The official quest to break the world record for paddling a canoe down the entire Mississippi River is over for the three-man crew that set off from northern Minnesota’s Lake Itasca on May 10. The crew made it as far as Guttenberg, Iowa, on Friday, when they posted a Facebook statement saying they were done.

“We hoped that we’d never have this announcement,” said Kirk “KJ” Millhone of Minnetonka in the live video. “Sadly, I just can’t do it anymore.”

Millhone, 59, who seized a world record in 1980 with his friend Steve Eckelkamp for paddling the Mississippi in just over 35 days, joined Eckelkamp’s 23-year-old nephew, Kevin Eckelkamp, and his friend Nate Lastinger, 27, both of St. Petersburg, Fla., to retrace the trip and honor Steve, who died last June of a heart attack.

With two men paddling while the third slept, the crew hoped to beat the standing record of just over 18 days.

On Wednesday, Lastinger dropped out for a family emergency. The other two pressed on until Friday. While Eckelkamp wanted to keep going, Millhone was too exhausted to continue.

“I’m not as young as I used to be,” he said.

Eckelkamp still wanted to finish, so his father, Ken Eckelkamp (Steve’s brother), who had been part of the support crew, joined him Friday with the altered goal of just finishing the 2,320-mile journey.

“Kevin’s heart is still determined to follow the river,” the crew posted online. “They will paddle at a much less aggressive pace, and with all safety in mind, come off the river to sleep, but they both want to go for as long as possible to honor the memory of Steve.”

Follow their progress on Facebook at Mississippi River Expedition or trace their GPS path on share.garmin.com/mississippiexpedition.