IRONTON, Mo. — Diane McHenry, an Ironton County woman, is one of the 473 kayakers who set out to complete the 19th Annual Missouri American Water MR340 race on Tuesday. The 68-year-old is competing through another obstacle: her broken wrist.
Diane is kayaking from Kansas City to St. Charles. She passed Hermann Thursday night and was expected to join other race finishers in St. Charles Friday around 12:30 p.m. in 220th place. She kept moving on four hours of sleep.
Diane, a respiratory therapist, and her husband Chuck, a retired dentist, are known as Midwest royalty in the paddling community, according to family friend Jason Bales.
"When I was in college I was 19-year-old and I had bought a kayak and a friend of mine said 'Hey I know a guy that kayaks.' And me and my friend went and started learning how to kayak from Chuck 32 years ago," Bales said.
The couple changed Bales's life with their mentorship and he has since kayaked nationwide. Now he is apart of Diane's ground crew as she completes MR340 race for the 17th time.
"They exert themselves so much that they can hardly tell you what their name is when they get into those races like that," Bales said. "It's really incredible how tough of a people they are."
Diane almost missed the chance to compete in the MR340 because of her injury. Days before the race, she found a way to rig a peddle propeller drive into an old aluminum canoe so that she could participate in the 340-mile race, Bales said.
"I don't know. I think I've got a screw loose," Diane laughed and said of her motivation to race. Throughout the years she has learned that being on the water is therapeutic.
MR340 race 2024
Bales said Diane would be way more competitive if her wrist was not broken.
"She would probably be seven or eight hours ahead of where she is now," Diane said.
Diane said the biggest challenge is conquering the mind.
"You just have to have determination," she said.
Diane admitted to thinking, "Why did you sign up again?"
"It's like a woman in childbirth, and then they forget everything they went through," she said.
In 2010, Diane and Chuck earned a mixed tandem record, setting a 41:26 time between checkpoints.
Throughout the years racing in MR340, Diane partnered with different racers and continued to break records. In 2011, Diane's record time was 44:36 in women's tandem. In 2018, she set a women's tandem record at 45:11.
"When you're tandem you have to give a lot of credit to your partner," Diane said. Tandem is easier for racers because you have someone to talk to and split the work with, she added.
This year Diane's goal as a solo racer is to finish the race.
Diane's love for the outdoors started at a young age. She recalls canoeing and fishing with her parents all the time as a child. Diane grew in her love as an adult by taking on adventure racing, triathlons, mountain biking and more. Then at 45-years-old she began whitewater paddling with Chuck. The pair soon moved on to flatwater racing.
It is undeniable that Diane's tenacity teaches us the importance of finishing what you start.
