Peter Heed

My partner and I were 40 miles (about 5 hours) into the Gen. Clinton 70 Miler marathon canoe race in Upstate NY, and my body was starting to shut down. The bonk was coming. We were with a pack of five boats, taking turns pulling in the deeper water above Wells Bridge, but I didn’t figure I would last much longer. Our main competition in the Senior Division of the Pro race was right with us – we couldn’t drop them. We were still doing 75 strokes per minute, but we missed our last pit, and things looked bad. Shallow water – where you really have to go or get dropped – was just around the corner.

Then we saw our pit team, out in a boat, with a re-supply of our precious Crank! e-Gel and e-Fuel never looked so good! I quickly went for a Cherry Bomb and got some cool liguid Tropical Blast down. The change in my energy levels was unbelievable. It immediately reversed that ‘downward bonking ‘ feeling. I felt strong again. I knew I could make it. We put the hammer down and attacked in the last mile of shallows. We were able to drop our competition back a few waves and hold on to finish first in our division!

For 8 hours and approx. 70 miles, Crank had come through again. I wouldn’t use anything else!

Next up will be the AuSable Marathon Canoe Race in Grayling, MI. This one is over 120 miles, and we paddle through the night. Crank will go with me again – of that you can be sure. I’ll let you know how it goes.