World-class boaters and hundred of spectators flooded to North Carolina this weekend for the 18th annual Green River Race—the self-proclaimed “greatest show in all of sports.”
This year, Pat Keller took home the coveted glass trophy with his first place time of four minutes and 14 seconds. This is Keller’s third win at the Green Race—he also claimed the prize in 2006 and 2008.
Only 5 seconds behind Keller, Dane Jackson claimed second place for the second year in a row. Jackson turned heads at last year’s race by riding switch in his short boat run.
With water levels a little lower than last year, 2012’s record-breaking times are still the fastest since the race started in 1996, but Katrina Van Wijk set a new women’s record this weekend with a time of four minutes and 43 seconds. The time crushes her 2012 run by 23 seconds and continues to close the ever-narrowing gap between men’s and women’s race times.
The race is held each year on the first Saturday of November. Spectators hike a steep one-mile trail into the river to watch the timed race runs, which happen one at a time and lead paddlers through the iconic Gorilla rapid, a class V drop with a reputation for causing carnage.
Click here to see the full list of race results.
Rapid Media at the 2010 Green River Race.
