Sask Sport has announced Eb's staff member Edith MacHattie as one of the 3 finalists for the:             --  2016 Master Athlete of the Year Award --

You can imagine how mega-proud we Eb's workers are at the moment   *just pats on the back, cheering all the time, high fives all around*.

[ Out for a fall training session on the South Saskatchewan River, also shows the progress of Traffic Bridge demolition/construction.  (photo by Edith MacHattie) ]

While Edith has moved to cross country ski races for our winter season,  it is her series of impressive performances this past summer in North America's top marathon canoe races that has distinguished her for this award.

This series of races is called the Triple Crown of Canoe Racing and combines paddlers' results from the 3 most prestigious marathon canoe races in North America :

• the General Clinton Canoe Regatta (New York)
• the AuSable River Canoe Marathon (Michigan)
• La Classique de Canots de la Mauricie (Québec)

The General Clinton is a 70 mile nonstop race, the Au Sable is 120 miles (starting at night), and la Classique is a 3 day/3 stage event. These marathon canoe races really show the toughness and versatility of those competing. The competitors may have to start in a mass start lined up on the water, or do a running "Le Mans" start where they start on shore.  Races usually include several portages where the competitors run with their canoes.

[ No matter how you choose to pronounce the word (portij or portaahge), this doesn't look like fun at all.   (photo of Edith MacHattie & race partner Trevor Robinson at la Classique 2016, photo by Audrey Blais) ]
 
Edith raced all 3 Triple Crown events this summer with Trevor Robinson (also from Saskatoon) and they were #1 mixed team and 12th overall team. Wowza! Talk about showing off that Saskatoon talent. 

[ Top mixed team (photo by Cory Farthing) ]

They were the 1st placed mixed team at all 3 events and placed 12th overall at the General Clinton, 14th overall at AuSable & 9th overall at la Classique.

These results made Edith the #1 ranked North American female marathon paddler of the year (according to North American Paddler Ranking System).

While Edith certainly shines in these impressive marathon racing results, she is also heavily involved with the local marathon canoe club/community, canoe trips with her family, takes cool photos to document her adventures, writes most of the other informative/funny blog posts on ebsadventure.com aaaand is an all-around super friendly person to be around.  This all makes her a winner in our eyes!

[ Edith (look at that, the boat let's you know it's her in case you couldn't tell) at AuSable (photo by super supportive husband, Cory Farthing) ]

So next time you see Edith around, give this badass athlete a high five and we'll cheer her on for this summer's races too!