ATHOL — Another day closer to the 55th annual River Rat Race, another dozen and a half entries have signed up for the fray, bringing the number of canoes for the Saturday race to 151. The Athol Daily News will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. today for paddlers to submit applications.
Race Director Dave Flint reports daily preparations for the race are ongoing and on track. The Athol Lions Club, which has organized the Rat Race for the last 27 years, will be out in force on Thursday through Sunday.
Friday morning, volunteers will meet at the White Cloud across from the Orange Municipal Airport at 8 a.m. As they have for many years, they will enjoy a hearty breakfast and divvy up a list of tasks to complete prior to Saturday. Flint says restaurant owner Sharon Prue is ready to keep the hot coffee pouring and has ordered “a lot of extra” eggs to feed the busy group.
Tasks include wiring sponsor banners to bridge railings and elsewhere, stringing the giant finish banner across the river, setting up the command truck, Porta Potties, snow fencing for crowd control and setting out barrels and sawhorses.
Participants are urged to arrive at the Main Street Bridge at least a half-hour prior to the 1 p.m. cannon blast start to get into their post positions. Depending on your post position, it is recommended to allow plenty of time to park your vehicle and walk your canoe through the meadow to your assigned spot.
Latest entries include:
Tyler Guerin of Phillipston and Austin Myers of Baldwinville; Molly St. Clair and Cristina Garcia, both of Orange; Kate Hickey and Heather Brissette, both of Athol; Ana Hull and Adam Hull, both of Granville; Aly Lopez and Anna Claire Rogers, both of Athol; Jocelyn Songer of Orange and Molly Tomlinson of Summerville; Molly Bremner of New Salem and Ethan Bremner of Norwood; Eric Newton and Eric Greene, both of Orange; Kevin Bittenbender of Alsted, N.H. and Eric Walker of Lemster, N.H.; Peggy Bittenbender and Peter Renzlemann, both of Alsted, N.H.; Katie Clegg of Orange and Vicki Brooks of Athol; Kyle Sawin of Athol and Melissa St.Laurent of Easthampton; Alyssa Bergquist of Royalston and Kenny Johnson of Leominster; Brett Jeffery of Orange and Zach Stanve of Athol; “Big Bad” Dan Manjourea and Jordan Manjourea, both of Athol; Dallas Lefebvre and Nicholas Coutu, both of Athol; Ken Goodwin and Ryan Goodwin, both of Athol; Sonja Olbert and Bill Waterhouse, both of Turners Falls.
Applications will be accepted until the start of the race. Entries received after the drawing of the post positions Friday (starting at 7:30 p.m. at the Athol Town Hall) will be positioned at the end of the pack for the Le Mans-type start. The first 200 canoes are automatically entered in the drawing for a pair of Zaveral Racing Equipment paddles.
For those who do not attend the post-position to collect their numbers and T-shirts, they may be picked up at the Daily News from Lions Club members Harry Haldt and Kimberly McConnell on Saturday morning from 9 to 11 a.m. Any remaining numbers will then be moved to the bright yellow Athol Lions Club’s “weenie wagon” at the Main Street bridge area.
To download an application or for more information, visit: www.riverratrace.com.