The MR340 will bring together 652 paddlers in 465 boats next week for the race down the Missouri River from Kansas City to St. Louis.
Founded in 2006, the racers attempt to paddle the length of the lower Missouri River in under 85 hours. Solo racers start at 7 a.m. Tuesday at Kaw Point near Kansas City with all other divisions pushing off at 8 a.m. All paddlers must make it to the final stop in St. Charles by 9 p.m. Friday to officially qualify as a finisher.
Racers compete in kayaks, canoes, pedalboats, paddleboards, rowboats and dragon boats. The MR340 runs around the clock, and five checkpoints along the route are mandatory stops, each with a cutoff time that must be hit to escape disqualification.
Because it runs continuously, the race is planned around the lunar cycle, placing racers under a full moon to allow for the most natural light during the darkest hours, said Steve Schnarr, the race director with Missouri River Relief.
On Wednesday, the second day of the race, paddlers will start to pull in at Cooper’s Landing, just over the halfway mark and the closest rest point to Columbia. The rest stops allow racers to resupply and connect with their support crews.
The Cooper’s Landing Store will be open all night Wednesday for racers and crews, and a Mr. Murphy food truck will be stationed there during the afternoon and evening Wednesday. Early Thursday morning, El Moe’s food truck will be at the stop serving breakfast burritos.
The next stop on the route is Jefferson City, a checkpoint for all racers with a cutoff time of 4 p.m. Thursday.
This year, 23 competitors registered from Columbia, with many competing in their second, third or more MR340s.
“I love seeing people come back and challenge themselves in new ways with the race,” Schnarr said.
“The depth of the community that’s involved in putting the race on and participating in the race just continues to deepen and broaden,” he said. “The community just keeps getting better.”
Last year, nearly 600 paddlers initially registered to race down the Missouri River, and 272 were counted as official finishers. More than 100 boats were unable to finish the race.
The fastest team last year had John Radford and Matt Walters in a tandem pedal-driven boat called Pedal Maniacs that finished in 39 hours and 25 minutes.
At least six boats from Columbia completed the 340-mile race in 2025, including Brendan Forshee, who finished No. 6 among the solo men’s paddlers and No. 16 overall.
In 2024, Forshee paddled the 340 miles from Kansas City to St. Charles in 47 hours and 17 minutes, finishing No. 22. Last year, his time was 48 hours and 41 minutes, but he ended up with a better overall result.
The fastest boat ever in MR340 history was a team of five who finished the race in 2018 in just over 33 hours.