Left to right: Jeff Long, David Newman, John Buck, Lorraine McAteer.
On Sunday, April 29, two teams including 20 Mott MacDonald employees from the Westwood and Boston offices competed in the 36th Annual Run of the Charles Canoe Race.
The event consisted of a 24-mile canoe relay race along the Charles River that was divided up into five two-person legs. The race weaved through eight cities and towns and included six portages around dams. This was Mott MacDonald's ninth consecutive year of participation, each year apparently guaranteeing a cold overcast day with rain showers.
Mott MacDonald's black boat finished in 4 hours 53 minutes, placing us 14th out of 35 corporate teams and third among engineering firms. This performance equaled our top corporate finish (we have now finished 14th three times) and was only 8 minutes off our record time.
Mott MacDonald's white boat finished 34th with a more leisurely pace of 5 hours 33 minutes (still enough to leave CDM Smith in our wake). The white boat team truly enjoyed their day of recreation on the river, and even recorded our first in-race selfie (Amir Ibraheem in front, Shuk Birkok in back).
All the participants enjoyed a barbecue at the finish line. Proceeds from the event help support the Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA), which for over 50 years has led the effort to transform the once infamous "dirty water" of the Charles River into a place of recreation.