There was never a doubt Harris and Wakeley have what it takes to be champions. Anyone willing to clamber into a canoe, clench a paddle in their hands and start stroking at the grueling pace of once per second for a couple of hours – or all night long in the case of the “Big Race” – clearly earns every ounce of the victory they seek.

Having spoken to a fair number of paddlers over the past seven years, some at great length, I’ll tell you there is something that sets these folks apart.

For starters, most competitive paddlers tell you it is not the thoughts of winning a race that moves them along.

It is more the test of looking inward, of pitting mind and body against self-doubt, against a psyche that claims “This cannot be done,” against that element of human nature that drives the rest of us to stand on a bridge, a dam or a river bank and cheer those would-be champions on.

Even though paddlers race two in a boat during the Marathon, there can be nowhere on earth more lonesome than the fog-shrouded backwaters of Alcona Pond as night creeps slowly toward a cold, grey dawn.

Along with the stamina and drive of true athletes, most paddlers exude a confidence that carries over into everything they do. It is part of their presentation.

So it is with Harris and Wakeley.

It was a chance encounter that I met Harris for the first time on the street in Grayling, but something in the young man’s demeanor told me to shell out a few hundred bucks, money that in truth we did not have, and give him and Wakeley a financial boost in their glory-bound attempts to make it all the way to the marathon.

We’re glad we did.

In my book, the Weyerhaeuser AuSable River Marathon is one of the best things Northeast Michigan has going. What better way to celebrate the area’s offerings than to hold a race that runs the breadth of our entire territory.

But more than that, Harris and Wakeley and I share a common vision.

From the small hill on Prospect Street where the Lemans-style start of the marathon begins, Harris and Wakeley can clearly see across 120 miles and three counties to the finish line in Oscoda. And I, too, have an uncompromising respect for the land this river spans and the communities it passses through.

But it is more than that.

As Jorden Wakeley puts it: “We’re from Grayling. We pretty much grew up knowing that we had to paddle.” And according to Ryan Harris, to actually paddle that distance is a dream he’s held for just about as long as he can recall.

Talk like that inspires us here at Info Northeast. Just as Harris and Wakeley saw their dreams reach their pinnacle in Saturday’s race, we’re watching our dreams to bind eight counites together by sharing our stories come true at Info Northeast, especially now that professional writer Jim Smith of Grayling, as well as writer and former South African Julius Muller of Tawas, have signed on to write for us.

Smith’s story appearing later today about the legendary paddler Al Widing is merely the first in a string of canoe race-related coverage Info Northeast will bring your way in the few weeks leading up to the marathon. And Muller’s article about Iosco County’s Lumberman’s Monument that will appear tomorrow, helps further celebrate the world-renowned AuSable River, one of our area’s many treasures

We look forward to having both writers on board, helping Info Northeast further our pledge to celebrate all that is Northeast Michigan. Just as Ryan Harris, Jorden Wakeley, Al Widing and dozens of other paddlers give us something real and tangible and profoundly human to celebrate about.

Now, if you’ll excuse me for a minute, there is one more thing I need to say.

GO, Ryan GO! GO, Jorden GO!