Ice Chips to Canoe Quips

Dennie next week!

Next weekend is the first running of the epic The Dennie canoe and kayak race. There has been a lot of interest generated in the two-day stage race. Friday morning, August 22 paddlers leave downtown Blind River and must navigate their way to the marina in Spanish.

The modern day voyageurs with their carbon paddles and GPS units will get to rest the night and only take off at 8:00 Saturday morning to head in the general vicinity of Little Current. The course is, after all, open to some interpretation with very few checkpoints required. The weather may very likely be the biggest determining factor and teams will have to alter their route through the thousands of islands in the Bay of Islands.

Racers do have to find their way to the La Cloche Channel that will lead them under Highway 6, past Dreamer’s Rock and eventually under the swing bridge in Little Current to finish at Low Island. Finally, paddlers, support crews and guests will meet at the Little Current Curling Club for an awards’ ceremony and banquet.

If you are interested in racing or helping out as a volunteer visit www.thedennie.com for a more detailed information and contact options for organizer Rob Mellan.

Beaten the Beaton!

The venerable but tough Beaton Classic took place this past weekend and a few brave souls completed the solo version which includes four different disciplines: a 1km swim, a 24km bike ride, a 4km canoe paddle and a 7 7.5km run. All tolled even the fastest on the day were in for over two hours of effort. Summer resident Todd Withers finished 6th overall while, Whitefish Falls’ Denis Lefevre was close behind in 8th in the men’s solo division. Congratulations as well to Willisville’s Tamara Flannigan who finished the women’s solo division.

Catching up with Haweater

Here are a couple more of the results from last weekend Haweater festivities. First, the junior division of the co-ed soccer tournament came to an actual, dead-heat. Team White tied Team Blue, 2 – 2 but both sides conceded the tie due to the amazingly hot and sunny conditions. So, kudos to both sides.

Team White featured: Autumn Deschenes, Whittier Gauthier, Cousin Jenna, Delaney Bridgeman, Liam Bridgeman, Todd Gordon, Jared Cortes, Hunter Clarke, Riley Lockeyer and Joe Graham.  Team Blue included: Aiden Farquhar, Bailey Middaugh, Noah Hare, Cody Willis, Brett Willis, Michael Madahbee, Ben Marshall, Olivia Hall, Kieran Harper and Tess Harper.

Earlier on Saturday morning, 81 people ran in the annual Haw Runs. The little ones traversed the 1k distance and everyone else took in the 5k and 10km distances. Results at this point are a little sketchy but the 5k winner ran it in a speedy 21 minutes. Rockville’s Jon Balfe broke the 10k tape first in 50 minutes. Many thanks to Nelson Wood who was the main organizer of the event.

NOHA development campers!

Way to go to Bantam Panthers Braeden Case and Greg Doane who both attended the NOHA Development Camp this past weekend in Sudbury. The event is for the top, Under-15 Bantams in the North. Keep up the training boys, after maybe just a little rest!

Ultimate Tuesday/Thursdays

Check out Facebook for Ultimate Tuesday/Thursday down at Low Island in Little Current. The gang is still getting a decent turn-out. Thanks to Ben Quackenbush who organizes the weekly and bi-weekly event. NO experience necessary, just a willingness to learn, have fun and sweat!