Howell man completes AuSable canoe race

The AuSable River Canoe Marathon isn't your typical leisurely, recreational canoe ride.

The 120-mile race from Grayling to Oscoda is a grueling, non-stop endeavor that draws some of the best paddlers from around the world.

Competitors, some coming in the past from as far as Canada, England and Belize, must navigate narrow and windy stretches of the river in total darkness while avoiding stumps, logs, rocks and other obstacles and must finish in the allotted time of 19 hours.

Howell's Dave Hallman, 38, and his race partner, Tawas' Keith Wojahn, finished the race on their first attempt July 26.

"The most important thing is that we finished," Hallman said, laughing. "It's a long and grueling race and a lot of first-time entries don't finish the race. The fact that we finished in itself is an accomplishment."

The tandem finished 72nd out of 82 when, for the first time in the event's 67-year history, it was stopped because of severe weather in the area.

It was the largest field in the AuSable Marathon's history, with 74 teams (90 percent) completing the race.

Hallman and Wojahn were credited with completing the race by having portaged Foote Dam within the given cutoff time. They finished in an unofficial time of 18 hours, 42 minutes.

Grayling's Andy Triebold and Quebec's Steve Lajoie won the event for the seventh consecutive year with a time of 14:36:18.

The race begins at night (9 p.m.) with a Le Mans-style sprint to the river and includes portaging, or using land routes to transport boats, between launch areas at six dams along the way. Hallman and Wojahn's special racing canoe is about 18-feet long and weighs approximately 35 pounds.

Hallman and Wojahn's race got off to an ominous start after they tipped their boat within the first hour.

"I forgot there was a log where I wanted us to go," said Hallman, who competes in several other sanctioned canoe races across the state. "It knocked us out of our boat, but we got back in and got through it and managed to get our groove back. It's easy to (tip) in the darkness and in the windy, twisty shallow sections up there."

The marathon's grind on competitors can be as taxing mentally as it is physically, and it's tough on spectators, too.

"It's one of the toughest endurance events and it's billed as the toughest spectator sport," Hallman said. "You're trying to follow along and get ahead of the racers in remote parts of the river where access isn't always easy. You're trekking on from start to finish and you're up all night in northern Michigan's backwoods and dirt roads looking for bridges to cheer on your favorite teams. You're there for maybe five to 10 seconds and then you pack up in the darkness and go to the next spot."

Volunteers on feeder boats assist racers with food, electrolyte drinks, clothing and swapping paddles, among other things.

The AuSable River Canoe Marathon is open to anyone, but it's recommended for experienced paddlers.

Hallman said his preparation for the event included paddling the marathon route down the AuSable as well as spending time on Thompson Lake and Lake Chemung.

The show coordinator at D.E. McNabb Flooring in Milford said his first AuSable River Marathon certainly won't be his last, though he was unsure if he'll participate next year.

"I don't know yet," Hallman said. "I'm definitely going to do it again. A lot of it is just mixing work schedules with time to train. ... It definitely won't be my last one."