The Au Sable River Canoe Marathon isn’t just a race — it’s an endurance legend.
It begins with a Le Mans-style sprint through downtown Grayling at 9 p.m. Then comes 120 miles of darkness, twisting channels, rapids, six portages, and relentless paddling. For the next 15-18 hours, elite racers drive their boats forward at an astonishing 75 to 80 strokes per minute.
To survive the marathon, you need extraordinary strength. You also need an extraordinary paddle.
More than 80% of the paddles powering this iconic race are made in Grayling by Rivertown Composites, LLC operating as ZRE.
Owner Chad Swander knows exactly what it takes to compete. A veteran marathon racer, engineer and owner of Paddle Hard Brewing, Swander purchased the assets of legendary paddle maker Zaveral Racing Equipment in 2024, fulfilling a longtime dream of bringing the industry’s premier paddle manufacturer to the heart of canoe country.
Today, Rivertown Composites handcrafts every component — grips, shafts, and blades — along with dragon boat paddles, cross-country ski poles, canoe seats and other high-performance composite products.
Each piece is built through a painstaking process of layering carbon fiber and resins, curing materials in high-temperature ovens and hours of precision sanding. The result is equipment that’s incredibly tough — and remarkably light. Rivertown’s newest Ultra paddle weighs just 6.5 ounces on average while delivering the strength world-class racers demand.
Swander is already looking ahead, exploring opportunities to expand into other specialty composite work
Turning that vision into reality required more than craftsmanship. Because Rivertown Composites was considered a startup, traditional financing wasn’t available to acquire Zaveral Racing Equipment. Northern Initiatives, lead by Commercial Lender Lucy Hoste McCraven who lives on the Au Sable River, and using Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) funds, provided the financing that helped start an iconic American manufacturer in Grayling.
