Jo has been telling me about the whitewater championships for a few years now. She said that I would get a kick out of seeing the boats run down the St. Francis river. Its held there every year in the early spring. This year, I decided that nothing would cause me to miss it. So Corvin and I hopped in the van for the 2 hour drive to the start of the race. The race started around 10am and I needed to be back in St. Louis and downtown at 1pm. From the parking lot, it was a 1 mile walk to the viewing area for the race. Corvin and I settled down to enjoy our 45 minutes worth of viewing!
OK, so settled in meant that Corvin was climbing up and down the rocks while I watched the paddling. I had a vested interest in the 3 Sartori paddlers and Jo Newbold.
Lucky for me, the 4 of them all made their runs in the 45 minutes we were there before we had to high tail it home.
![IMG_9664](https://snorkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/IMG_9664.jpg)
![IMG_9514](https://snorkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/IMG_9514.jpg)
![IMG_9479](https://snorkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/IMG_9479.jpg)
And Deborah Sartori cheering on her family!
And don’t forget all the safety boats out there to protect the paddlers!
![IMG_9439](https://snorkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/IMG_9439.jpg)
It was a very cool event that I would like to see more of next year!
Hogan Haake