{"id":16524,"date":"2016-06-22T16:38:01","date_gmt":"2016-06-22T20:38:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/huntsville.dopperonline.ca\/?p=16524"},"modified":"2016-06-22T20:32:22","modified_gmt":"2016-06-23T00:32:22","slug":"its-bacon-or-bust-for-these-paddling-marathoners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/its-bacon-or-bust-for-these-paddling-marathoners\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s bacon or bust for these paddling marathoners"},"content":{"rendered":"

Father-daughter duo Matt and Bronwyn James share a passion for canoeing. They also love bacon. So when they decided to enter the Algonquin Outfitters Big East River X last year, a 40-kilometer paddling marathon, Bronwyn christened their team Bacon or Bust.<\/p>\n

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But getting to that point required some persistence.<\/p>\n

Matt had done the Muskoka River X \u2013 the Big East River X\u2019s longer cousin held in the fall \u2013 with a friend the previous year. \u201cBronwyn said, \u2018I wanna do it, I wanna do it,\u2019\u201d says Matt, \u201cbut we barely finished. We did it in 22 hours.\u201d They decided the Big East River X would be okay, but hit a snag when they discovered that 16 is the minimum age for racers. So they contacted race organizers Rob Horton and Mike Varieur.<\/p>\n

Bronwyn has been paddling since she was eight or nine years old and now, at 13, has considerable experience with a canoe. \u201cI told them, \u2018she\u2019s experienced, she knows what she\u2019s doing and she\u2019ll be with me, so what do you think?\u2019\u201d says Matt. They asked to see a resume of her experience just to be sure and eventually gave her the green light to enter.<\/p>\n

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Matt and Bronwyn with their Big East River X medals in 2015<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe convinced them to change the rules,\u201d says Bronwyn proudly. Canoers between the ages of 13 and 16 can now participate if they can prove their ability to organizers.<\/p>\n

They eagerly registered and lined up sponsors \u2013 Algonquin Outfitters<\/a><\/u>, Baffin footwear, and Rashers, a bacon sandwich shop in Toronto.<\/p>\n

And on race day, they were surprised to find that they\u2019d won their category: the C2 co-ed recreational division. \u201cI went up to ask Rob what our official time was because I was curious and he said, \u2018Oh, you won your division.\u2019 And we\u2019re like, \u2018how did that happen?\u2019\u201d laughs Matt.<\/p>\n

This year, they entered the 9-kilometre recreational race with Bronwyn\u2019s younger sister Isobel joining them. \u201cWe\u2019ve added a little extra horsepower this year,\u201d says Matt.<\/p>\n

They finished third overall and first in a canoe with a time of 1:01:34.<\/p>\n\n\t\t