Who makes up the Mississippi Speed Record 2023 Team?
Scott Miller of Minneapolis, Minnesota, is the leader of team “Mississippi Speed Record”. He has paddled over 8,000 miles in his life. In 2005 he paddled from the Twin Cities to Hudson Bay, and in 2020 he competed in the Missouri River 340 and Great Alabama 650 races. Scott first got the idea to try and set this world record in 2018, and has been training and planning for it ever since. He was the leader of a 2020 attempt that held a 7 hour lead over record pace but was thwarted by a storm near New Orleans. Scott works as a registered nurse at the University of Minnesota Medical Center and as a massage therapist at his shop called Body Repair. He is married and lives with his wife Heidi and cats Tuxie and Cirrus just a few blocks from the Mississippi River in south Minneapolis. He is the founder and race director for Two Paddles Canoe and Kayak Races and the Mississippi River Paddle Weekend which has races and tours of various lengths on the river in Minnesota just north of the Twin Cities.
Judson Steinback developed his love of paddling when he was a child, fishing with his family from row boats, canoes, and kayaks. At the age of 21, he participated in his first canoeing, biking and running triathlon and fell in love with the sport of competitive paddling. He and his father, Jeff, bought their first racing style canoe shortly thereafter. Since then, Judson has competed in and won numerous paddling races throughout the Midwest. He also spends hundreds of hours annually training on the Upper Mississippi River and its tributaries near his hometown of La Crosse, WI. Judson is currently the Master’s Class Men’s and Mixed USCA C-2 National Champion. He has also competed in International Professional Canoe Races, placing 14th in the Ruta Maya Belize River Challenge with Mississippi Speed Record teammate Joe Mann and 29th (1st in the Rookie Class) in the AuSable River Canoe Marathon with Dan Goltz.
Judson lives with his partner Daniela Montañez and two daughters, Julia and Jayda, and loves to explore, travel, adventure with them. When not training and racing canoes, you can find Judson fly fishing on local trout and bass streams, drinking lattes at his favorite cafes, running projects for his landscaping company, or schlepping his daughters to their activities.
Paul Cox, from Atlanta, Georgia, has 20+ years experience in ultra distance racing. He got his start in multi-sport adventure races, his teams winning or placing well in many multiple-day races over the years. While he enjoys trail running, orienteering and mountain biking, he finds the most happiness in a kayak or canoe bouncing down whitewater or gliding through a remote section of river.
A National Outdoor Leadership School course on the Green River in Utah nearly 25 years ago changed his life and encouraged him to fill it full of adventures, particularly on the water. Over the years, he's completed several of the world’s longest and toughest paddling races including the Texas Water Safari, Missouri River 340, Yukon River Quest, Yukon 1000 and the Great Alabama 650.
Early top paddling performances included a third-place finish in the tandem division of the Yukon River Quest and a second-place finish in the Texas Water Safari mixed tandem division. Most recently, Paul won the Great Alabama 650 twice and set the course record with Mississippi Speed Record teammate Joe Mann.
Paul, a digital media editor and operations manager, has also been a kayak & recreational outdoor skills instructor and still enjoys trail running and mountain biking in the cold months. He and his wife, Lisa, have two children — a middle-school-age daughter and a son in college. You can follow more of his adventures at www.atlantaadventuredad.com.
Wally Werderich of Yorkville, Illinois has leads a life that is never too far away from a river or a paddle. Learning to canoe through the Boy Scouts when he was seven years old, Wally has had a lifetime of river adventures. From the serenity of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area to traversing the Grand Canyon on the Colorado River, there is always an adventure with Wally on the water. When Wally was a teenager, the canoe racing bug bit him. Since then, Wally has competed in multiple United States Canoe Association National Championships and many of the largest canoe races throughout the country. Some of the finishes that Wally is most proud of are, his two top three finishes in the Missouri River 340, his two class wins in the Texas Water Safari, his three class wins and top three finishes in the Tour De Teche, his class win in the Everglades Challenge, his two United States Canoe Association stock C1 national championships, and his AuSable River Canoe Marathon finish. That said, Wally is most proud of the fact that he has spread his love of paddling with his family. If Wally is blessed with being able to set the Mississippi River speed record, he fully expects that one day the record will be re-set by either his son, his daughter, or both of them. Wally’s wife Belem and his Mom and Dad are also often with Wally on his canoe adventures. His whole family competes with the St. Charles, Canoe Club (IL). While not confirmed, it is rumored that Wally is a member of the legendary Los Humungos Paddleos masked luchador canoe racing team. If asked, Wally will tell you that he makes his living carrying Los Humungos Paddleos’ canoe paddles and washing their capes.
Joe Mann has built a reputation in the paddling community as a grinder, pure and simple. His talent for long, non-stop endeavors are evident in his success in races such as the Missouri River 340 and the Alabama 650: multiday events that require both physical and mental toughness. Simply put, the longer the race, the better Joe does.
Born and raised in Raytown Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City, Joe and his wife Beth currently live Lee’s Summit, where Beth is from. They have three children: Gabriel (23), Franklin (21), and Lillian (19).
Joe began paddling with his dad, Hoot, in the Ozark rivers as a child, and even took Beth on a canoe trip for their Honeymoon. He has tried unsuccessfully many times to make up for that ever since.
In 2007, at the age of 29, when he heard about the Missouri River 340, he immediately signed up and became hooked on ultra distance paddling. Over the last 15 years he has built the following resume:
15x finisher, 2x overall winner, 6x class winner, solo record holder, pedal team class record holder, of the Missouri River 340, “the longest annual non-stop paddle race”.
10x finisher, 5x overall winner, 9x class winner of the Missouri River Freedom Race 100,
2x finisher, 2x overall winner and overall record holder of the Great Alabama 650, “the longest annual paddle race in the world”.
2x finisher, class winner, 3rd in class of the Texas Water Safari, “the toughest canoe race in the world”.
1x finisher, 6th in class, 15th overall of La Ruta Maya, Belize’s largest sporting event.
Joe has worked in the facility service industry, specializing in procurement for more than 20 years. He loves to BBQ, vacation with his family, and help build the paddling community with Midwest Paddle Racing.