Rod Price is an international adventure racer with a true passion for advancing the sport of canoe racing. In over 30 years of competition, he has amassed more than 200 victories in paddle sport events. In 2009 Price and teammate Ardie Olson journeyed to western Canada to participate in the inaugural Yukon 1000 – the world’s longest canoe and kayak race. Price and Olson won the grueling week-long race in a time of 6 days, 8 hours, 54 minutes – beating their closest competitors by 15 hours. Price’s other achievements include winning the 300 mile Everglades Challenge twice, the prestigious Adirondack Canoe Classic three times and the 52-mile Suwannee River Challenge six times. In 2008, he was part of a four-person co-ed team that placed second in the 90-mile Great Amazon Raft Race in Peru.
An authority on paddle sports, Rod Price inspires would-be adventurers, young and old, to “grab a paddle and jump in”. Price redefines what kind of lifestyle and accomplishments are possible for the average person of any age. When not competing, Price organizes canoe and kayak races, river trips and video projects through his new company, Rod Price Adventure. A successful businessman who has built a thriving business in the office supplies market, Price’s new venture will focus on providing paddle sport training, information and resources to adventure-minded individuals.
Price published his first book, “Racing to the Yukon” – A Lifetime of Adventure Racing from the Everglades to the Amazon to the World’s Longest Canoe Race, in 2010. The book chronicles some of Price’s extreme adventures over the last decade. “Racing to the Yukon” entertains and thrills the reader with vivid accounts of Price’s drive to succeed in the physically and mentally challenging sport of ultra-marathon canoe racing.
Born in Aiken, South Carolina, Price attended Lake-Sumter Community College in Central Florida on a tennis scholarship and majored in journalism at the University of Maryland. An environmentalist and philanthropist, Price serves on the board of directors of Friends of the Wekiva River and donates ten percent of his book sales to the “Friends” and other charitable causes. He resides in Orlando and has a daughter who is a junior at Florida State University.
