The Mississippi River Challenge for Rett Syndrome And Leukodystrophy was an ultra-endurance race of the ENTIRE Mississippi River (2,348 miles) without any timeouts or breaks, all done to benefit those suffering from two different life threatening diseases - Rett Syndrome and Leukodystrophies.

On May 10, 2003, at 6 AM, Clark Eid (Cheshire, CT) and Bob Bradford (Lapeer, MI) began their paddle of the mighty Mississippi River in World Record Time in a specially designed racing canoe. They launched their boat and their epic adventure in the still waters of a northern Minnesotan lake and emerged ten states and 18 days, 4 hours and 51 minutes later in the Gulf of Mexico.

In the days and nights covering 2,348 miles, the two endurance paddlers raced against time, fatigue, foul weather, and other hazards as they struggled to reach their goal. They were motivated by a love of paddling and the spirit of competition. But behind that, it was a deeply personal undertaking for both men. Clark's daughter has Rett syndrome and Bob's family has been affected by Adrenoleukodystrophy (one of many forms of leukodystrophies), so they took on this uniuqe challenge to raise awareness and research funds to combat these two life threatening diseases.

We will be racing against the clock to beat the previous Guinness World Records set in 1989 and 1984:

Guinness World Records. - 1989 Record for paddling the entire Mississippi River - 23 days, 9 hours, and 51 minutes.
Paddlers Bill Perdzock and Mike Schnitska

Guinness World Records. - 1984 Record for paddling the entire Mississippi River - 23 days, 10 hours, 20 minutes. 
Paddlers Verlen Kruger and Valerie Fons

Special thanks to Commander Jerry Torok and D.F. Ryan, Captain, US Coast Guard, Chief Marine Safety Division for his assistance!