The annual Mid-American Canoe and Kayak Race on Saturday drew people from all over to the Fox River, including Steve Aydt of Arlington Heights and his 16-year-old daughter Abby.
“This is something my dad has done, but for me it’s my first time,” Abby said with a big smile on Saturday morning along the river in St. Charles. “I’m not sure how this is going to go but I think it will be fun.”
First held in 1961, the event sponsored by the Fox Valley Park District included both competitive and recreational divisions. Launch points were offered in St. Charles for a 10-mile course and Batavia for a six-mile course, with both courses ending in Aurora.
Facility manager at the Fox Valley Park District’s Prisco Community Center Lynn Piotrowski, the coordinator of the event, spoke Thursday before the race and said some recent rain helped the event by increasing water speed on the river without causing any danger.
“With the race we have inched back up to comfortable speeds as we’re at 760 cubic feet per second which is low but not painfully low,” she said. “Earlier we were down in the 400 range and we popped up a bit.”
She said the event remains a popular one.
“We have a total of 292 participants and 200 boats, which is right on target where we were last year. We’re excited about that as our numbers came up a lot in the last week,” she said. “Our numbers actually doubled in the last week and a half. I think a lot of people were holding out to see what the weather would do after the crazy weather of last year.”
A steady stream of participants were gathered in bright sunshine at the launch point at Mt. St. Mary Park in St. Charles on Saturday morning.
Steve Aydt said he has participated in the race for a few years.
“We signed up for the competitive race but we’re going to go at our own pace and enjoy the day,” he said about his daughter and himself. “I’m not here to break a record. This is a great way to spend time with my daughter and a day on the water.”
Jerry Grimes of Aurora said that he had participated in the annual local race “over 40 times.”
“More than that, we started in 1981. It’s a family event. I’ve got my nephew here and his dad. We’re in the adult-youth division,” he said. “We’ve won our division a number of times but there are other canoes out here that are just unbelievable.”
Jeff Grimes, 16, who said he would be competing with his uncle Jerry, said this was his third year doing the race and that the hardest part of racing “is going out by the dams.”
“You have to avoid the dams and then getting out and going back in,” he said.
Peter Leonard of St. Charles said he has come to the race “a dozen times.”
“This is the only race I go to because it’s local,” he said. “I like that this is traditional and it gets people from all over and is put on very well by the park district.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
