River racing

[Note: this story has been modified since its original posting.]

After stopping to rest for a few minutes before hopping back in her kayak, Katie Pfefferkorn spoke rapidly on her cell phone from Glasgow on Thursday afternoon.

“I earned the mileage yesterday to take it easy today,” Pfefferkorn, an MU engineering student, said.

Pferrerkorn, one of 22 entrants in the Missouri River 340 who set out Wednesday morning to paddle across the state, barely stopped to breathe as she anxiously described the stormy night she had just endured.

“I feel like I killed two birds with one stone,” said Pfefferkorn about paddling at night and through a thunderstorm. “But I have sworn off riding at night.”

With a storm rolling in around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday night, Pfefferkorn said she knew she was in trouble.

“It was worse case scenario,” Pfefferkorn said of the gusty winds and rain.

She said she was lucky to be near fellow solo kayaker Brian Smith of Pflugerville, Texas when the storm hit. The two worked together to find a safe haven, helping guide one another on the river.

“It was dark. We couldn’t really see ahead of us. And then there was a huge tree limb out in the water and he (Smith) saw it seconds before I would have hit it,” Pfefferkorn said. “He screamed at me to go left.”

Pfefferkorn said she was luckily able to turn fast enough and barely missed hitting the large branch.

“It would have taken me first and then my kayak,” she said.

It was 4:30 a.m. Thursday morning before Pfefferkorn and Smith pulled off in Miami. There was 230 miles of river left between them and the finish line in St. Charles, and they had started at Kaw Point in Kansas City.

After pulling off for the night and sleeping 3 1/2 hours with her tarp wrapped around her body, Pfefferkorn was back on the river by 8 a.m. Thursday.

“She is doing great. She has a 20-mile lead on the other solo females,” race coordinator Scott Mansker said. “She paddled deep into the night. I’ve been pretty impressed.”

Mansker said there are 15 people and 12 boats still paddling on the river. Solo kayaker David Greer from Springfield and tandem paddlers A.W. Paris from Blue Springs and John Burkhead of Athens, Ala., and Scott and Lisa Swafford from Columbia dropped out within the first 24 hours.

“I’m almost certain more people will drop off,” Mansker said.

Mansker said West Hansen from Texas leads all competitors and is expected to finish in St. Charles sometime Friday.

As of Thursday afternoon, Dawn Keller from North Carolina was Pfefferkorn’s closest competition in the women’s solo division.

“I think she’s counting on me to burn out,” Pfefferkorn said. “I’m just running on nerves now. I’m really tired. But I am going to finish.”

Pfefferkorn said she plans to make camp Thursday night in Franklin, and said she hopes to arrive in Columbia before noon today.

“That was a really intense first day. Now it’s just a matter of staying cool and hydrating,” Pfefferkorn said.