Great Alabama 650 race passes through the rivers of the Black Belt this week

Kayakers from all over the U.S., Canada and Germany are headed to Selma this week.  

The fifth annual Great Alabama 650 started Sept. 30 at Weiss Lake in northeastern Alabama, and they are now heading down the Coosa River. 

Race Director Greg Wingo said this year there are two special competitors. “We could have two finishers that are five-time finishers,” Wingo said.“It’s the two best-known racers of all of them - Bobby Johnson from Dunedin, Florida, and Sally O’Donnell from Fort Walton Beach, Florida.” 

Johnson and O’Donnell finished one and two in 2019 and 2022. Johnson was second in 2020 and O’Donnell was third in 2021. 

The race has become a spectator sport, according to Wingo. He said people are keeping up with the paddlers' progress on the www.AL650.com website, which has an interactive tracking map for each paddler. When the paddlers get close, spectators “go out on their docks, on their pontoon boats, people stand on the bridges to cheer them (the racers) on,” Wingo said.  

The lead boat was scheduled to be at the portage point in Wetumpka sometime in the morning of Oct. 2. They should hit Montgomery and be in the Black Belt by mid-day. The lead boat should be in the Selma area in the early morning hours of Tuesday, Oct. 3. 

“But that is the lead boat,” Wingo said. The boats further back in the race could be paddling through as late as Thursday. They should reach Miller’s Ferry a day or so later.  

Along the route, there are areas where the waters may not be navigable, like a dam, so the racers will take their boats out of the water to go around these obstacles. Wingo said these are the areas that many paddlers choose to get rest, resupply their boat with food and water, and yes, use the bathroom. However, he said some racers choose to paddle through the night.  

Wingo said that the folks at the Alabama Scenic River Trail knew his experience as an endurance racer, so they contacted him to create a race that would showcase the 650-mile trail. The Great Alabama 650 has showcased that section of river while drawing attention to the vast recreational potential of Alabama’s waterways.