Au Sable River Canoe Marathon. He and partner Frank Taber had been paddling since around 8 p.m. the night before when the race kicked off. "You're not going to finish, you're going to miss the cutoff!" yelled an observer from the bridge that marks roughly a quarter mile to the finish line. This was after a long night and day of what Dittenber referred to as a mind-numbing experience that caused him to second guess himself at each one of the race's check points. And while it remains to be seen whether those words from the bridge where meant to encourage or deride the paddlers, Dittenber says it provided a vital push.
"That gave me all the adrenaline I needed," said the 32-year-old Au Gres native. "We pushed ourselves and gave it everything we had." Dittenber and Taber came in just eight minutes under the cutoff time of 4 p.m., successfully finishing the 120-mile race from Grayling to Oscoda. They had been paddling for nearly 20 hours. "Not finishing would have been devastating," Dittenber said. "I don't know if I would have been able to physically and mentally prepare myself to come back.
"But finishing tells me there's nothing I can't do in life. I now feel like there's nothing I can't accomplish."This year, the Grand Valley State University graduate student came back to tackle the Au Sable for a second time, as he and new partner and first-time racer Darin Lile hit the river Saturday night for another test of endurance. If all goes as planned for Dittenber and Lile - and the rest of the 92-team field of paddlers - they'll be crossing the finish in Oscoda some time today.
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