CORDOVA — Hunter Tate left eight other paddlers in his wake Saturday morning to win the kayak race in the inaugural River Run Float Fun on the Pee Dee.
The race started at the U.S. 74 bridge, with Tate taking and keeping the lead the entire 6.4-mile route, tapping the dock at the Dairy Barn boat landing at 59 minutes and 49 seconds.
Tate, of Holden Beach, has family ties to Hamlet dating back more than a century.
Hunter Grant, of Cordova placed second and Nick Lauffer, of Chesterfield, South Carolina, came in third.
Tate was awarded $500 and Grant and Lauffler won $250 and $100, respectively.
Richmond County Forest Ranger Brandon VanBuren was next to finish, followed by Anthony Bristow. In 2016, Bristow paddled the from Hitchcock Creek in Rockingham down the Pee Dee to Georgetown, South Carolina.
Kayakers start a race underneath the U.S. 74 bridge on the Pee Dee River.
William R. Toler - Richmond Observer
The youngest competitor, 15-year-old Colton Grant of Cordova, finished sixth, ahead of Kim Meeks, Robert Taylor and Victor Meeks.
Several minutes after the race started, another group of kayakers put in for a more leisurely paddle down river.
Another contingent of participants floated from the landing just below the Blewett Falls dam to the landing on U.S. 74, but a lack of current led to some having to be towed to the dock.
A float race was planned, but no one signed up.
Despite recent reports, there were no alligator sightings on the river Saturday.
The event, sponsored by Cordova Fire and Rescue, was both an opportunity to bring activity back to the river, as well as have multiple departments work together, according to assistant chief Bob Smith, who also serves as the Richmond County Emergency Services Director.
Cordova had help on the water and shore from members of the Rockingham Fire Department, Hamlet Fire and Rescue, Richmond County Rescue and Lilesville Fire Department.
The Fat Man’s Kitchen food truck was also on site.
Smith said the department plans to make the River Run an annual event.
See more photos on the RO's Facebook page, as well as at visitrichmondcounty.com.
