Mountain Mike’s owners to compete in state-long paddle race
Contributed by Julie Kirk
In a little over a week, Julie Kirk and Josh Friedman will compete in a state-long, 650-mile paddle race together. The Bonners Ferry natives and owners of the local Mountain Mike’s health store are set to travel down to Alabama where they will participate in the Great Alabama 650.
The duo was originally planning on competing in the Yukon 1000, but when the 1,000-mile, multi-country race was called off due to COVID-19 concerns, the paddle-race veterans pivoted from the extreme north to the American south.
Known as the world’s longest annual paddle race, the Great Alabama 650 begins in the northeast region of Alabama and finishes all the way in the southwestern-most portion of the state, Mobile Bay, which empties into the Gulf of Mexico. The race follows the Alabama Scenic River Trail, the longest river trail located in a single state.
Twelve teams consisting of solo paddlers and duos will compete, but according to Friedman, although everyone competing is a strong competitor, it’s the three other duo teams that will be the pair’s biggest competition for the $2,000 cash prize.
“[The tandem teams] are who we’re really competing against,” Friedman said. “That’s gonna be the [best] competition because you get more horsepower. If you’re paddling well, you’re putting down four paddles and that’s usually a pretty big advantage.”
The couple typically paddle up north, whether in Idaho along the Kootenai River, Canada, or other areas of northern North America, but their cold-weather experience and preparation won’t do them much good in the humid heat of Alabama.
“The heat and humidity factor [will be difficult],” Friedman said. “We’re used to courses up north, we’re cold-weather people. This is our first trip down south.
"Usually the racers in the endurance community, you find that most either race down south … or they race up in Canada. You don’t see racers that cross over too much, you’re either a warm weather paddler or you go up to Canada.
The race begins on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 8 a.m. PDT, and in order to officially “finish”, the course must be completed by Oct. 6, 10 days after the start. However, Julie and Josh are aiming to finish in an ambitious eight days.
Those who want to follow the two along their journey can tune in to the Great Alabama 650 live tracker at al650.com, which has up-to-the-minute tracking of the participants.