Manchester river-riding brothers take on the Au Sable
Case and Ross Kittel (front) and their canoeing crew on the Au Sable River.
by Marsha Chartrand
The 2024 Au Sable River Canoe Marathon was held July 27–28. This is an event held yearly since 1947. Two locally raised men paddled in the event this year for the very first time as rookies. Paddlers race 120 miles from Grayling to Oscoda on the Au Sable River, launching at 9pm Saturday and paddling through the night.
Case and Ross Kittel are no strangers to the river. Growing up along the banks of the River Raisin, Ross actually participated in his first Manchester Canoe Race just about two months before he was born. His midwife and his mother, Carol Kahn, paddled in the event. The then Manchester Enterprise covered that race and even made note of this prenatal run.
“We both grew up doing the Manchester Canoe, which inspired us to train for this race,” Case said. “We’ve met and trained with a lot of the canoe racing paddling community over the years by whom we’ve been mentored.”
The Manchester Canoe Race, sponsored by the Manchester Recreation Task Force, Kiwanis, and now by the Robotics Club/Manchester Schools, gave the brothers an annual canoe race opportunity, Kahn noted. But those are not the only races in which they’ve participated. The kids spent ample time on the River Raisin and the Huron River while growing up. They went canoe camping in Algonquin Provincial Park. On one of his first river trips, Case sat in a comfy car seat set inside the canoe with a life jacket on, while his brother and mom picked blueberries along the riverbanks.
Each boy was given his own new paddle on his third birthday. Ron Sell, a local paddle-maker, made Case a special paddle with Kevlar tape on the bottom. This paddle, Kahn said, was described as being “Case proof.” Growing up, the boys participated in other sports — cross-country, track, football, and wrestling. But canoeing was always a part of their spirits.
And the Au Sable race was a new and challenging opportunity for the brothers to bring some more of that spirit home.
Case and Ross finished the marathon as the fastest rookie team from Michigan this year — 58th overall in a time of 17 hours, 28 minutes, and 10 seconds. The winning time for the race was 14:35.26. They started 78th/100 boats after qualifying in a 1/2-mile sprint race with a buoy turn (similar to the Manchester Sprint race).
“Ross actually turned 32 right at midnight during the race, so I had to sing him happy birthday in the boat in between racing other teams,” Case commented. Just a little added challenge to add to the fun of the marathon!
Kahn reminisced from a mom’s point of view, saying that finding her sons in the crowd of 200 contestants and their 100 boats running to the water was “breathtaking.” The race is described as the “World’s Toughest Spectator Race,” because following the Au Sable River by car is challenging.
Local sponsors for the team were Skip’s Huron River Canoe Livery, Ore Creek Cider, and Underground Printing.
Will the Kittel brothers take on the Au Sable again? Case says they’ve received a lot of support to do so already, so he suspects that they will. Stay tuned for next summer, when they hope to train harder to improve their times!
The Kittel brothers round a bend in the river at sunrise.
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