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Paddlers push it in the 39th Annual Mattawa River Canoe Race

Some of the earliest finishers in the 39th Annual Mattawa River Canoe Race sprint the final stretch of the historic route on Saturday afternoon. PHOTOS BY LIAM BERTI The Mattawa River Canoe Race is near and dear to the hearts of the Petersen family.

Some of the earliest finishers in the 39th Annual Mattawa River Canoe Race sprint the final stretch of the historic route on Saturday afternoon. PHOTOS BY LIAM BERTI 

The Mattawa River Canoe Race is near and dear to the hearts of the Petersen family.

This year though, it meant even more.

After the Petersen patriarch, Soern, passed away unexpectedly at the age of 79 from a sudden cardiac event last October, the family knew their venerable tradition of paddling in the race would never be the same.

Soern, a popular and well-respected paddler among those involved in the annual race, would have been competing for the 25th consecutive time this year.

But instead, the entire Petersen pack participated for him in the 39th annual edition on Saturday in one format or another, including the family dog Spot, the first dog to ever compete. 

“Of all the canoe races that he paddled in, this was always his favourite,” Soern’s daughter, Karin, said after paddling her race on Saturday. “We’ve been doing this for a long time; it’s such a beautiful event that we always look forward to coming to."

Together, Karin and Soern hold the race's recreational-mixed category all-time record for finishing with a time of 6:27:32 in 1995. 

This year, in the absence of Soern, Karin’s brother filled in with their father’s former paddling partner in the full 64-kilometre race as a tribute.

The North Bay-Mattawa Conservation Authority, the host of the event, also awarded this year’s most-senior paddler designation in Soern’s name to show their appreciation. 

“For my dad, that was befitting of him,” Karin said at the Mattawa Island Conservation Area finish line. “My dad was an amazing guy.”

The Petersen family made up just a few of the fifty teams that competed on Saturday.

Despite the threat of pernicious weather conditions, participants from across the province paddled with gusto against a strong wind and intermittent rain spells for the longest one-day canoe race in Ontario.

The racers launched from North Bay’s Olmsted Beach in a brisk seven o’clock start and traced the historic route of the voyageurs, including the five mandatory portages, before sprinting to a finish at the Mattawa Island Conservation Area.

The tandem of Rene Boogemans of Hensall, Ont., and Dean Brown of Hamilton, Ont., stole the spotlight in the full 64-kilometre trek with a time of 6:13:14 to capture the Fastest Overall Time title, just ahead of Carlyn and Dave Johnston of London, Ont., who reached the beach with a time of 6:21:57.

Boogemans is also the current all-time record holder for the race after finishing the route in a remarkable time of 5:27:53 with Peter Harbocian in 1995.

An additional 18 teams participated in the 13-kilometre family and junior races, which launched from the Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park.

The legendary historic route has been frequented since early explorers forged their path through the narrow river passes and wide-open water bodies, but is still remains alluring, even to the well-weathered paddler. 

For the first time ever, the 2015 race was one of four races participating in the Ontario Ultra Paddling Points Series, a sequence of races to determine the best ultra-distance marathon paddler in the province.

“We’ve had paddlers of all ages participate in the race from 8 years old in the 13 km race to 78 in the 64 km with some participating for 15, 20 and even 25 years” said Brian Tayler, CAO of NBMCA. “Some people are surprised to hear the average age in the marathon is 48. With a variety of skill sets from competitive to recreational, for canoes, kayaks, stand-up paddleboards and voyageur canoes, the race has something for everyone.”

Petersen, a paddler with a plethora of experience, said the infectiously pleasant atmosphere of the Mattawa River race is a big part of the formula that makes it so enjoyable for her family. 

“There’s excellent camaraderie here,” she explained. “At this race, in comparison to a lot of other races, people are actually friendly. Even between competitors, you always see people helping each other out; no one is really butting in at the portages and people are always talking and smiling as they pass each other.

“It was such a small event when we first did it, but now a lot of the top paddlers you see here are Ontario’s best,” she added. “Everybody’s always really excited and you know everyone’s giving their best."

The race has evolved significantly since its inception and, as a testament to its significant, the Ontario Marathon Canoe & Kayak Association has even considered it “the jewel" in their racing schedule. 

After all was said and done on Saturday, the paddlers flooded into the upstairs banquet hall of the Mike Rodden Arena for a well-deserved buffet dinner and awards ceremony. See below for the overall winners. 

Full Results

Top three finishers in each race divisions are:

C2 OPEN:
1st Place: Dean Brown from Hamilton and Rene Boogemans from Hensall with a time of 6:13:14
2nd Place: Chris Prater from London and Don Stoneman from Cambridge with a time of 6:26:20
3rd Place: Jason Roussel from Pickering and Chris Degraauw from Pickering with a time of 6:50:58

C2 MIXED:
1st Place: Carlyn Johnston from London and Dave Johnston from Sarnia with a time of 6:21:57
2nd Place: Stan Anusiewicz from Brights Grove and Liz Loek from Mississauga with a time of 6:39:23
3rd Place: Carol Zimbalatti & Mark Swain from Corbeil with a time of 6:57:34

C1 OPEN:
1st Place: Gord Cole from Parry Sound with a time of 7:05:38
2nd Place: Yves Villeneuve from Ottawa with a time of 8:03:15
3rd Place: Chris Near from Huntsville with a time of 8:39:04

RECREATIONAL MEN’S A:
1st Place: James and John Larmer from Sudbury with a time of 7:08:44
2nd Place: Brian Wall from Mattawa and Mike Todd from Oshawa with a time of 7:17:10
3rd Place: Erik Petersen from Ottawa and Claude Roux from Vaudreuil-Dorion, Qc with a time of 7:51:31

RECREATIONAL MEN’S B:
1st Place: Steve Moschenross from Phelpston and Matthew Porteous from Toronto with a time of 8:27:13
2nd Place: Dan Kuehl and Randy Jacobs from North Bay with a time of 8:53:02
3rd Place: Brad Murray from Toronto and Joe Ammerata from North Bay with a time of 9:37:51

RECREATIONAL MIXED A:
1st Place: Carol Grant and Eppo vanHouten from Deep River with a time of 8:43:53
2nd Place: Justine Brown and Rob Horton from Huntsville with a time of 8:49:12
3rd Place: Zev Bromberg from Toronto and Kim Kilpatrick from Guelph with a time of 8:52:47

RECREATIONAL MIXED B:
1st Place: Isabelle and Nicolas Drolet from Midhurst with a time of 9:00:32
2nd Place: Elizabeth and Robert Chirico from North Bay with a time of 9:29:54
3rd Place: Helen and Paul Tuner from North Bay with a time of 9:49:55

RECREATIONAL WOMEN’S:
1st Place: Elizabeth Edington and Lindsay Raymond from Seguin with a time of 9:09:46
2nd Place: Susan Weiskopf and Megan Macdonald from Callander with a time of 9:42:38
3rd Place: Tamara Flannigan from Willisville and Louise Serre from Espanola with a time of 9:43:30

EXPEDITION C2
1st Place: Pierre Pinard from L’Orignal and Yvon Ranger from Alexandria with a time of 7:26:46
2nd Place: Matthew Mokanski from North York and Des Fan from Toronto with a time of 8:02:32
3rd Place: Gord Nielsen and Stephen Scholten from Bracebridge with a time of 8:08:15

OPEN KAYAK
1st Place: Shawn Urban from Sarnia with a time of 7:03:37
2nd Place: Andrew Paterson from Toronto with a time of 10:56:10
3rd Place: Sanjeev Pullenayegum from Toronto with a time of 10:56:10

OC-1
1st Place: Mark Clout from Port Colborne with a time of 7:32:24

VOYAGEUR:
1st Place: Team Boatworks from Kitchener with a time of 7:49:52

RECREATIONAL FAMILY A:
1st Place: Dan and Adam Howe from North Bay with a time of 1:33:22
2nd Place: Lief and Jim MacTavish from Cumberland with a time of 1:36:11
3rd Place: Kirsten and Katie Petersen from Cumberland with a time of 1:52:21

RECREATIONAL FAMILY B:
1st Place: James & Kyle Parsons from Cache Bay with a time of 1:48:37
2nd Place: Ed and Daniel McColn from North Bay with a time of 1:51:10
3rd Place: Trevor and Justin Smith from North Bay with a time of 1:54:17

JUNIOR RECREATIONAL:
1st Place: Brett and Michaela Schaefer from Kitchener with a time of 1:56:18
2nd Place: Michael and Thomas Webster from Parry Sound with a time of 1:59:07

JUNIOR RACING:
1st Place: Jamie and Danny Herr from McKellar with a time of 1:35:53


Liam Berti

About the Author: Liam Berti

Liam Berti is a University of Ottawa journalism graduate who has since worked for BayToday as the City Council and North Bay Battalion reporter.
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