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Experts take turn on river
Monday, April 18, 2005
By PATRICIA NORRIS
pnorris@repub.com
HUNTINGTON - For Gloria J. Wesley, yesterday's canoe race was all about the
water - drinking water that is.
Sunny skies and warm temperatures made hydration tip No. 1 at the 52nd annual
Westfield River Wildwater Races. Wesley was part of a field of 29 teams who
competed in the professional 12-mile segment of the race. Amateur competition
took place Saturday.
"You have to take care not to dehydrate," said Wesley before taking off in her
canoe with race partner and organizer Jeffrey M. DeFeo. The two had fashioned
plastic tubing into a liter bottle of water so they could continuously sip
without missing a stroke.
"To miss one stroke could mean the loss of one second from your time," Wesley
said.
And there were no paddlers at yesterday's event who wanted to give the
competition an inch.
First prize was $1,000 with a $500 bon- us if the event record - 1:12:32 - went
down.
The race, sponsored by The Republican, only had one all-woman team, according to
DeFeo. Repeat paddlers Julie A. Marcoulier and Kathy A. Engwer of Chester braved
the chilly white water for the fifth time. DeFeo said women's participation in
the event overall is up this year as many male/female teams participated.
"It is just a great sport," said Vicki Cummings of Meriden, Conn., who tackled
the professional course with her husband, Del, for the first time this year.
The duo tipped their boat on the early, rougher part of the course, but managed
to pick up the pace on the bottom half, Vicki Cummings said.
"The water was cold and wet," she joked.
For the second year in a row, Terry Coyne of North Adams and Kerry M. Klein of
Pittsfield were the first team to the finish in the timed trial race.
"We took the upper part with great finesse and a lot of luck," said Klein, who
along with Coyne had the second boat on the river at the race's start.
The course apparently became more technical as the water level dropped overnight
leaving more rocks and sediment exposed than previously thought, said DeFeo.
"We didn't do so well on the top part," said Edward D. Foley at the race finish
area. Foley of Agawam and his partner, Wayne Gilbert of South Hadley, had to
pull over to the river bank and dump water out of their canoe after a harrowing
rapids run.
Foley and his son completed the amateur run Saturday. Alex was watching his dad
from the sidelines.
"I thought he did good," he said.
For much of the race, spectators clogged Routes 112 and 20 to get the best view.
Patricia Wheeler followed her son, Travis, and husband, Neil, all the way down
the river by car. The father-son team has been racing since Travis was a little
boy.
"When he was little, it made me nervous, but not anymore," she said. "It's a lot
of fun. But then, I just watch."