Dallas Downriver Club Trinity River Challenge

On Saturday, September 13, we will meet at McInnish Park in Carrollton, located at Sandy Lake Road and the Trinity River (on the NORTH side of Sandy Lake Road) at 7:30 AM. At 8:00 AM, we will shuttle boats and paddlers (safety team AND cleanup paddlers) to Hebron Parkway, then have them paddle downriver to McInnish Park, cleaning the river along the way. (Safety boaters will NOT be involved in doing the cleanup - we will be providing safety support for those who are cleaning the river and staging our positions for race day!)

After the cleanup we will have hotdogs, hamburgers and ice cold watermelon. Coca-Cola will provide their sport drink and water, and DDRC will provide everything else for all cleanup participants.

I would like to have all safety boat personnel participate in that event so we can look at the race course, assign positions for race day (September 9) and get a general feel for where each other will be stationed during the race. It is NOT imperative that all safety boaters be present, but it would be very helpful, as we will be providing safety support for cleanup paddlers.

On Saturday, October 20, I would like to have all safety boaters at McInnish Park NO LATER than 7:30 AM. We will shuttle half the safety boats and paddlers up to Hebron Parkway and have them paddle down to their positions. The other half will paddle upriver from McInnish Park to their positions.

Each safety boat will carry about 2 cases of bottled water and/or sports drinks. Each safety boat should have a rope or throwbag, an extra PFD, a First Aid kit and a cell phone. I need to have all cell phone numbers so I can add them to the racecourse map and contact sheet that I will distribute to all safety boaters and race coordinators on the morning of the race. The map will be the same one that is currently on the TRC section of the DDRC web site, with corrections for changes that have occurred in the past year.

In addition to safety boat cell phone numbers, the contact sheet will also have the phone numbers of each municipal jurisdiction along the racecourse (Carrollton, Coppell and Lewisville, as well as Dallas). The info indicates where each jurisdiction is in effect so that the proper emergency personnel can be called, if needed.

Typically, our race is injury-free, and I believe there has been only one minor injury to a paddler in the previous ten races. Our safety team participation is mostly a precaution, and the most likely problem will be heat and humidity, which is why I want to have each safety boat stocked with water and/or sports drinks.

If you have any questions or suggestions, then please feel free to contact either Bryan Jackson (972-979-2519), Al Currie (214-827-9319) or Marc McCord (214-221-1290). If you want to volunteer to be part of the safety team, then please let Marc know ASAP.

Each safety boater will receive a free DDRC TRC XI Staff T-shirt before the race and a free barbeque meal after the race.