Could you canoe down the Mississippi River in 18 days, 4 hours, and 51 minutes?

Guest Blog by Joel Ford, Mississippi Speed Record

In early May of 2021, our team will attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the fastest team to paddle down the entire Mississippi River, approximately 2,300 miles. The time to beat is 18 days, 4 hours, and 51 minutes.

Our team consists of approximately 17 individuals working together towards the common goal. Our four paddlers (Scott Miller, Perry Whitaker, Joel Ford, and Adam Macht) are aiming to rotate paddling and resting to maintain forward progress 24 hours per day. To achieve this, we will be eating, sleeping, and living in our 23ft canoe for the duration of the attempt. The paddlers are supported by an outstanding crew both from shore and from boat. The support crew will handle challenges such as managing safety, communication with barges and locks, supplying nourishment, monitoring weather, and much more!

Picture By Joel Ford

Our team has conducted several training trips over the last year. These training trips have taught us how to best prepare for the challenges that await us. We have added a rudder to our canoe, upgraded our safety lights and made many modifications to our canoe cover. Our canoe cover acts like a spray skirt for the bow and stern paddlers and creates a small sleeping tent in the center of the canoe, approximately 2.5 feet wide by 10 feet long. Our training trips have taught us many lessons, especially how to stay safe at night and how best to communicate with locks and barges.

Picture By Joel Ford

The team is thrilled to partner with 1 Mississippi on this mission to bring awareness to the challenges facing the health of the Mississippi River. We would like to encourage all our followers to head to www.1mississippi.org and sign up to become a River Citizen for information on how to help protect our nation’s most iconic waterway.

Depending on weather, the planned start is to depart from the headwaters at Lake Itasca, MN on May 4th, 2021. Please follow us at www.facebook.com/mississippispeedrecord for content from our training trips as well as updates during the official attempt. Prior to the attempt, we will publish a link to track us live via our GPS device. Please follow along and lend your support! We also have a website with information on the history of the world record, our support crew, paddler biographies, and a donations page where you can donate in exchange for team t-shirts and other gear: www.mississippispeedrecord.com/tshirts Donations are appreciated to help offset an estimated $20,000 in expenses to feed our entire crew and fuel our support vehicles for the attempt.

Picture By Joel Ford

Hear more from the Mississippi Speed Record team at these upcoming events:

1 Mississippi hosts a three-part virtual event series with the four-person team attempting to break the Guinness World Record of fastest time canoeing the entire ~2,300 miles of the Mississippi River – 18 days, 4 hours, and 51 minutes. Tune in and learn about the River and the Record, logistics, and preparation. Registration is required to join the Zoom link (click the times/event above to register). The events will also be live-streamed on 1 Mississippi‘s Facebook page.

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