The Sunset Race is an event that was started in December 2007 to help train for the Missouri River 340 race. A dedicated group of us come out the second Thursday of each month and paddle to train for distance racing and enjoy the river. I spent the first hour of the race hanging out watching the boats while the rest of the group ran shuttle.
Dan had offered for me to try out his kayak which is only 19″ wide. Its very fast, but takes some work to balance. I tried it for about 5 feet before I realized I would flip and I didn’t feel like swimming. I took my kayak out and paddled up stream to keep busy while keeping all our boats in sight.
Once I got upstream, I noticed a group of kids swimming in the river. They were having a great time hanging out. Two of the decided to do something stupid. Two kids climbed up on top of the train bridge and jumped into the river. This is stupid for many reasons, but first being that the river is quite low. I watched them jump, but stayed in the area, ready to paddle over and help rescue an injured person.
It all turned out okay and none of the kids got hurt, but I don’t want to be around if they try it again! The paddle that night was perfect.
Hogan