No doubt the single most famous, most respected, and most competitive creek race on the planet, the annual Green Race remains a fabulous and homespun little affair held each Fall on the steepest section of western North Carolina's Green River Narrows. Local boaters train here for much of the year due to the reliable flows, and though people come from far and wide to compete, it's still local boaters who win. More than five hundred friends and family members either hike or paddle in to watch and cheer on every racer, scattering themselves along the river's boulders and bedrock near the photogenic signature rapid called Gorilla -- a.k.a. "The Monkey" -- heart and soul of the entire run.

Looming larger than life in any paddler's mind, the Green Race is -- save for a few individuals -- largely not about winning. It's more about having clean lines and a safe run, making a personal best time, beating (or losing to) a friend by a few seconds, and simply participating in such a unique event and the fine community that surrounds it all. And yet to date, in thirteen years, with perhaps a couple thousand people having navigated and portaged themselves down the Green in total, only 317 people have entered the race.

Some of the well-known dangers found on the Narrows are mentioned in this waiver that all racers must agree to and sign prior to entering. For example .... "lacerations" .... "impalement" .... "extensive dental damage" .... and my personal favorite: "I have been warned of the stupidity of this activity". So yeah, sure, Class V, but not just skills does it take; rather, a sense of courage more than the rest of us have -- have we the skills or not.

The Green Race began in 1996 and has been scheduled to start at 12 noon on the first Saturday in November ever since. Racers start from the river right side of the long pool below Bride of Frankenstein and finish about five minutes and one half of a miracle mile later on the river left side of the pool below Rapid Transit. The racers take off in one minute intervals, starting with long boats (the "open" division -- anything goes), then short boats under 9', with the known racers seeded to keep passing to a minimum.

Initially born from a conversation between friends during a Gauley shuttle drive thirteen years ago, Leland Davis then organized the first Green Race, and kept them running through 2002. Jason Hale, also in from the beginning, took over in 2003 and has been the main organizer since then. He's helped by a host of volunteers, Christy Dobson and Dixie-Marie Pickett among them.