October 27, 2009
| Reporter | John Pilson |
Sorry, Boatingbeta database is gone for good!! :(
(October 2018 -- and this page is well out of date)
The 23rd annual Green Race will be held on
Saturday, Nov. 3rd, 2018
Perhaps the single most famous, most respected, and most competitive creek race on the
planet, the annual Green Race remains a fabulous and homespun little affair held each Fall
on the steepest section of western North Carolina's Green River Narrows.
Local boaters train here for much of the year due to the reliable flows, and people come from literally around the world to compete. More than five hundred
friends and family members either hike or paddle in to watch and cheer on every
racer, scattering themselves along the river's boulders and bedrock near the photogenic
signature rapid called Gorilla -- a.k.a. 'The Monkey' -- heart and soul of the entire run.
Looming larger than life in any paddler's mind, the Green Race is -- save for a few individuals
-- largely not about winning. It's more about having clean lines and a safe run, making a
personal best time, beating (or losing to) a friend by a few seconds, and simply
participating in such a unique event and the fine community that surrounds it all. And yet
to date, in nineteen years, with perhaps several thousand people having navigated and
portaged themselves down the Green in total, only 598 people have entered the race.
Some of the well-known dangers found on the Narrows are mentioned in this waiver that all racers must
agree to and sign prior to entering. For example .... 'lacerations' .... 'impalement' ....
'extensive dental damage' .... and my personal favorite: 'I have been warned of the
stupidity of this activity'. So yeah, sure, Class V, but not just skills does it take;
rather, a sense of courage more than the rest of us have -- have we the skills or not.
The Green Race began in 1996 and has been scheduled to start at 12 noon on the first
Saturday in November ever since. Racers start from the river right side of the long pool
below Bride of Frankenstein and finish about five minutes and one half of a miracle mile
later on the river left side of the pool below Rapid Transit. The racers take off in one
minute intervals, starting with long boats (the 'open' division -- anything goes), then
short boats under 9', with the known racers seeded to keep passing to a minimum.
Initially born from a conversation between friends during a Gauley shuttle drive nineteen years ago, Leland Davis then organized the first Green Race, and kept them running through
2002. Jason Hale, also in from the beginning, took over in 2003 and has been the main
front-man since then. The race 'actually happens' because of a lot of people, chief among them being John Grace -- as well as a rotating cast of characters who help with timing, food, details, etc. Additionally, Chris Bell
has collected all the prior years' results into one clickable and sortable database (linked
above), and is now handling online registration on his boatingbeta site.
As an aside, please note that American Whitewater is in no way a sponsor, organizer, sanctioner, or anything
else related to the race -- save for most local AW members being pretty fired up about it. This page is just a collection of far-flung information pulled together into one place, designed to answer
the random Green Race trivia question and help you kill time until you're out paddling
again.
Hiking
Directions and Page of Maps
Green River Narrows Race John Grace's official Green Race page, featuring all the LVM archival footage, podcasts, updates, and more. Also, Facebook now has a Green Race page.
Leland Davis' website
short report and results 1997
Xacters.net (dead link)
brief report on 2004
Jackson
Kayak report from Clay Wright, 2005
The
Green Race According to Hale Results and Tidbits, 2005
Groundswell Project report from Clay Wright, 2005
Jackson
Kayak piece by Eric Jackson, 2005
Downstream
Movement report, Cooper Lambla, 2006
Watergirls at Play
account by Andria Baldovin, 2006
Shred Ready comments by Tom Sherburne, 2006
Team Dagger report on Pat
Keller's race, 2006 (dead link)
Team
Eskimo report from Chan Jones, 2006
Team
Riot report from Nathan Silsbee, 2006
Team Dagger
second report, 2006 (dead link)
Shane
Benedict's Boofing into a Stadium fine report, 2007
Team Dagger interview with
Andrew Holcombe, 2007
Atlantic Kayaker
report from Kelsey Thompson, 2007
Shane Benedict's write-up for
Kayak Session, 2007
Jeremy Lauck's report on Chasingrain.com, 2007
Jackson
Kayak report from Chris Bucksey, 2007
Water Tribe
blog report from Chan Jones, 2007
ZoarOutdoor's blog from Fergus Coffey,
2007
Jackson
Kayak report, Nick Troutman, 2007
Matias Nunez's
report, in Spanish, 2007
Rob
Tompkins' blog report & photos, LVM Giant Slalom, July 2008
LVM-TV's race report, video,
and results, Giant Slalom, July 2008
Hannah Grace Cole's fine series of pics, Giant Slalom, July 2008
Team
Shred Ready report from Tom Sherburne, 2008
Andrew
Bentley's report on WorldKayakBlogs, 2008
Anna
Levesque's report on WaterGirlsAtPlay, 2008
Matt Wallace's blog post on Southern Boof, 2008
Team Werner report from Danny Mongno, 2008
Team Riot report from Chris Gragtmans,
2008
Team Pyranha report from Chan Jones, 2008
Nick
Murphy's story about his 1st race, 2008
Matias
Nunez's chatter, in Spanish, 2008
Shane
Benedict's story, with party pics, 2009
Matt Wallace's
race story, 2009
Shane Benedict's week of posts for Kayak Session, 2010
Werner Blog write-up on Adriene's victory, 2010
Mike Dawson's comments on his blog, 2010
Nick Troutman's pre-race comments for Jackson, 2010
Will Pruett's comments on Full Throttle, 2010
Isaac Levinson's post following his 2nd place showing, 2010
Ross Herr's comments and pics, 2010
Jason Beakes' DC Kayaking Life, 2010
AW
Journal article by Leland Davis about the first race in 1996
Hendersonville Times-News article about Al Gregory's victory in 2000
Paddler
Magazine (dead link) account in 2001
Hendersonville Times-News pre-race article 2003
CanoeKayak.com
article about 2005 race
Hendersonville Times-News pre-race article 2006
Denver Post article about
Dagger's role in 2006
GoUpstate.com
pre-race article 2007
BlueRidgeNow.com pre-race article 2007
BlueRidgeNow.com piece
about Leland/Andria 2007
Paddling Life (online
magazine) article about 2007
Outside Magazine
article, in Portugese, 2007
Paddling Life (online
magazine) article 2008
The Mountain
Xpress' short piece, 2008
Kanu Magazine article, in German, 2009
Canoe and
Kayak article, 2009
Shane Benedict's post-race thoughts for KayakSession, 2010
CanoeKayak.com's coverage, Greasing The Green, 2010
Asheville Citizen-Times little snippet with a video, 2010
Shane Benedict's fine article, KayakSession, 2010
Mtn. Xress pre-race on-line blurb and clip, 2010
Christine Boush's pre-race article, Blue Ridge Outdoors, 2011
Chris Gragtmans' article in Blue Ridge Outdoors, 2011
Chris Bell's photo
archive on Boatingbeta.com 2001, 2002, 2003
Randy Pegram's archive of
undated early pics 2002, 2003
Dallas Shaw's (dead link) collection on Lithiumkayaking.com 2005
Ben
Edson's collection on Downstreamphoto.com 2005
Ryan Bednar's (dead link) collection on RyanBednar.com 2006
Ben
Edson's collection on Downstreamphoto.com 2006
Shannon
Taylor's set on micromission blog 2006
Ben Edson's & Ben
Wiggins' pics on Downstreamphoto.com 2007
Thomas Oliver's & Glenn LaPlante's photos on
Flicker 2007
Mike
Justus' slide show at BlueRidgeNow.com 2007
Bryan Owen's
shots at AstralBuoyancy.com 2007
carolinatexas' gallery of stills
on YouTube, 2007
Karlshred's
(??) photos on the Picassa 2007
Judy Ranelli's
gallery on Smugmug, 2007
Phil Raber's gallery
on Picassa 2007
Jim Wei's
gallery on Picassa 2007
Randy Pegram's slideshow 2007
Ben Edson's & Ben Wiggins' Gorilla
pics, Downstreamphoto.com, 2008
Patrick Elliot's
pics from Gorilla and Go Left on Photobucket, 2008
Thomas Oliver's & Glenn LaPlante's
photographs on Flicker, 2008
Chris Port's photos from Go Left, Riverlight Photography, 2008
Valerie
Blanchette's photos from Go Left on SmugMug, 2008
Arlyn Agababian's photos
from Go Left on Picassa, 2008
teledave's ??
photos on TetonGravityResearch, 2008
Ben Gaston's
Zwick's pics, Gradient Imagery, 2008
John
Blackshire's picture gallery on Flicker, 2008
Randy Pegram's Gorilla slideshow
pics, 2008
Anthony
Bellemare's gallery on Flicker, 2008
Seth Richardson's
photos on Picassa, 2008
Mark Van Liere's mostly
Gorilla shots, 2008
Phillip
Turner's mostly Gorilla shots, 2008
Robert
Hurst's fisheye lens shots, 2008
Scott
Sarrell's top hole at Zwick's pix, on Picassa, 2009
Anthony Bellemare's gallery of
black and whites, 2009
Randy Pegram's slideshow, Gorilla
close-ups, 2009
Sam Silvey's
gallery on LookOutdoorNews, 2009
Adam Miles'
Zwick's, Go Left, and Gorilla, 2009
Jenni
Miehle's collection on Photobucket, 2009
Joey
Jarrell's collection on Photobucket, 2009
Chris Bell's large gallery on SmugMug, 2009
Arlyn Agababian's
gallery on Picassa, 2009
Keith Crawford's
gallery on Picassa, 2009
BigJohn's collection on Smug-Mug, 2009
Shane
Benedict's Picassa Pics, 2009
Adam Miles' Go Left/Zwick's/Pencil Sharpener, Picassa, 2010
Michael McSwain's Gorilla-zone photos, Picassa, 2010
Shane Benedict's collection on the Picassa, 2010
Danielle Evans' pics from below Gorilla, 2010
Chris Bell's large gallery on SmugMug, 2010
Wes Bobbitt's gallery on photoreflect, 2010
Randy Pegram's Frankenstein pics, 2010
Crystal Gustin's gallery on Facebook, 2010
Tyler Boeing's Facebook photos, 2010
Lee Timmons' Facebook photos, 2010
Chris Pesce's Facebook photos, 2010
Bryan Owen's Facebook photos, 2010
Judy Ranelli's SmugMug gallery, 2010
Mike Nail's Facebook photos, 2010
Ryan Scott/CRG
Productions clip from 2004
Clayton Gaar's (& N.
Silsbee's) YouTube 2006
Stephen
Beeson's YouTube clip 2006
AutoBoof Productions clip from 2006
Ryan
Richardson's YouTube clip (w/ Cooper) 2007
Nick Troutman's clip for
Jackson Kayak 2007
Todd Johnson's YouTube short
boats 2007
Matt Alverson's YouTube clip
from 2007
Big Kahuna's YouTube clip 2007
Shane
Benedict's pre-race chatter clip, October 2008
IceBurg
Studioz' shredder Gorilla, YouTube, 2008
Bottoms Up
Kayaking's Monkey carnage, 2008
Josh Dalton's mostly carnage video, 2008
Virginia
Balfour's Gorilla YouTube, 2008
Peter
Savage's Gorilla YouTube, 2008
LVM's post-race
quickie clip, 2008
Stephanie Augras' Vimeo, Frenchman Eric Deguil, 2009
brasconect's clip of Wes
Gentry's OC1 ride, 2009
Steve Krajewski's variety clip, on Vimeo, 2009
Adam Secrest's
short Gorilla montage, 2009
Blaine Patrick's contribution, Vimeo, 2009
Zach
Heaton's clip, mostly Gorilla, 2009
Mark Armistead's Vimeo piece, 2009
Pilot Collective's highlights, Full Coverage, Amongst it TV, 2010
Shane Benedicts' pre-race warm-ups and chitter-chatter, 2010
Will Ritchie's A short Jason Beakes' Go Left gone awry, 2010
Pilot Collective's The Chronicles of Gnarnia, carnage, 2010
Pilot Collective's nice Gorilla carnage compilation, 2010
Rapid Media's Clay Wright interview on race day, 2010
Derek Rippe's GoPro on a paint roller YouTube, 2010
Crystal Gustin's fine Notch video on YouTube, 2010
Steve Krajewski's moving pictures, Vimeo, 2010
Git Wet Productions video on YouTube, 2010
7 Finger Media's Everybody Shines, 2010
M Neff's Gorilla clip on YouTube, 2010
Ross Herr's three guys talking, 2010
Josh Fitz's short at Gorilla, 2010
kayakmb's short Coffey, 2010
'Class Five Certified'
The 94 Person Sub 5-minute Honor Roll:
Drew AustellNate ElliotDJ JacobsonBilly MurphyJoe BarkleyJohn GraceChan JonesJared SeilerJason BeakesKeegan GradyBilly JonesJesse ShimrockShane BenedictChris GragtmansPat KellerNathan SilsbeeGeoff CalhounAl GregoryBrian KirkPaul StamilioJules CampbellNik HaaseBrian KnightDaniel StewartRiley CathcartJason HaleIsaac LevinsonEric StrittmatterCaleb CoaplenChris HarjesAdriene LevknechtRob TompkinsFergus CoffeyAdam HerzogToby MacDermottNick TroutmanMike DawsonTommy HillekeDustin MarquartCorey VoltEric DeguilAndrew HolcombePablo McCandlessBo WallaceTad DennisEric HurdScott McCluskyClay WrightDrew DuvalDane JacksonMichael MontagneChris Young. . . . Louis GeltmanSeverin Haberling Mark TaylorJesse Wilensky Joel KowalskiDarren AlbrightVavrinec HradilekRyan DekayDave HermanDavid CohenChris StaffordGerd Serrasolses Hunt JenningsKyle HullKelly JordanJake GreenbaumKatrina Van WijkDave FusilliStephen McGradyWill RudisellBen FrakerMatt AngerJakub NemecBradley McMillanCooper SalladeJess AlbrightClay LucasGalen VolckhausenJordan PoffenbergerDerek DelBuonoWade HarrisonAndrew McKewanColin Hunt Cameron Thacker Alec Vorhees Michael WelchRobert WaldronAaron MannBernie EngelmanWyatt HyndmanRyan McAvoyTaylor Coffer . . (teach me to alphabetize this table, i'm a moron)
Issued quarterly for years, Lunch Video Magazine was your Asheville-based source for the good shit worldwide. Often
filmed close to home, too, with plenty of Green Race footage through the years. Relevant
Back Issues: 1, 3, 7, 11, 14, 18, 21, 25, 29....? Some are still available in groups at Amongsit.com.
...hrrmph, those lines seem way too far apart now... :)
The 2017 Winners
Division
Paddler
Time
Open
Eric Deguil
Women
Adrienne Levknecht
Short Boat
--
--
Hand Paddles
--
--
C1
--
--
OC1
--
--
Ironman
--
--
Course Records
Division
Paddler
Time
Year
Open
Mike Dawson
4:10
2012
Women
Adrienne Levknecht
4:38
2015
Short Boat
Mike Dawson
4:30
2012
Hand Paddles
Bill Clipper
5:07
2011
C1
Ben Fraker
4:47
2013
OC1
Jordan Poffenberger
7:06
2012
Ironman
Mike Dawson
8:40
2012
Open Class Winners by Year
Year
Winner
Time
Boat
1996
Clay Wright
4:57
Pyrahna Mtn. 300
1997
Jason Hale
5:13
Prijon Tornado
1998
Jason Hale
5:04
Prijon Tornado
1999
Tommy Hilleke
5:03
Prijon Tornado
2000
Al Gregory
4:59
Pyranha Master
2001
Tommy Hilleke
4:42
Prijon Tornado
2002
Tommy Hilleke
4:49
Prijon Tornado
2003
Tommy HIlleke
4:42
Prijon Tornado
2004
Tommy Hilleke
4:35
Prijon Tornado
2005
Tommy Hilleke
4:34
Prijon Tornado
2006
Pat Keller
4:36
Dagger Green
2007
Andrew Holcombe
4:27
Dagger Green
2008
Pat Keller
4:31
Dagger Green
2009
Andrew Holcombe
4:18
Dagger Green
2010
Mike Dawson
4:26
LL Stinger
2011
Isaac Levinson
4:22
LL Stinger
2012
Mike Dawson
4:10
LL Stinger
2013
Pat Keller
4:14
Dagger Green
2014
Isaac Levinson
4:19
Jackson Karma Unlimited
2015
Dane Jackson, Eric Deguil (tie)
4:13
Karma Unlimited, Stinger
Participation by Year
Year
Total
Women
Ironmen
1996
16
1997
21
4
1998
25
1
1999
39
1
2000
37
1
2001
64
3
2002
65
5
2003
57
4
1
2004
8
2005
75
3
5
2006
116
6
9
2007
105
6
18
2008
92
3
9
2009
126
6
21
2010
136
6
22
2011
120
4
24
2012
153
5
32
2013
121
4
24
2014
164
7
canceled
2015
--
--
--
Most years raced: Jason Hale, 18, Tommy Hilleke, 17
Oldest Green racer: Jerry Jascomb, 57, in 2011
First Ironman: Glenn LaPlante (Long and Short boats), 11:40, 2003
First Superman: Paul Stamilio (Long, Short, Handpaddles), 16:48, 2007
Total number of racers in 19 years: 598
Number of men who have raced: 566
Number of women who have raced: 32
Number of people sub 5 minutes: 94
Total number of race runs: 1714
Number of first-timers, past seven years: 35, 51, 45, 34, 54, 39, 60
Avg. % of first-timers in past seven years of races: 34%
Number of people who have raced 10 or more years: 13
Fastest average time of the 10-year racers: John Grace, 4:49
Release Levels: 100% .... ( '04 @ 250%, '07 @ drought special 2x60%, '08 @ low drought 100%, '12 @ 12', '15 @ 11' )
Actual length of race: Real close to .55 miles
A host of old school long boats were used over the years in attempts to win or place
well in the Green Race. Many are still paddled competitively. Since 2006 five separate limited edition boats have been designed
with the Green Race specifically in mind.
Prijon Tornado -- The workhorse of winning boats for years, having won 8 out of 19
races to date. Made from 1995-2000(?) and now out of production, coveted, and hard to
find --- with the aluminum mold lying in disrepair outside some German factory --- the
Tornado will become a
relic.
Dagger Green Boat -- Introduced in 2006 and a Pat Keller/Snowy Robertson design,
the Green Boat has now won five races and became available commercially in March 2008 -- leading to 32 of the
60 long boats in the 2008 race being Dagger Green Boats! (More on the Green Boat here and here).
Wavesport Momentum -- A Robert Peerson design in 2006...(more soon...a photo linkie perhaps?). Did not become commercially available.
Liquid Logic Remix 100 -- Local designer Shane Benedict's offering, out just in
time for the 2007 race. Here is his
description of the process he used to build it, some pictures
of the first runs, and one other nice
photo. Only about 8 of these boats were made.
Liquid Logic Remix Stinger -- Shane Benedict's speed machine, which debuted at
the 2009 race. Here's the story and some pics, an early production video and a post-race Stinger
stand-up. These crafts became available commercially in the Summer of 2013, and here's a nice October 2013 retrospective.
Jackson Karma Unlimited -- Jackson's new longboat, out in time for the Fall 2013 race season, including five boats showing at the Green. Dane Jackson, at Gorilla here, has two strong second place finishes in his ( here's a pre-race training video), and Isaac Levinson won the 2014 race in his. The Karma Unlimited may go in to commercial production (?).
....What? You're not a
member? How could you?
Thirteen people have
run the Green Race
for at least ten years:
Eric Chance
Caleb Coaplan
John Grace
Chris Gragtmans
Jason Hale
Eli Helbert
Tommy Hillike
Pat Keller
Keith Sprinkle
Bo Wallace
Jeff West
Clay Wright
Chris Young
First Full Descent: Tom Visnius & John Kennedy, November 1988.
Fastest Top-to-Bottom time: 27:45....at Jerry's Baddle, March 2007, Toby McDermott & Chris
Gragtmans (tie). This was a year when the kayak portion ended at Fishtop, not at the campground like it does now.
Most laps in a day: 11, (Zach Fraysier, Jeff West), August 2011, blog post, and 10 (West, Shanin, Bowman), July 2006, AW Journal.
Early (1990) AW Journal 'Two-Gallon River' (Callaway, Koll).
Most major rapids can be viewed here in a video promo for 'Locals Only', this one featuring Chris Gragtmans.
2013 pic from above the Monkey
This page was created in the Spring of 2007 by: John Pilson, Asheville, NC. To find me for additions or corrections: johnpilson at the gmail
