Great Alabama 650 race has its first winner. Shortly after midnight, Bobby Johnson paddled into the final checkpoint on Fort Morgan and was declared the winner.
The race began Sept. 14 at 10 a.m. on Weiss Lake with 12 registered competitors: one female solo, six male solo, five two person teams. By Sept. 15 only five of the 12 boats remained in the competition.
The male solo winner Bobby Johnson is a long-distance paddler from Dunedin, Fla. He completed the Great Alabama 650 in seven days, eight hours, one minute and 55 seconds. Johnson will take home a prize of $7,500.
“I think the mind is the biggest competition. How hard do you push it, how far do you go,” said Johnson in a Facebook post.
The only female soloist in the competition, Salli O’Donnell, arrived at the finish line just after 5 a.m. Sept. 22 to take second overall and first place in the female solo category and a $7,500 prize. She finished in seven days, 15-hour, 19-minute and a 54-second.
O’Donnell is a resident of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, and has participated in several long-distance paddling races including the Yukon 1000. She led most of the race until she was overtaken by Johnson near the 500-mile mark on Sept. 20.
Throughout the race, the competitors paddled day and night with only short stops for rest and sleep. O’Donnell was looking forward to the night paddling.
“I do love people, but oh my gosh, I love being by myself out in nature. The sounds, the solitude, the time to reflect on life in general. Paddling at nighttime you feel closer to God. You feel closer to nature,” said O’Donnell in a Facebook post.
The only remaining team in the race are still paddling their way to the finish line. Susan Jordan of Mississippi and Ryan Gillikin of Bay Minette are nearing the Mobile Bay. As of 10:30 a.m., Sept. 22 the team had 60.4 miles to checkpoint three which is in Bon Secour at Billy’s Seafood.
The duo was training for the Yukon 1000 when they heard about the Great Alabama 650.
Gillikin lives on the Tensaw River Delta near the racecourse. “It’s perfect. It's in my backyard. Even if I was not racing, I’d want to volunteer and be a part of it,” said Gillikin in a Facebook post.
Jordan began racing three years ago and Gillikin almost 15 years. “We work well together and we have developed quite a friendship. We decided we would start working as a tandem team,” said Jordan in a Facebook post.
If the team crosses the finish line in Fort Morgan by day 10 of the race, they will be the third place overall and first place team to finish this grueling race across Alabama. The team will take home a prize of $7,500 and days of long-distance training.
“We immediately decided this was the perfect opportunity to gain us some longer distance experience,” said Jordan in a Facebook post.
If a 650-mile race across the state sounds fun you should start training now. The teams that lasted past the first two days were experienced long-distance paddlers. Race organizers posted updates and information to the Great Alabama 650 Facebook page.
A Facebook post on the Great Alabama 650 page on Sept. 15 stated “The primary difference between those who left the race and those who remain is experience. All competitors who remain in the race have prior racing experience. In most cases, those who left were new to paddle racing. Every racer overcame remarkable challenges, and none exited the race before completing well over 50 miles within 24 hours. Way to go racers.”
For more information on the Great Alabama 650 or to see results visit www. https://www.alabamascenicrivertrail.com.
