Paddlers will help more than their physical and mental health next weekend when they take to the rapids for the 10th iteration of the Ocoee River Race. They’ll benefit an organization providing veterans and their families a chance to improve their own lives through adventure and adaptive paddle sports.
The Tennessee Valley Canoe Club’s annual race down the Middle Ocoee will raise money once again for Team River Runner – a nonprofit organization that provides financial and technical help for veterans and their families who want to paddle.
“When we started, we didn’t really know about the River Runners,” race director Jen Maxwell said. “We worked with a group out of Colorado, but we wanted the money to be used locally and to see the outcome of work that we did.”
This will be the fifth year the race partners with the organization, and it’s a partnership both groups believe has been worthwhile. Last year’s event raised more than $5,000 – more than doubling 2016 donations.
The partnership has made a difference in the life of Rome, Georgia, resident David Baggett. The veteran served a two-year enlistment in the 1980s before enrolling in the National Guard. However, after leaving the military, he lost his leg due to a car accident.
He began flat-water paddling until a man at his church gave him a whitewater kayak. He decided to try it but wasn’t very good, he said. He put away the kayak and assumed whitewater wasn’t for him. However, he went to a Tennessee Valley Canoe Club weekend paddle school and learned proper techniques.
The partnership with Team River Runner helped him get equipment for his son, and the two bonded over their newfound hobby.
“It has given me and my son something to do together,” Baggett said. “It’s improved our relationship. I’m 51 and he’s 12, so it’s a big gap. It’s something I can do. I see people in their 70s and 80s paddling. It’s something I can do for a long time even though I started late in life.”
The paddling community has put increased effort in adding competitions to the Ocoee River to bolster its reputation and use the world-class facility. Competitions are now held on both the Middle and Upper Ocoee between the Ocoee River Race and the recently launched Ocoee River Championships.
Next weekend’s race has grown exponentially from its first year when about 23 paddlers competed. Organizers now cap the event at 120 paddlers. Those paddlers sprint down the river as quickly as possible in one-minute intervals for their race against the clock. The fastest times in each category win.
“The Ocoee River is wonderful and doesn’t always get used for competition,” Maxwell said. “We just thought it would be something new and different, and as it’s grown, more people have decided to race it.”
Contact staff writer Mark Pace at mpace@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659. Follow him on Twitter @themarkpace and on Facebook at ChattanoogaOutdoorsTFP.