Minneapolis paddler is back for another go at Mississippi River speed record

Vernon Kruger once held the record and I heard him speak shortly after he set it. I approached him after his speech to talk about his favorite parts of the river, but quickly realized that paddling that fast and through the night didn't leave a lot of time for him to enjoy himself.

missmolly: "Vernon Kruger once held the record and I heard him speak shortly after he set it. I approached him after his speech to talk about his favorite parts of the river, but quickly realized that paddling that fast and through the night didn't leave a lot of time for him to enjoy himself. "

With Valerie paddling bow!

fadersup: "

missmolly: "Vernon Kruger once held the record and I heard him speak shortly after he set it. I approached him after his speech to talk about his favorite parts of the river, but quickly realized that paddling that fast and through the night didn't leave a lot of time for him to enjoy himself. "

With Valerie paddling bow!


"

That is an awesome pic!!!

Thanks for posting Frenchy19. Their plan is to launch this Sunday +/-. Scott Miller has put together a strong, well experienced adventure racing team. River conditions will be starting out favorable but much can happen in 2300 miles.

They put together a nice prerace video of the 4 talking about the trip. Let's you get to know who they are a little bit before they launch. It's on their facebook site.

Good luck to Scott, Jud, Paul, and Wally.

The Team

I ran into Scott and a paddling partner on a portage in 2020. They were testing out a brand new Minn-4 that they had just picked up.

They launched yesterday at 6 am and are now a little over a day into it. Wow! The physical and mental challenge they have in front of them.

Here is the link to their InReach satellite tracking map.

Mississippi Speed Record team tracking

Update- Team Mississippi Speed Record is doing great so far! They're into Iowa and are about 14 hours ahead of record pace. That is a huge accomplishment this early into the route. Lots of updates on their Facebook site for those interested in watching and cheering them on.

BeaV: "Update- Team Mississippi Speed Record is doing great so far! They're into Iowa and are about 14 hours ahead of record pace. That is a huge accomplishment this early into the route. Lots of updates on their Facebook site for those interested in watching and cheering them on."

Are they just warming up for the Kruger Challenge? Driving to Grand Rapids and seeing the river levels up here I can see why this would be the year. Unbelievable the current and water levels. The current they are in now must be sketchy... I hope they are safe the whole way...

It's wild watching folks race this every spring!
I'd love to make the trip but at a leisurely pace

Wow! They are making great progress.

It is always fun to keep an eye on these teams, particularly around waters I'm familiar with. I'm still waiting for one of the teams to take the Grey Cloud Channel short cut near my home in Cottage Grove, MN. It was reopened a few years ago after being blocked up for a long time. It can get a little shallow in a couple spots, but with the higher waters this spring I doubt the team would have had any trouble. In a race, every mile matters! Best of luck to the team as they close in on their goal.

Eagle98

Looks like they took the longer route.

JimmyJustice: "Eagle98
Looks like they took the longer route. "

Yeah, that's what I noticed too. I wonder if there are any rules that prevent them from using side channels? By my rough estimate, the Grey Cloud Channel shortens the distance by about 1.5-2 miles, so it isn't a ton in the grand scheme of the river...but it is definitely shorter. Of course, the current is undoubtedly a lot stronger in the main channel too, so maybe they make up in speed what they lose in distance by staying in the main channel?

At what specific point do they consider the end of the Mississippi River? At Venice, LA? or further?

Just about done!

SouthernExposure: "At what specific point do they consider the end of the Mississippi River? At Venice, LA? or further?"

I believe the end is past Venice, LA, at mile marker zero at the Head of Passes.

SouthernExposure: "At what specific point do they consider the end of the Mississippi River? At Venice, LA? or further?"

Further than that. Not familiar with the river but according to RaceOwl site that is tracking their progress, the race finish is at "Head of Passes". The team has roughly 90 miles to go.

Are ther still on track to break the record?

I see that they are done.

Record-breaking??

Yeah they broke the record by a little less than a day I think.

okinaw55: "Yeah they broke the record by a little less than a day I think."

Yep. Finished around 3:00 am today. Pretty amazing!!

Wow, great job. Setting the new record at 16 days, 20 hours, 16 minutes according to their facebook site.

BeaV: "Wow, great job. Setting the new record at 16 days, 20 hours, 16 minutes according to their facebook site. "

Something to set your sites on;-)

Thank you for following our effort to break the record. It was humbling and empowering knowing that everyone was following along.
-Wally

eagle98mn: "It is always fun to keep an eye on these teams, particularly around waters I'm familiar with. I'm still waiting for one of the teams to take the Grey Cloud Channel short cut near my home in Cottage Grove, MN. It was reopened a few years ago after being blocked up for a long time. It can get a little shallow in a couple spots, but with the higher waters this spring I doubt the team would have had any trouble. In a race, every mile matters! Best of luck to the team as they close in on their goal.


"

Ha! I wish we would have gotten that intel before the trip. :-) We did try to take a lot of cuts that we knew about. We did not know them all though.
-Wally

BeaV: "Wow, great job. Setting the new record at 16 days, 20 hours, 16 minutes according to their facebook site. "

Thanks!!!

There will be a documentary coming out about our trip. The production company, Wilderness Mindset (wildernessmindset.com) followed us along during the trip. They were amazing!!! You can sign up on their website for a newsletter to get informed as to when the documentary will come out. It should be really neat...there are so many stories to tell about the trip.

Here is a trailer to keep you on the edge of your seat until the documentary comes out.

https://youtu.be/mrKdtp0Xy2c

Again, thank you so much to everyone for following along and caring about our adventure.

Cheers!!!
Wally Werderich

walldozer: "

eagle98mn: "It is always fun to keep an eye on these teams, particularly around waters I'm familiar with. I'm still waiting for one of the teams to take the Grey Cloud Channel short cut near my home in Cottage Grove, MN. It was reopened a few years ago after being blocked up for a long time. It can get a little shallow in a couple spots, but with the higher waters this spring I doubt the team would have had any trouble. In a race, every mile matters! Best of luck to the team as they close in on their goal.



"

Ha! I wish we would have gotten that intel before the trip. :-) We did try to take a lot of cuts that we knew about. We did not know them all though.
-Wally"

Cool! It is neat to know that it is an option at least. Like I said, it does get shallow under normal conditions, so a team would probably want to scout it in advance to be familiar with the channel. The intel is buried here on BWCA.com for whoever is next to challenge the river. Congrats on the record! :)