Missouri River racers take a break at Cooper's Landing on the way from KC to St. Charles

When Dana Kee arrived in his kayak on the Missouri River shore at Cooper's Landing, friend Josh Patterson asked him how he felt.

"Exhausted," was the response from the 57-year-old Kee. "Hurting all over."

Kee, from Franklin in Howard County, was stopping Wednesday on the way from Kansas City to St. Charles in the Missouri American Water MR340 race, in its 17th year. It's Kee's seventh race.

The 340 refers to the number of miles on the Missouri River the race takes canoeists, kayakers, pedal-boaters and others.

Missouri River Relief organizes and produces the race.

"This is the one I've done with the least training," Kee said. He signed up at the last minute.

Despite the aches, he said he doesn't regret his decision to participate.

"It's kind of a painful addiction," he said.

Chuck Scheidt, of Corpus Christi, Texas, also stopped at the Cooper's Landing station.

"It's fine," he said of his race so far. "It's very majestic."

More: What to know about the MR340 river race coming through mid-Missouri

He made a mistake at Tuesday's start of the race in Kansas City, he said.

"I thought I would be competitive," Scheidt said. "I'm wilting today. I tried to hang with the faster people. It was a mistake."

It's his second year in the race.

"It's kind of half-race, half-vacation," he said. His family is assisting him at stopping points. They enjoyed some time together in Kansas City at the beginning of the race and planned to be tourists in St. Louis at the end of the race.

"It's lunch time," said kayaker Ben Pleimann, 42, of Breckenridge, Colorado, as he pulled into Cooper's Landing with his kayak.

It's his third time in the race and his goal is to get faster each year, he said.

"The 340 is just big and hard," he said.

The race wasn't impacted by the pandemic in 2020 or 2021, but flooding in 2019 canceled it that year.

It was the second time in the MR 340 for Steve Pundzak, 51, of Des Moines, Iowa.

"Last year, I can honestly say it was the best experience in my life in 50 years," he said.  "I couldn't stop thinking about the river after the race ended."

He was looking forward to nightfall.

"The nighttime paddling is where it's at for me," he said. "Night time is the right time."

He's not trying to compete at all, Pundzak said.

"I'm doing it for the joy of being on the river," he said.

It's a special community, he said.

"I think people who do this are unique," he said. "You meet the nicest people out here."

Solo paddlers had 86 hours to complete the route, with all others needing to finish within 85 hours.

Dustin LeCave was the first to arrive in St. Charles, at 9:47 p.m. Wednesday. He was in the men's solo category. The race started in Kansas City at 8 a.m. Tuesday for tandems and teams and 7 a.m. for solo folks, so LeCave finished in 38 hours and 47 minutes.

Roger McKinney is the education reporter for the Tribune. You can reach him  at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com or 573-815-1719. He's on Twitter at @rmckinney9.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri River 340 racers stop briefly at Cooper's Landing for a rest