BETHEL – Standing atop the new recreation bridge, race marshal Tim Carter held the paddle up into the air, and at his signal the boats surged forward.
The Bethel Outdoor Adventure & Campground held its annual Canoe and Kayak Androscoggin River Race Sunday morning. Fifteen people raced either four or eight miles, with Bob Miller and Terry Westcott winning the four-mile race and Chip Loring and Jamie Hannon winning the longer event.
Jeff Parsons, who owns Bethel Outdoor Adventure & Campground, said that he enjoyed hosting the event, which he started in 1997 to draw attention to Bethel and the Androscoggin River. Right before the race began Parsons and Carter addressed the racers, dispensing directions and advice.
“We really appreciate people being here today,” Parsons said, “and good luck.”
Entering this year were water enthusiasts of all ages and levels of experience. Westcott who is 57, and Miller who is 60, have been racing canoes for years, with Westcott partaking in every single Bethel Outdoor Adventure Race since its creation. According to him, a veteran of racing canoes since 1974, the secret to racing upstream is to stay close to the river bank, where the current is weaker.
The strategy seems to have paid off. He, with his partner Miller, despite their age and Miller’s diabetes, won the four-mile race with a time of 33 minutes and 26 seconds. Miller said, “it was a good run and we had a great time.”
“Although,” he added with a smile, “I’d rather be on the bank drinking a beer.”
Not only the veterans of boat racing showed up Sunday. Mary Buntin and her daughter, Robin Buntin, raced their canoe together for the first time. The pair, who often visit Bethel, drove all the way up from Boston to participate in the event. While they were both excited, Mary Buntin admitted to being nervous.
“I’m worried about the current,” she said, looking at the swift moving Androscoggin River, “I hope we make it.”
“Mom,” her daughter replied, “You’re freaking out again.”
Bethel Outdoor Adventure & Campground arranged an awards ceremony and a free barbecue for the racers. Parsons said he liked the annual race because it was a “fun event” with a “serious side.”
He also said that he fully intended to continue holding the race, and wants people in Lewiston and other cities to know that “we’re out here.”
Watching the Buntins pull their canoe out of the water, Parsons said that the two first-timers were “perfect examples” of what he hoped the annual event would accomplish.
“They are exactly what we’re looking for.”
For their part, the participants’ opinion of the race was perhaps best expressed by Robin Buntin.
“It was a lot of fun,” she said, helping her mother drag the canoe onto the shore, “It was great.”
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