 2005
Half a gallon of Gatorade is floating down the Arkansas River, mixing with muddy river water, after Geoff Calhoun emptied it out of his kayak during Sunday’s downriver FIBArk race.
“I had this thing,” Calhoun said, pointing to his water bladder, “full of Gatorade. I wasn’t drinking any of it, and it weighs – like – six pounds, so on a flat stretch of water I poured it out.”
Six pounds lighter, Calhoun’s kayak was the first across the finish line in Cotopaxi, in a time of 2:11:55.
It was Calhoun’s first FIBArk race and a fitting end to the weekend after the 19-year-old Bethesda, Md., boater also won the U.S.A. Wildwater National Championship in the K1 division.
“This is the longest race I’ve ever done,” Calhoun said after the 26-mile downriver event. “I had no idea how I’d pace myself, but I was efficient.”
Calhoun said he spent the first portion of the race in fourth place, behind Gary Lacy, Scott Shipley and Chris Hipgrave.
“In the sprint course area, I took a different line and got some distance. Then I felt like whenever I wanted to, I could pull away,” he said.
Hipgrave finished the race second, in a time of 2:13:13, with Shipley nipping at his heels six seconds later. Lacy finished fifth, in 2:16:10.
Calhoun said he got into a good rhythm and pushed himself, but didn’t tire himself too much.
However, at Cottonwood Rapid he learned he was “more tired than I thought I was,” as he found his kayak floating backwards, bouncing off a rock and then floating sideways. He quickly recovered and maintained his lead.
A recent influx of water on the Arkansas in the past several days helped competitors in the downriver race. Sunday afternoon, flow at the Wellsville gauge was 2,020 cubic feet per second, up 1,000 cfs from Thursday when FIBArk began.
The first raft to cross the finish was “Team Blaze,” lead by Mark Mattson. Although some team members have changed through the years, Team Blaze has won the downriver raft race 16 of the last 17 years. Team members said the water was “good, really good,” and the best flow in the past five years.
Mattson said all the FIBArk personnel and residents who gather in Cotopaxi for the end of the race are “really appreciated” by competitors.
Louie Struna, a member of Team Blaze, said the race was “hot, but we didn’t really notice.”
Indeed, Sunday was hot, with Cotopaxi registering a temperature of 97 degrees as competitors crossed the finish line.
Winning the canoe race was Tom Wier in a time of 2:19:17. Second place went to Tom Gray, 2:23:51; and third John Pinyerd, 2:24:10.
The K1 women’s division was won by Erica Schuler in 2:47:34. She was the sole entry.
In the C2 category, Nic Borst and Chris Wiegand crossed the finish line
in 2:21:15. There were no other entries.
Gatorade overboard
FIBArk win results from efficiency, loss of extra load
By Tracy Harmon
The Pueblo Chieftan, Pueblo, Colorado, 6/20/05
COTOPAXI - Geoff Calhoun found the secret to winning the
longest race he's kayaked was efficient paddling and taking the time to
dump out 6 pounds of Gatorade he didn't need.
Calhoun, 19, of Bethesda, Md., captured the first-place finish Sunday in the grueling 26-mile downriver FIBArk Boat Race from Salida to Cotopaxi. It was pure gravy for a world-class boater who just captured two first-place USA Wildwater Championship titles in the sprint and downriver classic races Friday and Saturday on the Arkansas River near Salida.
Calhoun finished Sunday's downriver race in 2 hours, 11 minutes and
55 seconds. It turned out to be a nice triple-trophy Father's Day weekend
for Calhoun's dad, who witnessed the races and will drive with him to New
York for his next race, a completely different flat-water race.
 |
CHIEFTAIN PHOTOS/TRACY HARMONChris Hipgrave seems to hold his breath as he barrels through Cottonwood Rapid, finishing second at the FIBArk 26-mile downriver race, just over a minute after the first place boater. |
Calhoun beat out Chris Hipgrave at 2 hours, 13 minutes and 13 seconds, as well as last year's second-place finisher, Boulder's Scott Shipley, 34, at 2 hours, 13 minutes and 19 seconds. Thanks to a fast-running river at 2,200 cubic feet per second, Calhoun logged a finish time that was 22 minutes faster than last year's race.
The "old man" on the river, perennial favorite Gary Lacy, 49, of Boulder finished the race in fifth place - not bad for someone who has competed in 31 races during FIBArk's 57-year history.
"It is survival at this point," Lacy joked. "I'm 30 years older than the winner."
Calhoun, who said he has a reputation as a strong sprinter, was surprised he was able to outlast Hipgrave in a race he characterized as a classic strength marathon.
"I'm stronger and I'm a better sprinter, but the reason I was able to beat Hipgrave was that I was really efficient," Calhoun said. "I started out in fourth place but then I took a different line and came out ahead of them.
"They caught up to me a couple of times, but I pulled away. I didn't have any incentive to paddle myself to death, so I just got a really good rhythm going," Calhoun explained.
Holding up a nearly-empty beverage bladder, Calhoun said. "This was
full of Gatorade, but I wasn't thirsty, so I got rid of about 6 pounds
of extra weight when I popped my (boat) skirt and poured it out."
 |
Geoff Calhoun, 19, of Bethesda, Md., zips through the Cottonwood Rapid on his way to a first-place finish Sunday in FIBArk's 26-mile downriver kayak race from Salida to Cotopaxi. |
Calhoun said he was more tired than he realized coming into the big whitewater of Cottonwood Rapid 3 miles from the race finish.
"I started going sideways then backward and hit a rock, but I managed to get turned around the right way," Calhoun said.
Another FIBArk highlight Sunday was Team Blaze's 13th first-place finish
in the 26-mile raft race. Sponsored by Eric Lang's Inflatable Restoration
Repair of Swissvale, the team took advantage of the high water to capture
a huge lead, but, "It's always hard," team member Nick Pershbacher said
of the race.
FIBArk ("First In Boating on the Arkansas")
by John Pinyerd
USA Wildwater
Without a doubt, FIBArk probably deserves the
designation as the "longest, oldest, most prestigious, and toughest downriver
race" in North America. The only question is if this badge of honor
should extend to the whole planet. The 26-mile-long downriver race
through some of the Arkansas River's most exciting waters is a race against
time that challenges the competitor's whitewater skills, flatwater speed,
endurance, and grit. The first race began in 1949 over a bet.
In 1951 the course was set at its existing length of 26 miles from Salida
to Cotopaxi, CO.
Following tradition, the expert boaters begin
the 26-mile race in a mass start at the Salida Slalom course. This
year's race had nearly perfect conditions as the water rose to around 2200
CFS on race day. As a result the 11 named rapids on the course deserved
their class III (or higher) ranking, not to mention the mile after mile
of western style class II rapids.
This year the Expert 26-mile race had nearly
40 competitors, including many of the top racers from the US Wildwater
Team that just returned from Europe and were in town for USA Nationals.
Amazingly, a dozen of the Expert racers were Juniors. In addition,
there were about 15 racers in the shorter intermediate and beginning races,
bringing the total participation in the downriver/wildwater events to more
than 50 racers.
In the duel for K-1 supremacy and the fastest
time down the river, Geoff Calhoun battled it out with Wildwater Team member
Chris Hipgrave, Olympian Scott Shipley, zillion-time FIBArk winner Gary
Lacy, and distance racer Elmore Holmes. Geoff set the pace with the veteran
racers of the pack following figuring the young man would eventually crack.
But Calhoun proved that he is not only one of the best wildwater sprinters
in the world, he can also make even the best trained distance athletes
suffer for trying to stay with him. Chris Hipgrave proved why he
is one of the best distance paddlers in the US by finishing second, and
Scott Shipley placed third.
Tom Weir clearly dominated the C-1 class for
the top position. Weir finished a mere 5.6% (or 7 minutes) off of
the top K-1 (Geoff Calhoun). The real battle in C-1 was for 2nd place.
Veteran racer John Pinyerd kept pace a minute or two behind Tom Gray who
cracked after about 90 minutes in last years FIBArk. But as the race
wore on, Gray kept the pace up and Pinyerd’s efforts to catch him below
Valle Bridge yielded only modest gains. However, the Class IV Cottonwood
rapid nearly spoiled the day for Gray when he eddied out, as Pinyerd gained
30 seconds or more with a picture perfect run down the right hand side.
With Gray now in sight, Pinyerd poured it on hoping to catch Gray before
Cotopaxi. Gray had other plans, and held on to his lead by 19 seconds.
Nic Borst/Chris Wiegand and a very solid run
in C-2. It was very exciting to see that the Borst/Wiegand team has
the level of skill and dedication that it takes too paddle a C-2 well,
especially in a race like FIBArk.
Boo Turner had told everyone that getting
the chance to race FIBArk was like “a dream come true” for her. Apparently
the dream also included winning the K-1W class and beating most of the
men.
Emily Stein was the top Junior woman and Adam
Contant was the top Junior man in the Expert race. In the Intermediate
10-mile race, Laura Adams (K-1 W Jr.) won her class and beat all the men
en route to becoming the overall winner. Aaron Karnuta won the 2-mile Beginner
Race leaving several folks to speculate that he might be following in his
dad’s footsteps to become a future Wildwater Team member.
USA Wildwater deeply appreciates the efforts
that Dr. Ed Loeffel, Chad Dixon, and the FIBArk Organization put into this
event to ensure it was successful. For more information about FIBArk,
please see www.fibark.net.