Russel Fork Weekend- Lord of the Fork

The Russell Fork race was this past weekend on the Kentucky/ Virginia boarder. It was an incredible weekend as it was the last recreational release schedule for the year. The river was running, weather was warm, and the autumn colors were in full effect, you could hardly ask for a better weekend of paddling in late October.

I was able to get a couple practice laps in on Friday with Dane Jackson and Kalob Grady. It was nice to finally figured out the lines after several runs where I was totally off line. Race day came on Saturday and I was ready to go. There were around 120 racers, which made this years turn our to be the biggest the “Lord of the Fork” race has ever had. By the time I was up to race I felt confident in my lines, and in great physical shape after the past couple months of training at home. “3, 2, 1, GO!” I started off with some hard strokes and kept in a good cadence for the 7 minute race. My lines were smooth, with very little mistakes in any. I finished with a time of 7:06, which I think may have actually set the course record for short boat. I was stoked either way as I stayed on line and felt proud of my performance. I think everyone was happy to just be out on the water and enjoying the gorgeous weekend we had at hand.

The awards happened just after dark and announced Dane Jackson & Adriene Levknecht as the long boat and King & Queen Lords of the Fork. All in all it was an incredible day out on the water, it felt great to go fast and great to be part of an event for the first time in over 8 months. I was stoked to partake and still able to adapt with social distances and promote safety & health. I can’t wait to get back to the next event.

Nick Troutman