PASCAGOULA—A strong north head wind made the 11.5 miles south on the Pascagoula River a tough paddle this past weekend for the annual Paddle Battle which made finishing and times even more impressive.
Paddle organizers said that 63 vessels launched at Little River Marina under a beautiful blue sky with temperatures in the mid 70s under some extremely breezy conditions.
“It was a very tough race for everyone with a 15-knot head wind most of the route,” said organizer Eric Richards. “Our youngest competitor is one of our 4H students who is only 13 (purple kayak). It’s outstanding that she could even finish this race due to the distance and the wind, but she not only finished but also came in second place in her class.”
4H Paddler Caralyn Loveday won second place in the K1 Short class division with a time of 4:24:41, only 40 minutes behind Georgia Sparling. The fastest overall finish was the tandem team of Brad Rex and Joey Strum with a time of 1:41:41. Fastest finishing female paddler was Kim Schulte with a time of 1:57:40 and the fastest male paddler was Shane Kleynhaus with a time of 1:44:16.
Richards said it was a great day in the water, and everyone had a great time.
Jeb Berry raised $7,300 for Kevin Daugherty, a Pascagoula City Firefighter who is battling cancer. The funds were raised as part of a paddling marathon where he paddled 650 miles, and the donation was awarded during the Paddle Battle awards ceremony.
Dates for the 2026 Pascagoula Run Paddle Battle will be announced soon.
