Kayak races coming to the Mid-Ohio Valley have a deeper mission than competition

POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. (WTAP) - Ohio River Paddling and Conservation Founder Chris Saber is bringing kayak racing to the Mid-Ohio Valley. The event’s called Race on the Oyo. Saber said there will be two races on June 17th, both different lengths, starting in Racine, Ohio. One will end in Pomeroy and the other will end in Point Pleasant.

It costs $50 to enter. Saber said he plans on using a majority of the proceeds for a deeper goal.

“This idea came about as I created this company to bring a rowing team or program to Meigs County, Ohio, in one of our local schools or in all of our local schools and hopefully spread out to the region,” he said.

That’s not Saber’s only mission. It all started with him racing in The MR340.

“I came back from that. I wanted to be able to bring back some of the pride and energy that went into that race and, from that, came the desire that I wanted to see recreation and water sports and - back on the Ohio River - that we haven’t really seen for a long time,” he said.

You can register for the event at 8am the day of but Saber encourages people to register in advance. The race starts at 9am. The race to Pomeroy is a nine mile race and the race to Point Pleasant is a 24 mile race.

If you’re interested in participating, email Saber’s company at ohioriverpaddling@gmail.com. Saber says, beyond the school initiative, funds raised will also go towards conservation efforts his company is looking into. While most of the money will go towards what’s already been mentioned, some of the money may go towards company costs such as staffing.

Saber says his company, Ohio River Paddling and Conservation, focuses on kayaking and conservation.

Below is a link to the Facebook event page.

https://www.facebook.com/events/893884908589585

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