11 make history in epic boat race

Ten men and one woman raced canoes and kayaks from Bossier City to Berwick and finished the inaugural 410 de Louisiane on Sunday, Oct. 4.
It is still-water most of the way, making this perhaps the toughest boat race in the nation. The paddlers went 410 miles down two rivers and two bayous, through 12 parishes and the Chitimacha Indian Reservation, from the top of the state to the bottom.
The 410 de Louisiane consists of two very different races back-to-back. The first one is the Tour de la Rivière Rouge, 275 miles from Shreveport-Bossier City to Port Barre. It’s an around-the-clock race through the wilderness, far from roads and lights.
Seven days later, the 410 racers join Tour du Teche 135, a three-day staged race through towns and farms where spectators line the banks and shout encouragement.
The quintet of Phil Bowden and Chris Champion of San Marcos, Texas, Heather Harrison of New Braunfels, Texas, Bobby Smart of Anacoco, La., and Wendell Smith of Seguin, Texas, won first place in Big Boat Racing Division in both the 410 and Tour du Teche, breaking the class record in TDT. They finished the 410 in a combined time of 68 hours, 51 minutes and 32 seconds.
The other history-making paddlers of the 410 de Louisiane, in order of finish, were:
•David Dupree of Rayville, 124 hours, 32 minutes, 17 seconds – first place in Solo Unlimited Double Blade class;
•Cork Werk of Breaux Bridge, 129 hours and 43 minutes – second place in Solo Unlimited Double Blade class;
•Jeffery Duzan of Breaux Bridge, 140 hours, 26 minutes, 45 seconds – third place in Solo Unlimited Double Blade class;
•Max Dugas of Lafayette and Adam Jones of Austin, Texas, 142 hours and 43 minutes – first place in the Tandem Unlimited class in both the 410 and TDT.
•Jack Cover of Lafayette, 142 hours, 51 minutes, 30 seconds – first place in Solo Unlimited Single Blade, $1,000.
The Tour de la Rivière Rouge started under the Barksdale-Shreveport Bridge at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 26, and finished on Bayou Courtableau at Port Barre. The racers went down the Red River, portaging or locking through at five lock-and-dams, motor-portaging around a bridge demolition in Alexandria, entering the Atchafalaya River and motor-portaging from Krotz Springs to Bayou Courtableau.
Tour du Teche, which runs the entire length of Bayou Teche, began at Port Barre at 9 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 2.