East Dallas neighbor Richard Linden is proof that you’re never too old to enjoy extreme sports, especially if it means knocking an item or two off your bucket list.
The 72-year-old dentist lives his life by moving from one obsession to the next. He recently migrated from a skydiving obsession to kayaking after he learned about the Texas Water Safari Race, which is touted as the world’s toughest canoe race.
And although thousands of men and women from around the world have competed in the race, only Linden holds the title of Oldest Person to Complete It Solo.
The title didn’t come easily.
The Texas Water Safari is a four-day, 260-mile race from San Marcos down the Guadalupe River to the San Antonio Bay that involves a whole lot of paddling and very little sleeping.
Many of the people who start the race don’t finish it. The participants have 100 hours to make it down the river. They pack as light as possible, and then family and friends can bring them water and food at allotted checkpoints along the river. Racers who are forced to use their cellphones at any point in the race are disqualified.
Starting in 2009, Linden kayaked the river several times, but each year something happened that kept him from finishing the race.
“My first three years I was down there, I probably wrecked $10,000-worth of boats,” Linden figures. “The learning curve is pretty steep and unforgiving.”
Another year Linden made it almost all the way to the end when he ran into log jam. As he prepared to pull his boat out and drag it on the land for a couple miles, he ran into a “No Trespassing” sign. What he didn’t realize was racers ahead of him left the sign to deter other racers. He eventually ended up ignoring the sign, but it was too late; he had paused just long enough to make him late to his next checkpoint. “I was pretty hot about that,” he says. “Every time I tell that story, I get mad all over again.”
The first time he completed the race was with a partner. Then in 2014 he completed it solo in 96 hours, 29 minutes.
The race can be dangerous, and once Linden was injured. Regardless, his wife, Jennifer, says she doesn’t worry about him.
“Richard likes himself,” she says with a smirk. “He’s not going to put himself in any situations where he isn’t going to make it out OK.”
Linden trains hard each year in preparation for the race, and he plans to race again this June.
“What would make you want to go from there to there?” Linden says, pointing to a map of the river. “I mean, that’s a tough way of getting there. I don’t know what it boils down to, other than just an obsession.”
