From the River X Crew,
With the first snow day upon us and overnight wind-chills registering a balmy -23 degrees Celsius, we felt it's time to announce the 2018 River X Racing schedule. Looking forward to the upcoming season, we are excited to continue with our three-race format.
Our season opener is the
Algonquin Outfitters Big East River X,
a classic 40km ultra marathon canoe, kayak and SUP race. Not only for the hardcore, the Big East River X also hosts a fun and friendly 9km event for paddlers of all ages.
Back for a second year and being the only paddling event of its kind in North America, the
Algonquin Outfitters 24 Hours of River X
brings the paddling community together for a full weekend of non-stop action as marathon paddlers race against the clock to complete as may laps of a 10km course as possible in 24 hours.
For both the Big East and the 24 Hours of River X the courses remain the same. As always, expect a few upgrades as we seek to improve your racer experience.
Algonquin Outfitter Muskoka River X
; the world’s longest single day expedition paddling race is back for its sixth year and for
2018,
things will only get better!
After 5 years of running the course clockwise, we have decided to host a "B-Side", meaning
teams will paddle the route in reverse
. That's right, Huntsville to Port Sydney, Port Sydney to Bracebridge, Bracebridge to Baysville, Baysville to Huntsville. The end result is a shorter
Sprint
@ 58km and a
Classic
with a few extra kilometres @ 132km.
Same Route - Different Course - New Challenges
.
Currently, we are busy finalizing details for 2018 and our goal is to announce when registration will open in the next few weeks. Thank you to everyone who responded to our survey, providing us with much appreciated feedback and suggestions. Every year we commit to various improvements and this year is no different. We strive to offer high value - high quality events and your input is critical in achieving this goal.
Our event dates are listed below along with links to the course details. At this point in our planning process many of the documents may still reflect 2017 events. As event details are confirmed we will revise the documents and update the web site. Be sure to check back for the most up to date information. For the MRX, the google maps and course descriptions now reflect the 2018 B-Side course.
We have also revised our brief dscription of the
Course Heritage
. A long-standing goal of ours has been to better acknowledge the First Nations peoples. For thousands of years before Europeans embarked on canal expeditions and steam ships travelled the Muskoka Lakes the First Nations people thrived in these lands. This revision provides a more accurate perspective to the MRX course.
We hope you consider adding a River X event to your 2018 paddling calendar. We appreciate the support of the paddling community over the years and look forward to offering you new and exiting opportunities in 2018.
Sincerely,
Rob and Mike
