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Maidstone Winter Series Marathon (26 Nov 2023)

26/11/2023

Thirteen BSCC paddlers made the journey down to Kent to be part of the first ever Winter Series race hosted by Maidstone Canoe Club.

The club's best results on the 9-mile course came from Joe & Eddie who won silver in the men's doubles race.

On the 5-mile course it was Ben who shone, winning bronze in Men's SuperVets.

Jasper was the standout performer on the short course, and he too achieved a bronze for his time in the u14 boys race.

Other high scorers were Eilidh and Libby who won gold in the u18 and u14 girls races respectively, and Jack and Kerry who were each second in their races (u18 boys and SuperVet ladies).

9 miles (2 portages):
K2 16+ Men - Joe Fitzpatrick & Eddie Kirtland 2nd (1:11:51)
K1 Senior Men - David Gurney 6th (1:23:20), Joao Spinola 8th (1:27:22)
K1 u18 Men - Jack Gaulton 2nd (1:44:35)
K1 u18 Ladies - Eilidh White 1st (1:48:56)

5 miles:
K1 SuperVet Men - Ben Tubby 3rd (46:13), Mark Adams (rtd)
K1 SuperVet Ladies - Kerry Tubby 2nd (59:28)
K1 u16 Boys - Aaron Sandhu 3rd (1:13:05)

under 3 miles:
K1 u14 Boys - Jasper Kirtland 3rd (13:11)
K1 u14 Girls - Libby Gaulton 1st (14:44)
K1 u12 Boys - Rupert Kirtland 3rd (18:51)

Aaron and Rupert not only won significant points for the club but brought us to second place on Dick Grieve points (based on the performance of unranked juniors).

While Chelmsford were the overall winners of the event, Stortford came second, and Barking third.

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B. Stortford Winter Series Marathon (5 Nov 2023)

5/11/2023

An even greater vote of thanks than usual is due this year to the club's volunteers, who not only had to contend with marshalling off-site parking for the 136 competitors but also had to adjust at the last minute to course changes to avoid the huge fallen tree which blocked the river upstream of the club, preventing the town stretch from being used.

Blessedly, the day itself was dry and even sunny, though cold.

Inspecting the fallen tree (photo Flora K)

As usual there was a good turn-out of doubles crews, now split into three classes for the Men, Ladies and Mixed. Matthew Johnson & Leah Falltrick of Chelmsford CC were the fastest double with their time of 52:15.

Three (or, strictly, two and a half) Stortford crews were in the Ladies K2 race, which was won by Kerstin & Catherine (Ealing CC), with Octavia & Kerry hot on their heels. Karen & Christine put in a spirited performance to come 5th.

In total Stortford had a team of 26. It was lovely to see Megan back paddling with us again though, under rule that comes with bringing the race under the MRC, she was obliged to paddle for her official club of Exeter.

While concern about the river conditions may have put off a few of the younger juniors that we would normally expect, numbers were more than made up by the return of Veteran/SuperVet Men at a level seen since the pandemic. Over-50s now have the option of entering M/F "SuperVets" classes on the 5 mile course, but this still left a field of 14 for the 7-mile Veteran Men's race. Rich reprised last year's success to take Gold in Vet Men, while Ben did the same in the SuperVet M.

7 miles (6 portages):
K2 16+ Ladies - Kerstin Queeney & Catherine Ayling [EAL] 1st (1:10:18), Octavia Abbott & Kerry Tubby 2nd (1:11:50), Karen Bradley & Christine Meula 5th (1:21:53)
K1 Senior Men - Joao Spinola 5th (1:12:44), Jamie Bond 7th (1:40:30), David Gurney (rtd)
K1 Senior Ladies - Megan Kenny [EXE] 1st (1:16:06)
K1 Veteran Men - Rich Winstanley 1st (1:01:12)
K1 Veteran Ladies - Kat Wilson 1st (1:03:15)
K1 u18 Ladies - Eilidh White 2nd (1:26:21)

5 miles (4 portages):
K1 SuperVet Men - Ben Tubby 1st (45:45), Mark Adams 2nd (47:28), Robin Dromard 8th (1:06:54)
K2 u16 - Oliver Klumpler & Finlay Sandall 3rd (1:03:46)
K1 u16 Boys - Eddie Kirtland 2nd (47:28), Jacob Chan 7th (1:12:21), Aaron Sandhu 8th (1:13:36)
K1 u16 Girls - Ananya Bhusari 6th (1:18:51)

approx 3 miles (2 portage):
K1 u14 Boys - Jasper Kirtland 4th (39:42), Jamie Winstanley 8th (47:11)
K1 u14 Girls - Libby Gaulton 1st (41:12)
C1 Novice - Petr Luksan 1st (42:53)
GP 16+ Men - Alex Scott 3rd (1:04:20)
K1 u12 Boys - Rupert Kirtland 4th (50:06)

The Mayor of Bishop's Stortford, Richard Townsend, kindly came along to give out the medals.

The club was second overall with 183 points, behind Chelmsford CC (338) but well ahead of Leighton Buzzard CC (125).

BSCC is also leading the Dick Grieve league, based on the performance of novice juniors only, thanks to the efforts of Jacob, Aaron, Ananya, Jasper, Jamie W, and Rupert.

Congratulations to Jamie B. and Jacob for successfully completing their first marathon races, and to Jamie W. on his return after a long absence.

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Maidstone Winter Series Marathon (26 Nov 2023)

B. Stortford Winter Series Marathon (5 Nov 2023)

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