On September 11, 2024 Kyle Parker set the new record for the Fastest Known Time (FKT) for solo canoeing the Wisconsin River, paddling the 430-mile river in five days, 19 hours and 57 minutes. While Parker was in a solo canoe, he was quick to share that the record in many ways was a team effort.
The Wisconsin River is the longest river in the state, running from its border in Michigan in the northeast to where it joins with the Mississippi. Parker had long been interested in paddling the Wisconsin River, and decided to go for an FKT attempt when he struggled to find the time in his schedule to paddle the entire river.
“It’s kind of in my backyard.” Parker shared. “I have a full time job, so while trying to balance how much vacation time I can take off, and when will be the best time, I started looking into how fast it could actually be done.”
Training for the Wisconsin River FKT
In summer 2024, Parker reached out to the previous FKT holder, Dr. Joe Spenneta, whose own FKT came out to around six days and three hours, to learn more about paddling the Wisconsin River for speed, and Spenneta encouraged Parker to go for the record and offered guidance on everything from gear needed to river beta.
While Parker had a fair amount of experience canoeing having worked summers at an outfitter in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, endurance paddling was new to him, but Spenetta coached him through it.
In order to secure the record, Parker would need to average 73 miles a day. Factor in time needed to eat, sleep and portage— 73 miles a day is no easy task. Over the next three months, training came down to getting on the water as much as possible.
“After work I would go out for an hour or two, sometimes three or four times a week,” Parker explained. He would tackle longer paddles on weekends, with his first long paddle beginning at 20 miles.
“Starting out at 20 miles on that very first long paddle… I was like actually this is really hard. I don’t know if I can do this,” Parker said.
As the weeks went by Parker added 10 miles a week, modeling his training after how runners train for marathons. Three weeks before his attempt he did his longest training paddle at 63 miles on the Wisconsin River. It took him over 36 hours.
“I was way behind on what I actually needed to do, but during that time I also had some more gear on me… a tarp, a sleeping bag, so about ten pounds of gear, self-supported. That was another eye-opener.”
Two weeks before his record attempt Parker tapered his training form 130 miles per week all the way down to zero miles in the five days before the river.
Support team, including previous record holder, plays key role in success
Parker met Dylan Durst while working at an outfitter in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. It was here that both Parker and Durst began to take canoeing more seriously, spending days off challenging each other and coworkers to see how many lakes they could paddle in a day. Durst went on to become one of Parker’s regular paddling buddies, and was the main support person on his Wisconsin River FKT.
Support from Durst included essentially everything off the water, including all the food and water drops, finding a place to spend the night and helping film so that the only thing Parker had to worry about was getting to the next portage or checkpoint.
“That’s honestly the biggest factor to my success,” said Parker.
For the five days and 19 hours of Parker’s paddle, Durst would drive ahead and walk the portage beforehand to scout to make sure the land portion of Parker’s journey went as smoothly as possible.
Around the Wisconsin Dells, Parker was warned by another paddler that there was construction ahead and he likely wouldn’t be able to use the portage. Rather than paddle back upstream, Parker opted to keep paddling and risk it.
“I get to the portage and there’s an excavator and a barge, and a bunch of guys there, and then I see Dylan,” Parker shared. “He’s just like, sitting up there talking to the construction workers.”
In scouting ahead for Parker, Durst already had eyes on the construction and simply explained that his friend was going for the FKT on the Wisconsin River in a solo canoe. He asked if they would be willing to hold off work for a little bit to let Parker through.
“They just stopped their work for like a half an hour and waited for me,” Parker said. “Without that I could’ve had to paddle back upstream.”
Durst also helped with cooking food, setting up the tent, helping Parker pace, and any logistics along the way, including communicating with previous record holder Spenneta for beta on the river ahead.
Spenneta not only gave Parker guidance the entire way through training but walked Parker and Durst through all the routes as they encountered them, tracking Parker’s route live along the way.
“It was almost like Joe was our eyes in the sky… Joe would text Dylan to say okay, the next section is going to be really fast and then it’s gonna slow down and then there’s trees on this side,” Parker explained. “Everything he said was spot on. He’s done the river about a dozen times in his life.”
On September 11, 2024 after five days, 19 hours and 57 minutes of paddling over the course of 430-miles on the Wisconsin River, Parker achieved the time. Later that day, he heard from Spenetta, who congratulated him on the record.
“He said training starts today. You’re in trouble. I’m gonna beat it next year,” Parker shared, laughing. “We’ve got a little friendly rivalry going on. We’ll see what happens next year.”
