Two Bend endurance athletes set a new speed record on the Willamette River in April in preparation for one of the world’s toughest paddling races.
Chelsey Magness and Daniel Staudigel paddled 150.4-miles nonstop from Eugene to West Linn in a two-person kayak in 17 hours and 44 minutes in mid-April. They averaged nearly 8.5 miles per hour.
The Willamette River flows north and stretches approximately 187 miles beginning south of Eugene and feeds into the Columbia River…