Top three finish 54-minute downriver race within a minute of each other

Ever since he stepped off the airplane that flew him from Bogota, Colombia, to Portland, Oregon, Tao Berman just didn't feel quite right. He was tired a lot. For the first time in his life, he craved naps and early bedtimes. He turned down invitations to paddle the Little White Salmon, the Green Truss section of the White Salmon. He didn't mountain bike or windsurf or take advantage of any of the Columbia River Gorge's natural gifts.

At the Teva Mountain Games in Vail, he finished second in the extreme race and in the downriver sprint, a competition he won easily the year before, he took fourth.

Of course, he knew he'd be disappointed. Whatever he had contracted in Colombia (or elsewhere) had taken even his motivation to workout.

He described his symptoms to a doctor friend, who told him it sounded like he had Mononucleosis, the "kissing disease."

Lab tests later rejected that diagnosis, but the doctors who tested him said he had something similar, something a little more sinister.

A few weeks before the August 1 SKY RACE in Index, Washington, however, his symptoms disappeared, freeing him to resume his normal, extraordinary life.

And on the day of the race, he showed up late to the Upriver Race and won it. He entered the grueling Ironman division of the Downriver Race, which forces paddlers to negotiate through eight miles of Class II to IV whitewater and held off Andy Bridge, the one time national wildwater champion.

From the starting whistle, three paddlers—all in Dagger's 11-foot-9 Green Boat—broke from the pack of Dynamic Duos and creekboats. Bridge, a veteran racer, reclined to the third position as Berman heckled the race's organizer, Christian Knight from behind, bumping his 11-foot-9 racing creeker. Just below the Confluence, Berman spun Knight out and took over the lead position.

Bridge maintained an even pace and his fundamental forward stroke and remained patient. Bridge had found a short cut that he used to pass both Berman and Knight, but lost the lead when he opted for the safer, but slower right line in Boulder Drop. He remained content in the third position, waiting patiently for Knight to make a mistake.

He also threatened to pass several times, a strategy aimed at depleting his competitor's energy.

Below Fishermen's rapid, Berman, Knight and Bridge were seperated by just six seconds. But with about 18 minutes of the course remaining, Bridge made his pass attempt and succeeded,  moving into second place. He reduced the gap between him and Berman near the end of the race, but  could not close it completely.

The first SKY RACE garnered 38 competitors to the tiny mountainous town of Index, throughout the day. Most competed in the Downriver Race's Ironman Division, Relay Division or Future Divorcees' Division. Fifteen competitors in the total turnout were women, a high-than-normal share, when compared to other events.

The group that seemed to be missing from the SKY RACE, was the local Class V boaters. Just a handful of the competitors considered themselves Class V kayakers.

After the raffle, which culminated in a game show contest of whitewater trivia for the five grand prizes, the competitors walked across the street to Doolittle Park, where "Spare Rib and the Bluegrass Sauce" was playing bluegrass, and the locals were dancing and hula hooping to the rhythms.

The race started as a simple idea that quickly spread throughout the community. The University Kayak Club from the University of Washington, offered to help in some impressive ways. The club secured insurance for the competitors. And when a change in Paddler magazine's fate struck what seemed a fatal blow to the Future Divorcees' Division, one of the UKC's members, mathematics professor Robin Angotti, offered to drive the 13 hours to Salt Lake City to pick up the five Dynamic Duos, which Jackson Kayak had agreed to lend to the event.

When efforts to borrow a trailer failed, DragoRossi's Northwest rep Tony Zanetti offered to carry three of the 12-foot tandem boats back to Washington state. Meanwhile, Cheryl McKinney, co-owner of Leavenworth Mountain Sports, was shopping for products for her Leavenworth, Washington-based outdoor store when she figured, "I might as well throw them on my truck."

So of the five Dynamic Duos that were supposed to be at the event, one was two and-a-half hours away in Vancouver, Washington, and the other two were two hours away in Leavenworth.

But local paddlers John Schier and Dave Moroles happened to be paddling Tumwater Canyon a few days before the event and on their ways back home, they transported those Dynamic Duos back to Index.

The five Dynamic Duos arrived at the race site on time and by four different people. All five boats were filled for the race.

Wave Trek's Outdoor Adventure Center agreed to host the event, providing a custom-made backdrop for an event that lasted all day.

And the organizer's wife, Veronica Knight, threw herself into every tangle that appeared throughout the day, determined to untangle the dilemmas before anyone noticed.

By the end of the second race, Knight, the organizer of SKY RACE, was ambivilent about pursuing a second year for the event.

"I guess it's kind of like what my mom complained about with Thanksgiving dinner," he said. "She always says: 'You cook for two days and everybody's done eating in 15 minutes.' Except with this race, I spent a few hours of every day for months organizing and planning, and it's over in a day."

During the raffle, while competitors were sipping on New Belgium's Skinny Dip and Mighty Arrow Pale Ale, and especially while "Spare Rib and the Bluegrass Sauce" was playing, however, Knight says he felt an urge to do the whole thing again.

RESULTS:

UPRIVER (plastic):

Tao Berman: 9:13

Brian Pernick: 9:23

Andy Bridge: 9:31

UPRIVER (wildwater):

Tom Wier: 8:11

Jennie Goldberg: 12:12

Richard Roehner: DNF

DOWNRIVER (Ironman Division):

Tao Berman: 54:03 (Green Boat)

Tom Wier: 54:17 (wildwater, pinned at top of Boulder Drop)

Andy Bridge: 54:19 (Green Boat)

Christian Knight: 54:39 (Green Boat)

Brian Pernick: 56:12 (Dancer)

Greg Mallory: 59:12 (RPM)

Jennie Goldberg: 1:01.35 (Prijon Fly)

Martha Herzog: 1:08.04 (N/A)

Eli Nicholson: 1:08.11 (Remix)

RELAY DIVISION:

Rob McKibbin, Michael Gordon, David Hablewitz: 1:02.50

Becky Dias, Lisa Farin, Clea Hixon: 1:05.24

Lindsay Wike, Liz Temus, Alicia Sullivan: 1:10.01

FUTURE DIVORCEES' DIVISION

 Tracy Clapp/Aubrey Rosenthall (to Boulder Drop): 15:20

Dale/Stacy Karakostas: 15:27

Chris Jonason/Abe Herrera: N/A

Shevy Schmaus/Tatiana Khokhlova: 17:53

Lynn Wang/Ethan Serack: 20:25

BOULDER DROP SPRINT (time trial)

Nick Hinds: 1:21.19

Matt Kurle: 1:22.84

David Spiegel: 1:24.22

Brett Barton: 1:28.40

Tom O'Keefe: 1:33.41

Sam Grafton: 1:34.98

Martha Herzog: 1:39.50

Jennie Goldberg: 1:46.97 (missed buoy)

Lisa Farin: 1:51.13

BOULDER DROP (head-to-head)

Matt Kurle

Nick Hinds

David Spiegel

Brett Barton