If Keith Benoist’s first season in a kayak were any indication, no one would have called him yellow or chicken if he presumed life in the one-man boat was not for him.

While living in Durango, Colo., Benoist took up the sport, having given up jogging on doctor’s orders, and quickly discovered why your adrenaline pumps somewhat faster than most activities.

On one outing, Benoist was pinned under a tier II rapid on the Gunnison River in western Colorado.

Enough to wave the white flag, purchase a Boston Whaler and surrender, right?

&uot;It’s consumptive. I don’t really know how to explain it,&uot; said Benoist, who is the founder of this year’s second annual PhatWater Kayak Challenge. &uot;I got into whitewater kayaking and just fell in love with it.&uot;

Formerly the Great Mississippi River Race, PhatWater does not hold the dangers of say the Gunnison or Appalachian’s Ocoee and Nantahala Rivers, but Benoist still expects the near 50-boat field to have some jugular-thumping participants Saturday.

Beginning at the first notion of dawn, the field begins the 45-mile endurance race &045; think marathon by paddle &045; at the Grand Gulf Port, six miles from Port Gibson.

As paddlers begin to navigate the Mississippi River, which is 3/4-mile wide at the starting line, green willows that look like broccoli crowns and off-white sand beaches, which resemble an extending pair of khaki chinos, flank them.

&uot;It’s so serene when you’re out there on the water,&uot; PhatWater co-organizer Melissa Morrison said. &uot;I don’t mind when people leave me because I like to paddle alone.&uot;

Approximately six miles ahead racers reach one of two grain elevators, the first rendezvous in St. Joseph, La.

After passing by the Waterproof, La., grain elevator, lead paddlers will race past Anna’s Bottom and into Natchez to the Under-the-Hill Saloon, where a post-race party will feature a Birmingham, Ala., jazz band.

Returning to his hometown two years ago from Durango, Benoist litmus tested the course in a kayak in March 2002, when the river swelled to 44 feet, and completed the journey in five hours, seven minutes.

After two more auditions, with his times never exceeding five hours, 45 minutes (the river was at 11 feet), Benoist knew he had a certifiable course on his hands.

&uot;It was a very positive event last year,&uot; he said. &uot;We’ve grown it to the point this year where we’re counting around 35 people have already signed up as paddlers. We may have as much as 50.&uot;

The profits from the event go directly into benefiting the Natchez Human Society, a cause dear to Benoist’s heart, who has added two stray dogs in recent years to his pack that currently numbers five.

Red Bull, the company that makes an energy beverage, is already on board as a major sponsor for Saturday, along with Taco Bell and the support of a collection of Natchez businesses.

Benoist and Morrison yearn to show Natchez youth there is more to this Southern town than hunting, fishing, hoopskirts and antebellum homes.

&uot;We want to get them interested in the ecology of nature,&uot; Benoist said. &uot;Mississippi has more miles of navigable streams and rivers than anywhere else in America.&uot;

Morrison said learning the nooks and crannies of paddling in a kayak was an adventure in itself for her.

Growing up on her family’s plantation in Frogmore, La., Morrison was better equipped to row a pirogue through Spanish moss and cypress stumps that adorn bayous than the slender kayaks, which are made from anything from kevlar to carbon fiber to wood.

&uot;When I first went out (paddling) with Keith, he gave me a double-sided blade to paddle with and I got tired,&uot; Morrison recalled. &uot;I said, ‘Give me that single blade,’ and he said, ‘You can’t get this thing going straight with that.’ I could, but he was right, a double-sided blade works much better.&uot;

Kayaking, naturally more popular in whitewater areas for rushes that test one’s limits, continues to grow wings in America, after a long love affair with thrill seekers worldwide.

However, the sport has notoriously stubbed its toe in the Southeast where the challenge is not as combative compared to rapids.

&uot;There’s a very small representation of us down here in the southwest corner of the state. It’s not something that people think about,&uot; Benoist said. &uot;We’re conducting research right now of the possibility of bringing a kayak manufacturer to set up shop in Natchez.&uot;

Benoist also envisions the possibilities of a recreational park close to the Mississippi River that would include kayak and mountain bike trails and a skateboard park.

The idea to entertain visiting or local adolescents who may have no interest in touring old homes.

&uot;Everywhere people are diversifying waters, and you can teach kids an activity they may never have done in their lives,&uot; Benoist said. &uot;It’s an opportunity to learn instead of seeing it on ESPN.&uot;

Registration for PhatWater is available online (kayakmississippi.com) or at the Saloon until 10 p.m. Friday.

Benoist was always a runner up until a trip to Zimbabwe changed all that. While taking wildlife photographs, Benoist and his host took after poachers, camera dangling from one set of fingertips and the other five clutching cans of film.

Looking ahead, Benoist was clueless for what happened next. His foot planted in a hole, and his knee exploded like a Roman candle had been shot off in it.

A severe loss of tissue and two knee surgeries later, Benoist picked up his first kayak and paddle.

&uot;I had to find something to balance the aerobic workout,&uot; he said. &uot;You can get your heart rate up more paddling than running if you’re intense with it.&uot;