2008 Marathon Race Course Description

The long course for the marathon races will start in Mottville, MI above the dam. Paddlers will head upstream about 2 miles where there will be a buoy to turn. This section will be lake type of paddling. Paddlers will then head back downstream to the portage takeout near the start line. The portage is about .2 miles long on a trail that is plenty wide enough for one boat, but it will be very hard to pass on the trail. Once back in the water you will head downstream to Bristol, about 8 miles. At this point we transition to moving water with mixtures of shallows, suck and deep water along with weeds all being features of the course.

There is a well defined channel that is passable by small fishing boats all year, so there will always be an option for deeper water (this still may not be what some people consider “deep” water). 

There are some very nice shallows that normally appear for the summer so unless we get a lot more rain than normal these may be the faster route. We also normally have several weed beds along the way, but the channels stay open for the most part. In Bristol paddlers will pass the finish line and head to a buoy just below the Division Street bridge. 

After turning the downstream buoy paddlers will head to an upstream buoy that will be set an appropriate distance to achieve a winning time of at least two hours. The finish line will be at Hermance Park in Bristol, IN. The short course will start the same as the long course but will simply finish in Bristol without any extra loop. Timing of the short course should be in the range of about 1hr 15min for the fastest boats.