Michael “Moe” Malley paddles in the bow of “The 4 Stooges” in the 2018 90-Miler. Seated behind him are Kurt “Larry” Kaunzinger, Mark “Shemp” McAndrew and Clyde “Curly” Yarnell. (Provided photo)

SARANAC LAKE — Talk about beginner’s luck.

When Michael Malley, of Essex, Vermont, entered his first 90-Miler in 2002 alongside his then paddling partner Jennifer Lucas, the duo found themselves making good time on the first day, despite never completing the course previously.

“After the first day, I think we were in third place,” he said.

With the Adirondack Canoe Classic taking place over three days, they were already in a podium position in their division of the C-2 stock boat class. But they didn’t stop there.

They clocked the fastest class time on the next day, elevating them into second place overall, with the combined times from each day. Going into the third and final day, they sat a mere 42 seconds behind the leading boat.

“I said, ‘OK, we’ve really got to go for it,'” Malley said.

They pulled off another first-place finish on Day 3 to overcome the deficit and win their class by just over a minute. From then on, Malley said he was hooked. He has raced the 90-Miler almost every year since, and this year will be his 20th.

Once paddlers complete their 20th race, they join the Golden Canoe Club — a celebrated group of seasoned veteran paddlers who, if they desire and are no longer racing competitively within a class, are allowed to launch with the first of nine waves each day.

Malley, a retired engineer, has raced in two and four-person canoes throughout his two decades participating in the event. He said paddling as a team — either with one or three other paddlers — seems to make the race go much quicker.

“When you’re out there for a long time, someone will start telling stories or telling jokes,” he said. “It’s fun when there’s more than just two people, and I just can’t imagine doing it by myself.”

Through thick and thin, the more the merrier, he added.

“The thing that I like about the C-4 is that it just gives you two more people to talk to and two more people to blame when something goes wrong,” Malley said. “The group dynamics are pretty cool. When someone’s getting down, you have a couple more people to help them out and get them turned around and figure out what might be going wrong, whether they need different food or water, or in a C-4, they can even just take a break for a few minutes and get themselves together, and then we’ll carry on.”

Malley is a competitive racer, something that can interfere with one of his favorite parts of the 90-Miler and something that he said makes it stand out within the Northeast paddling race circuit: the scenery.

“I’m focused on the race and the boat I’m chasing and I tend not to even look up and enjoy the beautiful scenery as I’m going by — and it’s just incredible,” he said. “I keep saying that at some point, I’m just going to start doing the uncompetitive class and then just really enjoy it and just take it easy and not be knocking myself out, and I think that’s getting easier to do as I get older.”

Malley’s not ready to take his foot off the pedal yet, even as he comes back from an injury that sidelined him last year. He’s competing in one of the toughest classes this year: C-4 Open. It’s comprised of the sleekest, fastest and most technically-demanding canoes in the field. C-4 Open teams routinely finish atop the overall boat field.

“It’s a little quicker than a stock boat so it gets us off the river faster at the end of the day,” Malley said. “We’re all pushing 70 or over 70 so we need every advantage we can to keep up with the fast guys.”

This year, Malley is paddling with Clyde Yarnell, Grace McDonnell and Robert Silvernail. Their team name happens to be “Mike’s 20th Voyage.”

“Everyone in the boat this year is a really good paddler,” he said.

In his 20 years with the race, Malley was proud to see the event rebound after the coronavirus pandemic and continue to grow in popularity, much of which he attributed to dedication from the Northern Forest Canoe Trail, who took over the race from Grace and Brian McDonnell in 2021.

“They’ve done a good job bringing new people to the race,” he said. “They’ve done a good job with social media and different venues to get people to come to the races. I think there are a lot more people who have never done it before who are anxious to come and give it a try, so that’s fun. They fill the race every year.”

He said this carries over to some of the other smaller races that the NFCT also now manages.

“Some of the races, like the ‘Round the Mountain, the amount of racers was going down slowly, and they’ve managed to increase it every year,” he said. They’ve got more and more people … showing up for a race in early May when the ice has just gone out.”

Malley said he was glad to see the 90-Miler and marathon canoe racing remaining a robust and vibrant sport.

“We lost so many races in COVID because people just took a year off, and they just could not get it back together again — and then the race is gone,” he said. “So it’s great that it looks like something is going to keep going here and it’s getting more popular than ever. That’s a great thing.”

Malley’s biggest advice for first-time paddlers was simple: talk to someone who has completed the race before, pick their brains and pay attention to what they say.