Marathon Nationals

[CSR4C]

I am on the phone with Rob Wilkins, commodore of the Top'O club. He says the date is Aug. 20 - 21

[hagerl8m]

More info

Steve sorry about the date last year, we had planned to move to that day for 3 or 4 years. Answer to Dana, its really hard to close down 42 miles of inland water way during the busiest tourist period of the year, July is really hard to get water. I think the problem is people resist change; we can see that in every aspect of our sport. I want to find out other race dates in June and August. It could help me fight for the club to pick the right date. Dana was right about the Alexandra race and Beloit, There is also St. Louis. Mike Rose said that it’s easy to stick around a week to come race the marathon. That use to be true and happen a lot when the nationals where in Wakefield, that hasn’t happened in a long time. I know there are a few who do stay, and I thank those people. The first year I ran the marathon there was 12 ASR, the following 8, then 6, and last year 5. Where did all the boats go? Maybe it’s that no one races marathons anymore. I know the b class numbers have stayed around 6-8 the past years and are rising; Jim and I just need to figure out boats. The d's died when the Super Light Tunnels came, but right now they are helping with more boats every year. My question is if the club offered 1,000 to the winner if there were more than 10 boats, would that brings people or not? Anther question, why is the marathon less points then a record for the Hall of Champions? Is that fair? I just want to see other people’s opinions and thoughts.

Chris Hagerl

[propnuts]

I remember talking to Don about the race date at the national meeting last year. I had always planned on attending on a year when the Stock nationals were in the mid-west, hoping the Top O would be on a weekend one side or the other and being able to do both on the same trip (I love the mid-west, but not enough for 2 trips a year . Don told me there was no way it would ever be in August again, mainly because of regulataions on the waterways we use. Has something changed between then and now to make it feasible now? I hope the date works out this year, we'd love to spend another week hanging out with the Hagerls and everyone else back there. Tony