MR340: Every year, there are fascinating stories--few of which get much publicity--that come out of the Missouri American Water 340, the 340-mile paddling race from Kansas City to St. Charles on the Missouri River.

The top solo finisher at last week's race was Salli O'Donnell. Salli has competed in the MR340 nine times. Five of those have been solo entries, and she was the top female in all five. She also holds the women's course record--39 hours and 25 minutes. The Alabama native has an impressive athletic background that started as a collegiate gymnast and swimmer, moved on to running (she's done the Berlin Marathon and long trail races), and then, when knee injuries forced her to take up something else, settled on long-distance paddling. She's a multi-year finisher of the Alabama 650 (kilometer) race.

In a more offbeat story from this year's race, two Jefferson City paddlers towed their canoe--by bike--from Jefferson City to Kansas City for the start of the race, paddled the entire race--with their bikes stowed onboard--and then towed the canoe back home from St. Charles by bike. (It's hard enough pedaling the Katy Trail bearing just your body weight and gear. Towing a heavy canoe behind you would be insane.) The Jefferson City News Tribune published a story about their adventure.

Go here to see all of the race and links.  The Facebook page has lots of photos and stories.

There were no Lake-area participants at this year's race.  We've had locals compete, but iI's been quite a few years since then.

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JEFFERSON CITY ROADRUNNERS' 4th OF JULY FIRECRACKER MILE (posted July 7th)

The Jefferson City Roadrunners continued their long tradition of holding a free, no medals, no shirts, no frills, one-mile race on the 4th of July. This year's Firecracker Mile had 55 competitors toe the starting line, and Tucker Seise took second overall, finishing in 4:50. Tucker crossed the finish line 16 seconds behind a 23 year-old former high school and collegiate cross country runner, Jenson Starr of Jefferson City.

Complete results can be found here.

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CHRISTMAS IN JULY 5K RUN/WALK (posted May 19th)

The Tri-County YMCA's eighth annual Christmas in July 5K Run/Walk will be held at the YMCA in Osage Beach on Saturday, July 26th. To beat the July heat, the race will start at 7:00 a.m., with race-day registration opening at 5:30 a.m.

The entry fee is $30 through June 30th, and $35 thereafter. T-shirts can only be guaranteed to those who register by June 30th.

The link to online registration isn't yet working.

Click for a mail-in registration form with additional race details.

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