Big Muddy Speaker Series presents:

Name: MR340 Race Stories
Start: 2021-01-12T19:00:00-06:00
End: 2021-01-12T20:30:00-06:00

MR340 Race Stories

Presented by Scott Mansker, Steve Schnarr

Wilson's Serenity Point, the Jefferson City Checkpoint for the 2017 MR340.

Online Presentation by MR340 Race Director and Founder Scott Mansker and Missouri River Relief Director Steve Schnarr

Some of the great history and stories of the community of paddlers that makes the MR340 race unique and precious.

Published: January 12, 2021

Click here to view presentation on YouTube.

Hosted by Missouri River Relief on Zoom and live-streamed on YouTube.

Streaming sponsored by Rivermiles, the folks that bring you the MR340

Scott Mansker and Steve Schnarr talked about our excitement in bringing the MR340 race into the Missouri River Relief family of Missouri River events and what this new partnership means. Then then they shared some of the great history and stories of the community of paddlers that makes this race unique and precious.

At the end of 2020, Missouri River Relief announced that we would be acquiring the MR340 race. Although we've been involved with the race for many years, we are really excited to increase our involvement and being a part of the future of this race. We've always seen this race as a perfect alignment with our mission of connecting people to the Missouri River.

The Missouri River 340 is the world's longest non-stop river race and is listed as one of National Geographic's Top 100 American Adventures. Starting in 2006, it has brought racers from around the world to come and race our river. The course spans the state of Missouri, 340 miles from Kansas City to St. Charles. Racers paddle day and night to finally reach the beach in St. Charles and say they did it!

Scott Mansker and Steve Schnarr will start out our presentation talking about our excitement in bringing the race into the River Relief family of Missouri River events and what this new partnership means. Then Scott will share some of the great history and stories of the community of paddlers that makes this race unique and precious.

Meet Your Presenters

Scott Mansker

, MR340 organizer

Scott is one of the founders of Rivermiles, the folks that organize the MR340. He has been paddling on the Missouri River since 1989. Scott is also a high school teacher. He is a co-founder of BigMAP (Big Muddy Advocacy Partners) and also co-produced the "Rivermiles" PBS documentary series.

Scott is the organizer of the MR340. He is also the safety boat coordinator for the race and is shown here in his boat the Falcon.
photo by Steve Schnarr.

Steve Schnarr

, Missouri River Relief Director

Resources & Links

Dig deeper for more info on this topic -

Rivermiles website
MR340 Forum, with many years of experts sharing info on the race and the river.
MR340 Facebook Group
MR340 Race Library - An archive of links, articles, info, photos and more.
NEWS - "Rivermiles passes paddle of MR340 race to Missouri River Relief" - by Charles Dunlap, Columbia Tribune, Dec. 7, 2020
BOOK - "MR340 First Time Finisher" - a guide to planning your first race
VIDEOS - 340 Paddler YouTube Channel - Veteran Paddler Christopher Luedke's amazing collection of How To videos on the race.
2020 Race Dispatches - eye-opening paddler's guide to doing this race
Select MR340 Videos
ARTICLE - "Finding Flow on the Mighty MO" - by Brett Dufur, June 17, 2013, Missouri Conservationist
VIDEO - "Floating Dreams" by Paul Jackson

The Big Muddy Speaker Series in Rocheport

is hosted by these wonderful partners.

Missouri River Relief
Les Bourgeois Vineyards
Katy Trail Bed & Breakfast
Missouri River Cultural Conservancy (MoRivCC)

Streaming is sponsored by Rivermiles, the folks who bring you the MR340.

Click here for a list of upcoming presentations»

Special thanks to Les Bourgeois Vineyards for giving us the opportunity to use their beautiful space overlooking the Missouri River. All speakers are presenting for free! Thank you all for sharing your knowledge with us!

The Big Muddy Speaker Series also takes place in Kansas City and St. Charles.

The views and opinions expressed by our presenters do not necessarily reflect the view or policies of Missouri River Relief, the Big Muddy Speaker Series or any of the partners that support this public forum. The Big Muddy Speaker Series believes that hearing diverse perspectives is a crucial building block for an informed public.