NATCHEZ — The Mighty Mississippi is one big river.

But it wasn’t big enough to stop nearly 150 people from racing 42.5 miles down the river in tiny boats.

Steve Woods of Durban, South Africa, finished the trip from Claiborne County Port Facility at Grand Gulf to the boat ramp at Natchez Under-the-Hill in 3:54:00, smashing the previous record of 4:16:55 set by Mike Herbert.

Herbert, of Rogers, Ark., finished third, besting his previous time with a mark of 3:55:50.

“When I started off from last year, I’d kind of seen what I had to do to beat (my time), and I put a lot of training in to achieve that,” Herbert said. “Even though I didn’t win the race, I was very happy to get in under four hours because that was one of my personal goals.”

Woods and his South African kayaking partner, Bevan Manson, finished within one second of each other after training together for two years.

The two flew neck-and-neck down the river for the duration of the race.

“We talk about what we’re going to do and how we’re going to do it, how we’re doing time wise and how things are going,” Manson said. “Also, we watch out for the other guys.”

Woods said he knew after about the first hour that he and his partner would finish at the four-hour mark, something that has never before been done in the seven years of the race.

He said it got difficult during the midpoint, when the sun came overhead, and he and Manson struggled a bit at the end of the race.

They misjudged the current, which nearly pushed them past the buoys marking the finish.

“That side was kind of strong,” Woods said. “I was trying to keep up, but at the end I ended up knocking the buoy. But I was also not all there. I had helium going out my ears. It was a bit of a tactical error, but it worked out.”

The two had another miscue early in the race that they thought might cost them precious time.

“There was an island, and it looked like all the good water was on the left,” Manson said. “But the local guy, Mike Herbert, he kept going right. It was quite late when we decided to go left. That probably cost us a couple minutes.”

Herbert and fourth-place finisher Erik Borgnes (3:56:00) saw the leaders pair up and decided to do the same, even though the two had never met.

The tactic worked well, as all four finished under the four-hour mark.

“It was kind of like tag-team kayaking out there,” Herbert said. “They were pecking their way and he was pecking his, and I kind of stuck with him.”

The South Africans have been training in Natchez for two weeks for the race and will now travel to New York City for a race around Manhattan Island.

They bought a 15-passenger van and have driven cross-country, from San Francisco to Natchez and now to the Northeast.

“It’s been awesome,” Woods said of his time in Mississippi. “We’ve been playing golf and tennis and 10-pin bowling. I just haven’t been fishing yet — next year.”

Herbert said he expects to be back next year. After 30 years of kayaking and three Olympic appearances, Phatwater is the only endurance race he does.

“I’ve not normally done anything over about two hours so this four-hour race is a new ballgame,” he said. “It’s pretty intense.”