Group hopes to return to competition on the lake

CELINA - A group of boating and waterskiing enthusiasts on Saturday will set out to prove Grand Lake can host barefoot skiing endurance marathons which are normally held on rivers.

Friends of Grand Lake will present The Grand Gathering at 7 a.m. Saturday at West Bank. The 80-mile race is open to any boat capable of pulling a skier in a safe manner, single skiers and relay teams, according to organizer Kevin Klosterman.

If they show barefoot endurance marathons can be done on Grand Lake, Klosterman hopes to build the event up over time and give people another reason to visit the area.

"Catalina's only 62 miles and look how famous that long race is," he said. "We could be the Catalina of the Midwest if we started having fun and made something of it."

Klosterman said barefoot endurance marathons are typically 40 miles long. Looking to broaden the appeal, at least for the first year, Klosterman is allowing water-skiers, wake-boarders and even tubers. He also extended the race length to 80 miles.

"Normally, a barefoot event, it's a hardcore, gladiator-tough thing," Klosterman said. "Well, if you open it up to waterski as well you lose the competitiveness of all having the same genre of skiing on the water but you also open it up to like my son, who wants to go on a wakeboard instead of barefoot."

Barefoot endurance marathons involve competing teams of boats pulling water-skiers as they race across the course, Klosterman said. He pointed to the Buckethead Barefoot Endurance Race on the Maumee River in Grand Rapids, Ohio, as an example.

But such races have never been held on Grand Lake, Klosterman said. Unlike a river, Grand Lake's waters are unpredictable and can be rough, adding a new challenge to an endurance marathon.

"This lake can't compete against calm water type of events that need to go on a river but it's a big open waterway," he said. "People have skied from one end to the other but no one's ever taken advantage of the length to build on it."

Existing lake buoys will function as course reference points that can be followed by others.

"We're going to be running on the north side of the lake, which makes the most sense. There's a certain buoy that we're going to go south until we log 10 miles and then we turn around and then we come back on the same waypoints," he said.

The participants will collect data along the way.

"We've got a couple of boats that are going to run it and see the telemetry of what it takes to do the distance," Klosterman said. "Since it hasn't been done we're going to be using tracking devices that monitor 'what does it take to run 80 miles on the lake?'"

With skiers moving at roughly 35 mph, the 80-mile race should take two-and-a-half to three hours to complete, he said.

"We're going to try to log our first 40 (miles) as serious and fast as we can," he said. "If I have three barefooters, we may run the first 40 (miles) barefoot and that way it makes this lake a barefoot course. It shows that you can do it."

So far, Klosterman said about three inboard skiboats and 10 participants have signed on.

"Just like any other thing, we need to get year No. 1 under our belt - and have a good time," he said. "If we had prize money you'd have all kinds of people beating themselves up on the lake. But once again, it's our first year."

Klosterman said he has no concerns about the lake water advisory. The public has been advised to avoid all contact with water at the four public beaches on Grand Lake after tests detected unsafe algal toxins, according to notices released by the Ohio Department of Health last month.

"Once again, this event is open to all types of boats and open to any towable forms of skiers capable of making the distance. Although there may be some barefoot relay teams running and some skiers competing against themselves, this event will be won by all who compete," an event description reads.

"After the Marathon, all the morning participants are invited to join the afternoon's beach party afterwards sponsored by the LIA and the evening banquet at Boardwalk Village."

Klosterman stressed the importance of getting more people involved with boating events on Grand Lake.

He said he helped bring back Ohio Governor's Cup Regatta in 1995 after its initial 1958-1970 run. More than 20,000 spectators lined the lake shore each summer for the free, family-fun event.

It was scrapped in 2016 due to declining numbers of participating racers, organizers said at the time.

"We just need to start rallying around a couple of events on this lake. There's no motorboat events on this lake," he said. "Kayaking is huge right now. The lake should have monthly events for kayaks right now and it has zero - and those bring in 500 people. Indian Lake's doing them. Buckeye Lake's doing them."

For more information on The Grand Gathering, visit friendsofgrandlake.com.