Phillips County Adventure

Malta Trails and Malta Parks & Recreation recently tag teamed to form the First Annual Phillips County Adventure Relay, a three sport team event that will be taking place on Saturday, July 8 at 12:30 p.m.

"Laura Pankratz (Malta Trails) had the idea," said Natalie Judd of Malta Parks & Recreation. "They are really big into kayaking and those events are really well attended."

The event will be a three to four person team event in which the teams have one biker go on a ride from the Promises store parking lot to the Alkali Fishing Access on Wagner road where teams will then get into a two person kayak and race down to the Edgewater Inn. After reaching the checkpoint near the Edgewater the team will be driven to Blades Hair & Nail Design to begin a run that will end at the Marian Hills Golf Course & Tin Cup.

"The runner will run down Millionaire Avenue and go to the M Trail and we will end at the Tin Cup," Judd said. "It's about a three mile run."

Tatafu added that teams can either run or walk.

During the kayak portion of the race for safety reasons each participant will need a life jacket and it is also mandatory for teams to have two people in a kayak. For added precaution teams will be followed during the kayak races and run.

"We will have people designated to follow the last kayak and the last runner for safety reasons," Tatafu said.

The Adventure Relay was originally scheduled for August but fearing the canal would possibly be too low for the kayak portion, the Rec. Directors called for an earlier date.

"We were originally going to do this in August but we bumped it back to July because we wanted to make sure that the water was high enough," Judd said.

The race is to help fund the Parks & Recreation department and Malta Trails run future events. Both groups have been heavily involved in bringing various outdoor and indoor events to Malta.

"Malta Trails is doing it to help fund more events in the future and it's the same with us," said Julia Tatafu of Malta Parks & Recreation. "It's just for fun. It's a relay that can be for leisure or it can be competitive. It's up to each team."

According to the event's flyer, bragging rights are up for grabs as well as an unnamed First Place prize.

Originally the event was limited to ten teams but the groups are open to expanding the number to more teams depending on interest.

"In advertising we have limited it to ten teams but if there are a lot more interested we will open it for more," Judd said.

Monday, June 19 kicked off the initial sign up for the event and the deadline to sign up is noon on Friday, July 7. Teams can sign up at https://runsignup.com/race/mt/malta/phillipscountyadventurerelayrace or fill out a form at the City Pool. For kayak rental assistance contact Steph Nagel at 406-366-1985.