1989 Anchorage Daily News Article

This is an article about the1989 Wilderness Classic.  The article was written before some of the racers had finished, so it doesn't post the final results.  Because of copyright considerations, I can't post the whole article but I've posted part of it here.  If you would like to read the whole article you can go to the Anchorage Daily News archives and pay for it or you can read it through your library's online archives for free.  Here's a blog post that shows you how to do it. Library Access

"DUMB MISTAKE' ALMOST FATAL 

MANZER SURVIVESWILDERNESS CLASSIC

 Anchorage Daily News (AK) - Sunday, August 20, 1989
Author: MICHAEL VANAUSDELN Daily News reporter ; Staff

Dave Manzer was in reach of Roman Dial's Alaska Wilderness Classic course record when he screwed up.

Manzer, a fivetime veteran, instead nearly drowned and ended in a threeway tie.

Tuesday, though, he was flying through the 160mile race from Nabesna to McCarthy until he reached the Chitistone River.

For most of the dozen people entered, the river is something to cross with caution. For Manzer, it is something to speed down. He rode his inflatable raft down the wild river, a vein of white water he had mastered many times before, confident that Dial's record was in danger.

Then, pulling over to the side to dump water out of his raft, the Anchorage athlete and his raft smacked into a rock, sending Manzer into a swirl of water and thoughts of dying.

. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .

1.  Dave Manzer, Adrian Crane and Tom Posser:  3 days 6 hours 9 minutes
2.  Jeff Gedney of Fairbanks:   3 days 14 hours 15 minutes

Scratch:  Ralf Cuba, Harold Markham, Tim Gillis, Brandt McGee
Still on the trail when article was written:  Dick Griffith, Kathy SarnesHickok, Kathy Lambert, Klaus Oberle