Bend kayakers paddle 150 miles nonstop on Willamette River, break record

Two Bend endurance athletes set a new speed record on the Willamette River in April in preparation for one of the world’s toughest paddling races.

Chelsey Magness and Daniel Staudigel paddled 150.4-miles nonstop from Eugene to West Linn in a two-person kayak in 17 hours and 44 minutes in mid-April. They averaged nearly 8.5 miles per hour.

The Willamette River flows north and stretches approximately 187 miles beginning south of Eugene and feeds into the Columbia River.

The pair launched at dawn and reached West Linn’s Bernert Landing shortly after midnight. They finished the route without stopping or outside support.

Magness and Staudigel said their pace surpassed other times previously recorded for the Eugene to West Linn stretch and marked a new record for long-distance paddling on the river.

“There’s been other attempts, but it’s never been fully unsupported or nonstop,” Magness said.

While times of 24 to 30 hours have been recorded in the past, those included stops and didn’t involve pushing through the night, Staudigel added.

The feat was also training for the Yukon 1000, a 1,000-mile paddle race from Canada to Alaska often described as the longest paddle race in the world. Magness and Staudigel plan to compete in the race in July.

Staudigel said that while the Yukon River is much bigger and wilder, the Willamette was perfect in terms of river quality.

“This was absolutely perfect training,” he said. “I could not imagine better training."

Chelsey Magness and Daniel Staudigel completed a nonstop 150.4-mile paddle along the Willamette River.

Preparing for a 1,000-mile race from Canada to Alaska

Staudigel is no stranger to the Yukon 1000. He and teammate Jason Magness, Chelsey Magness' husband, currently hold the race record after they finished the event in five days, 11 hours and 48 minutes in 2022.

They also won the Washington 360, a 360-mile paddling race in Washington’s Puget Sound, in 2021.

Staudigel and Chelsey Magness will race together for the first time as a team in the Yukon 1000.

The race challenges competitors to paddle through remote wilderness across Alaska and Canada while carrying all their own food, camping gear and supplies. Teams are required to stop for six hours each day but otherwise spend long stretches paddling nearly nonstop.

“Anything we show up to the race with will all go into the kayak with us," Staudigel said.

The pair said much of their training takes place on kayak ergometers, indoor machines designed to simulate paddling. The Willamette effort gave them a chance to test their gear, pacing and teamwork in real conditions.

Chelsey Magness and Daniel Staudigel completed a nonstop 150.4-mile paddle along the Willamette River in preparation for a 1,000-mile race on the Yukon River.

What was it like paddling 150 miles down the Willamette River?

While the Willamette River flows through some of Oregon’s most populated areas, both athletes said they were surprised by how remote much of the route felt.

The river often felt wild and “out there,” the pair said, noting they enjoyed the surrounding vegetation, cliffs and wildlife and spotted multiple eagles and herons along the way.

The paddle was also meant to bring more attention to the Willamette Water Trail, a designated paddling route that stretches through much of the Willamette Valley.

"To have 150 miles of beautiful, uninterrupted river that is logistically easy to access is unique to Oregon," Magness said. "It’s a stunning waterway every local adventurer should experience."

The experience also showed Magness what she's capable of.

"One of the biggest takeaways for me was that nobody can fake durability. It comes with experience and a whole lot of mental work. This trip showed me that I do in fact have enough of it," she wrote in her blog.

Slow river currents prove a challenge

The most difficult section for the pair came near Newberg, where the river current slowed late in the night after they'd spent more than 13 hours on the water.

“It felt like we hit a wall,” Magness said. “Physically it is really hard because we were both tired and it was dark.”

Staudigel also dealt with a painful blister that formed early in the paddle, something he described as both physically and mentally frustrating.

"I know how important it is to take care of my hands," he said. "Not only did I have the pain of the blister, but I also had the emotional pain of knowing better."

Still, both athletes said the experience gave them confidence heading into the Yukon race this summer.

For Magness, the paddle marked her first major endurance effort in a kayak, despite an already decorated endurance racing background that includes winning the 2022 WEMBO, a 24-hour mountain bike world championship.

The duo also recently placed fifth at the Adventure Racing World Championships in Canada alongside teammates Jason Magness and Matthias Arnbert.

In addition to racing internationally, the athletes are organizing the USARA National Championship Adventure Race, which is expected to bring top endurance athletes to Bend later this year.

Ginnie Sandoval is the Oregon Connect reporter for the Statesman Journal. Sandoval is a lifelong Oregonian who covers trending news, entertainment, food and outdoors. She can be reached atGSandoval@statesmanjournal.comor on X at @GinnieSandoval.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Bend kayakers break Willamette River paddling record