ST. CHARLES (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- An annual canoe and kayak race on the Fox River has been called off for a second year due to the pandemic.
This year would have marked the 60th anniversary of the Mid-American Canoe and Kayak Race on the Fox River, which has now been cancelled four years in a row, twice because of the pandemic and twice because of dangerous water levels and high flow rates on the Fox River.
The Fox Valley Park District’s Director of Recreation Jaime Ijams said “because of the lead times and logistics of coordinating a complicated event, we need to ensure we have the proper safety considerations in place – and we just can’t guarantee it.
“We didn’t want to plan the event and accept people’s money with only the potential of having the restrictions eased in time.”
District officials explored options of postponing the race until a later date this summer, but after contacting canoe-rental facilities – many of which will have depleted inventories due to other postponements across the area – and considering that “back to school” time brings its own set of responsibilities, the Fox Valley Park District ultimately opted to cancel.
“We were planning on postponing due to the uncertainty of the virus,” Ijams said. “In April, when we saw the spike in the high schools, we were worried that it might continue on for a while.”
The race, with starting points in Batavia and St. Charles and ending in Aurora, has drawn about 1,200 visitors along with about 700 kayakers and canoers in past years, some from out of state.
Ijams said postponing it simply wasn’t logistically feasible.
“A lot of participants come from surrounding states and if we’d moved it closer to the start of the school year, it starts getting busy again,” Ijams said.
Due to another cancellation, along with no guarantee that the river will be navigable from a safety standpoint due to the water level and flow rate in early summer, Ijams said District officials will look at alternate ways to resume the running of the popular Mid-Am race in 2022.
“This is a good time to look at options,” she said. “We understand that the Mid-Am can be anything from a competitive race for avid paddlers, to a longstanding family tradition, to a fun, social event to kick off the summer season.”
The race was scheduled for the first Sunday in June.
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