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Racer Notice for the Running of the 2024 Westfield River Wildwater Races
We are delighted to announce that the Westfield River Wildwater Races Committee will hold the 2024 Westfield River Wildwater Expert and Classic Races as scheduled on Saturday, April 20th in Huntington and Russell, Massachusetts.
When we announced last week that the races were postponed due to logistical and financial issues, there was an immediate outpouring of both money and volunteer resources to make this happen. We have now gotten the commitments from the towns of Huntington and Russell that will enable us to get the insurance necessary to run this race. Thank you to the select boards and the police for working so diligently to develop solutions with us.
A quick shout out to just a few of the individuals and businesses that made this happen. Longtime paddler Travis Wheeler set up a GoFundMe that to date has raised over $4100. (Feel free to continue to donate.) Legendary paddler and former race chair Jeff DeFeo stepped in to problem solve with us and presented the challenge to Indian Motorcycle of Springfield and JR Raymaaker’s & Sons Construction who together put up the money to cover our operational shortfall. Pioneer Valley Waste Solutions offered their trash services and the Wild & Scenic Westfield River Committee is funding porta potties to keep the river clean.
No race (bike, running or paddling) can fully cover costs with registration fees and we thank you both for your participation and being so vocal about what this race means to you.
We will be communicating in future about some operational changes to the race, most notably about parking protocols. It's tough getting so many boats in and out of the water safely and to your vehicles and trailers.
Last year when we surveyed you about what we could improve on, parking was a top request. This year there will be no parking near the finish lines so that first responders can keep the area clear. We will be using a system of bus and boat shuttles to move racers to their vehicles in Strathmore Park. You are encouraged to minimize the number of vehicles you bring to the race and bring a buddy to drive your vehicle to pick you up. More on that in the weeks to come.
We are also reinstating the two clinics that were scheduled for Saturday, April 6th and 13th.
Registration will go live at our web page next week and early bird pricing of $35 will be available till March 31st. Thank you for your support and we hope to see you on the river this year! We are still looking for volunteers for positions like parking management. If you are racing, please send a family member or friend to help us out for two hours the day of the race. It takes more than a village to hold this race and we need those volunteers! Email [email protected]
Sincerely,
The Westfield River Wildwater Race Committee
March 15, 2024
westfieldriver.org/races
[email protected]
March 15, 2024
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