CLEVELAND, Ohio – Conditions were perfect in July when the Cuyahoga River hosted what has become one its signature events – the Blazing Paddles Paddlefest .

More than 300 paddlers took to the river’s navigation channel near downtown Cleveland to highlight the remarkable transformation of a once-seething stew of pollutants into a playground for kayakers, paddle-boarders and the like.

The festival, moved this year to the Nautica waterfront district, drew participants from eight other states beyond Ohio. It offered competitive racing and casual floating over three distances, taking paddlers under iconic Cleveland bridges, past new green spaces, and through a water canon salute from the Cleveland Fire Department’s Marine 21 fire boat.

Blazing Paddles founder Jim Ridge, who leads the nonpr

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