2010 Green River race
texts and photos: Shane Benedict
A collection of thoughts from this years Green Race
That quiet, when you switch off the fan
The house is empty! After having 12 people staying here for the last couple weeks, I woke up to sudden quiet this morning. I figured I would take a final chance to get a few thoughts out on the event to give it some closure. Somehow I have to get back into the normal swing of things. That may prove difficult for a few reasons. The first is that I loved having all those friends in the house. Someone always had a joke to offer and a fun plan to hatch. Like last night, we piled into cars and met with all the "foreigners" for a final meal and farewell as they make for all parts of the world today. We shared a warm night of chatting with old and new friends. The other reason? At some point after the Green Race, the turbine in the powerhouse that supplies the water to the Green River broke! Imagine if that happened the morning of the Race. The message on the power company’s web site said that it "hopes to have releases begin again by springtime.” Hopefully the winter rains will come and we will be able to boat any number of places and the lake here will fill with water and spill over the dam allowing us to enjoy the Green as well but until then, I guess I will have to dust off the mountain bike.
What, no Carnage?!?
Somewhere near 40 new racers paddled this year! That is insane! When I started paddling the Green there weren't 40 people running it in a year. Congratulations to you all! It shows the constant development of our sport. The equipment gets better, and we find better techniques to run hard whitewater. I have heard several people comment on the lack of carnage this year during the race and the plethora of sweet lines. I have to admit I was a vulture. I thought that after the first 60 or so racers we’d see some big action but as the 100th racer went by, the lines were still true and on point. Here is to you all putting on a great show and doing it with style.
Ladylove
The Green has always been a river for the boys but this year we saw the ladies out in force and I love it. A constant flow of talented women has always run this river but it seems like we are in a growth stage of lovely ladies gracing the Green. I mean, John Grace is a handsome man and all, but I sure like to pull into the eddy and have happy smiling women firing it up as well. The question is, will the boys be able to keep their heads on straight when the girls run it just as hard!
1/3 the paddle twice the man
C-1 paddlers rocked my world this year on the river. Every time I see one of these guys doing a cross-bow boof off Gorilla or offside brace while sliding down the rocks I cringe and then must applaud and yell for them. They have put on a show of paddling prowess here for many races but this year we had a seething school. The most impressive moment of the race for me was seeing Ben Frakar paddle into the notch full intensity and focus but holding his paddle like a first time rafting guest, not because he didn't know better, but because he had broken his T-Grip OFF at GO LEFT. That’s 5 drops back in 2 substantial rapids. He paused in the eddy below Go Left for a second. Then he turned and continued down the river, TOWARDS GORILLA! I immediately thought what my reaction would have been: "I am so fucking glad I am in this eddy, now get me out of this boat!"
Can I have a witness
I always give huge props to the crowd. You come in from sooo far, wait in long lines, brave the cold, and then give all the paddlers the time of their lives. It amazes me every time and gives me goose bumps when I come around the corner and see all the people. I really enjoyed and felt touched by a few stories from the crowd. I love it that Laurie Levknecht drives down each year to be with her daughter during the race, with huge hugs ready, win or lose. Lately it’s been more winning than losing. Pat Keller and Andrew Holcombe, the two past champions, walked in to watch the event and cheer on the lads. Injuries that kept them from paddling at all sidelined them both. I met a father and son—I unfortunately didn't get their names—but the father said that he watched the Green Race 10 times and that he could finally bring his son this year because he had grown old enough to make the hike. That is so cool! The generations are passing the Green Race along! A friend told me about some serious struggles he was having in his own life and that his experience this year at the race had encouraged him to drive and fight but to also recognize that he had people around him to help if the "Gorilla" beat him down. He also said, "I will be back next year".
"Love Thyself" as Jason asked us all to do
This years race proved exceptional for me even though I didn't race, something I hope to rectify next year. The stories above, my past articles, and memories that I probably shouldn't share, provide most of the reasons this Green Race Day felt great. But more factors contributed. For the first time, a Liquidlogic kayak won the overall Green Race. Mike Dawson is a phenomenal paddler whom everyone in the gorge thought had a chance to win even though he paddled the river for just two weeks. With his history of winning extreme races, I couldn't pass up on the opportunity when he asked to paddle the Stinger. He may have won in any boat but it was great to have him paddling for us. LL paddlers also went on to win all but one class this year. Isaac Levinson placed second in the long boat and first in short boat in his Remix. Huge congratulations to Adriene for winning both long and short boat in the women's category as well as continuing the streak of 3 straight Green Race wins. The old man :) Keith Sprinkle continues his long streak as well by holding off the younguns another year in the Hand Paddle division in a Stinger. The new kid on the block Tad Dennis won C-1 in an LL Hungee, and Scott McClusky won short boat C-1 in a Pyranhna Everest to break up the full sweep. The Green River, and the race, are a huge part of who Liquidlogic is and we are so proud to be a part of them both.
Here is the link:http://greenrace.amongstit.com/2010/11/01/how-about-a-little-green-race-trash-talking/
see more photo of the green:
http://picasaweb.google.com/shanebenedict2/2010GreenRaceDayAndParty?authkey=Gv1sRgCOPzivj3g_jDaQ&feat=directlink
More Shane's content on the Race and others: http://shanesliquidlogic.blogspot.com/search?q=Green+Race
Official Green race Page
http://greenrace.amongstit.com/
American Whitewater page created by John Pilson. It has the all the info you would ever want to know about the Green Race. Including the entire race history, times, placings, winners, as well as other stories, photos videos.
http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/Photo/detail/photoid/18557/
John Grace page:
http://greenrace.amongstit.com/2010/11/01/how-about-a-little-green-race-trash-talking/
Special Thanks to:
Green River Access Fund which provides all the food and entertainment.
The brothers Northern, Joel and WIllie, for the awesome food.
Thanks John Grace, Jason Hale, Chelsea Christiani, Sara Bell, Tim Bell, Jennifer Cribbs and Dr. Jodi for making the race happen.
Thanks to Red Bull for supplying the DJ
Thanks to Woody for hosting the party!
and thanks to all those that came, attended, and paddled you make the Green Race what it is.
texts and photos: Shane Benedict
A collection of thoughts from this years Green Race
That quiet, when you switch off the fan
The house is empty! After having 12 people staying here for the last couple weeks, I woke up to sudden quiet this morning. I figured I would take a final chance to get a few thoughts out on the event to give it some closure. Somehow I have to get back into the normal swing of things. That may prove difficult for a few reasons. The first is that I loved having all those friends in the house. Someone always had a joke to offer and a fun plan to hatch. Like last night, we piled into cars and met with all the "foreigners" for a final meal and farewell as they make for all parts of the world today. We shared a warm night of chatting with old and new friends. The other reason? At some point after the Green Race, the turbine in the powerhouse that supplies the water to the Green River broke! Imagine if that happened the morning of the Race. The message on the power company’s web site said that it "hopes to have releases begin again by springtime.” Hopefully the winter rains will come and we will be able to boat any number of places and the lake here will fill with water and spill over the dam allowing us to enjoy the Green as well but until then, I guess I will have to dust off the mountain bike.
What, no Carnage?!?
Somewhere near 40 new racers paddled this year! That is insane! When I started paddling the Green there weren't 40 people running it in a year. Congratulations to you all! It shows the constant development of our sport. The equipment gets better, and we find better techniques to run hard whitewater. I have heard several people comment on the lack of carnage this year during the race and the plethora of sweet lines. I have to admit I was a vulture. I thought that after the first 60 or so racers we’d see some big action but as the 100th racer went by, the lines were still true and on point. Here is to you all putting on a great show and doing it with style.
Ladylove
The Green has always been a river for the boys but this year we saw the ladies out in force and I love it. A constant flow of talented women has always run this river but it seems like we are in a growth stage of lovely ladies gracing the Green. I mean, John Grace is a handsome man and all, but I sure like to pull into the eddy and have happy smiling women firing it up as well. The question is, will the boys be able to keep their heads on straight when the girls run it just as hard!
1/3 the paddle twice the man
C-1 paddlers rocked my world this year on the river. Every time I see one of these guys doing a cross-bow boof off Gorilla or offside brace while sliding down the rocks I cringe and then must applaud and yell for them. They have put on a show of paddling prowess here for many races but this year we had a seething school. The most impressive moment of the race for me was seeing Ben Frakar paddle into the notch full intensity and focus but holding his paddle like a first time rafting guest, not because he didn't know better, but because he had broken his T-Grip OFF at GO LEFT. That’s 5 drops back in 2 substantial rapids. He paused in the eddy below Go Left for a second. Then he turned and continued down the river, TOWARDS GORILLA! I immediately thought what my reaction would have been: "I am so fucking glad I am in this eddy, now get me out of this boat!"
Can I have a witness
I always give huge props to the crowd. You come in from sooo far, wait in long lines, brave the cold, and then give all the paddlers the time of their lives. It amazes me every time and gives me goose bumps when I come around the corner and see all the people. I really enjoyed and felt touched by a few stories from the crowd. I love it that Laurie Levknecht drives down each year to be with her daughter during the race, with huge hugs ready, win or lose. Lately it’s been more winning than losing. Pat Keller and Andrew Holcombe, the two past champions, walked in to watch the event and cheer on the lads. Injuries that kept them from paddling at all sidelined them both. I met a father and son—I unfortunately didn't get their names—but the father said that he watched the Green Race 10 times and that he could finally bring his son this year because he had grown old enough to make the hike. That is so cool! The generations are passing the Green Race along! A friend told me about some serious struggles he was having in his own life and that his experience this year at the race had encouraged him to drive and fight but to also recognize that he had people around him to help if the "Gorilla" beat him down. He also said, "I will be back next year".
"Love Thyself" as Jason asked us all to do
This years race proved exceptional for me even though I didn't race, something I hope to rectify next year. The stories above, my past articles, and memories that I probably shouldn't share, provide most of the reasons this Green Race Day felt great. But more factors contributed. For the first time, a Liquidlogic kayak won the overall Green Race. Mike Dawson is a phenomenal paddler whom everyone in the gorge thought had a chance to win even though he paddled the river for just two weeks. With his history of winning extreme races, I couldn't pass up on the opportunity when he asked to paddle the Stinger. He may have won in any boat but it was great to have him paddling for us. LL paddlers also went on to win all but one class this year. Isaac Levinson placed second in the long boat and first in short boat in his Remix. Huge congratulations to Adriene for winning both long and short boat in the women's category as well as continuing the streak of 3 straight Green Race wins. The old man :) Keith Sprinkle continues his long streak as well by holding off the younguns another year in the Hand Paddle division in a Stinger. The new kid on the block Tad Dennis won C-1 in an LL Hungee, and Scott McClusky won short boat C-1 in a Pyranhna Everest to break up the full sweep. The Green River, and the race, are a huge part of who Liquidlogic is and we are so proud to be a part of them both.
Here is the link:http://greenrace.amongstit.com/2010/11/01/how-about-a-little-green-race-trash-talking/
see more photo of the green:
http://picasaweb.google.com/shanebenedict2/2010GreenRaceDayAndParty?authkey=Gv1sRgCOPzivj3g_jDaQ&feat=directlink
More Shane's content on the Race and others: http://shanesliquidlogic.blogspot.com/search?q=Green+Race
Official Green race Page
http://greenrace.amongstit.com/
American Whitewater page created by John Pilson. It has the all the info you would ever want to know about the Green Race. Including the entire race history, times, placings, winners, as well as other stories, photos videos.
http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/Photo/detail/photoid/18557/
John Grace page:
http://greenrace.amongstit.com/2010/11/01/how-about-a-little-green-race-trash-talking/
Special Thanks to:
Green River Access Fund which provides all the food and entertainment.
The brothers Northern, Joel and WIllie, for the awesome food.
Thanks John Grace, Jason Hale, Chelsea Christiani, Sara Bell, Tim Bell, Jennifer Cribbs and Dr. Jodi for making the race happen.
Thanks to Red Bull for supplying the DJ
Thanks to Woody for hosting the party!
and thanks to all those that came, attended, and paddled you make the Green Race what it is.
2010 Green Race daily coverage
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