Kruger did not begin paddling a canoe until age 41, but would canoe over 100,000 miles over the next 42 years and would set many world records.
Kruger, a retired plumber who began canoeing at a time when most begin planning their retirement, was inducted into the American Canoe Association Hall of Fame in 1997. Accomplishments and awards * Paddled more than 100,000 miles * Earned 11 Guinness World Records for long-distance canoe travel, including the fastest trip the full length of the Mississippi River * Took a 31/2-year, 28,043-mile trip around and through North America * Was the first to paddle and portage up the entire Grand Canyon * Raced in every major canoe race in North America * Canoed every major river in North America and most of the major rivers in the world * For information about Kruger’s life and the canoes his company makes, visit http://www.krugercanoes.com
Chrystal Liebold, “Canoe legend Verlen Kruger dies at 82”, Lansing State Journal, August 3, 2004.
For more information, see All Things Are Possible: The Verlen Kruger Story: 100,000 Miles by Paddle / by Phil Peterson Sr. Cambridge, MN : Adventure Publications, Inc., c2006.