Houston, Texas, native Brad Pennington is kind of a big deal in the world of endurance boat racing.  They’re like  marathon runners for the paddling set.  He’s one of the top endurance boaters in the world, and having recently won the 460-mile Yukon River Quest, he was one of the favorites for the Missouri River 340.  However, he was struggling.  His boat, a kayak, wasn’t up to par for the choppier waters of the Missouri, and he was navigating his boat towards shore to make repairs when a 30-pound Asian silver carp jumped out of the water and smashed right into Pennington’s face.

“It felt like a brick hit me,” said Pennington of his close encounter with nature, adding that the blow from the fish gave him a “pounding, pounding headache that kept getting worse.”  Eventually, Pennington withdrew from the race, mere hours after it started, telling officials at the Huntsdale check-in point near Columbia, Missouri, that he was done.  Can’t say I blame him; the dangerously invasive Asian silver carp can grow up to 40 pounds and consume 40 percent of their weight in a day, so it wasn’t just being hit by a brick.  It was a heavy brick!

Tags: Brad Pennington, Columbia, Missouri, Houston, Texas, Missouri River, Asian silver carp, Missouri River Endurance Race, endurance races, jumping fish hurts boater, Missouri River 340

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