Lincoln 2009

I needed a break from moving the club website from uk.geocities to Google and the allotment has had loads of time recently, so what better change of location than Lincoln Hasler race.
It was a mixed day as far as weather was concerned, with warm, bright sunshine, sudden sharp showers and wind. The usual Lincoln interest was provided on the 8 mile course by the low bridges at the end of Brayford Pool, but most people seemed to get under with reasonable ease.
My race was not the most enjoyable ever, getting dropped in the first half mile, however the company of Jamie from Leamington stopped it being a boring drag. He's probably about 45 years younger than me and it won't be very long before he's disappearing into the distance too. A couple of changes of position added some spice, when we were caught and dropped by a Burton paddler, only to recatch him and drop him just before the finish.

The real action was going on at the head of our race where Norman was coming 2nd and in Div 3 where Ian was also in the medals. Damian managed a place in Div 8, but no promotion, while Ricky got both in Div 6.
For sheer value for money, Andrew, who is ranked Div 7, so could do the 4 mile course, opted to do Div 6 and the 8 mile course, but missed the turn buoy about 200 metres from the finish and did the 12 mile course instead!
Then it was a rush back to Nottingham for the club Annual Award presentations.

More photos from Caroline on Picasa.

Lincoln 2008

Perhaps because Lincoln is in a northern corner of the Midlands region, there seems to be a myth that the weather for the Lincon marathon is cold, wet and windy. A quick look at the photos from 2007 shows that this was not the case then and apart from a steady breeze, not the case in 2008 either, as you can see from pictures from this year's race.

This made for a near perfect start for some of our newer Lightning paddlers to venture into their first race away from the club. Like other canal races, it's a good course for Lightnings, with tow-path access for the entire length, plus a excellent vantage point at the end of the Brayford Pool.

They obviously enjoyed themselves despite only a small number racing from a few clubs. Numbers this year mark an increase in the Lightnings entering Lincoln, so let's hope this is a trend. Well done to Max, Harvey & Olivia. Lincoln were generous in their allocation of prizes, so cups all round.

At the other end of the scale, Rex had a good race coming 2nd in Div 4.

Mick enjoyed the Div 5 race, coming ahead of Mark from Gailey for a change, but as can be seen from the photo, caught by Matthew, a young lad from Burton, who had started in the Div 6 race, a minute behind!

Lincoln is one of the marathons in the Midlands that incorporates real hazards as a challenge, rather than streams of red and white tape on false portages. This adds to the interest not only for the paddler, but the spectator. Of course you have to do the 8 or 12 mile course to enjoy the succession of low bridges, but long may races like Lincoln survive un-homogenised, with their own character.

In the combined divisions K2 race, Norman and Cathy managed to come both first and last, much to the distress of the finishers and the results compilers.

Not wanting to miss out on the low bridges and the extra 4 miles, they finished the short course, but then carried on to do the most interesting bit of the race and crossed the finish line for a second time! No extra points I'm afraid Norm, the Hasler Race Management system has difficulty in allocating points equitably anyway, without people attempting to get two lots. Nice try though!

Thanks to Julie for the photos. Maybe more to follow.

Full Results http://www.marathon-canoeing.org.uk/results/Lincoln2008.htm

Lincoln Marathon

The day dawned … well hardly! What’s this disturbance in the middle of the night? Oh Yeah! The first proper marathon on the calendar for 2007, but why get up so early? The clocks leapt forward an hour last night & you have to get up early for Waterside. But George, Brian & Tim are the only ones who were hard enough to do the D race - 34.5 miles of mud, blood & tears. I exaggerate … slightly!
No just Lincoln, but force of habit on Kath’s part meant that we then had hours to kill before leaving. Just as we were walking out of the door, a phone call from one of the girls meant that we got to NKC late anyway!
Arriving at Lincoln, the long traipse from the car park to the club substituted for a warm up as usual.
It was a reasonable turn out by NKC for the familiar windy ditch crawl on the Fosse Dyke, although the sun felt warm if you could find a hiding place from the wind. Ages ranged from 10 to 60 something, made up of 4 seniors, 9 veterans, 3 juniors & 1 lonely Lightning paddler. In fact he was so lonely that no one turned up to race against him, so Tadek valiantly paddled the 4 mile Div 7/8 race with Geordie.
The Vets dominated Div 7/8 K2 with Heather & Alison in 1st place followed by Kath & Tony whose total age was well over 110, in 2nd place. Other notable performances came from Rex, winning Div 5 by so much that he was half changed before the rest of his race arrived back. Norm & Cathy managed a similar feat in Div 5/6 K2. I plodded round the 8 mile, Div 4 race, at the opposite end of the field to Ralph. My spirits lifted slightly as I caught, Steve Riley from Anker Vally, but he promptly retired from the race. Baggy needs a mention, as the only NKC paddler lucky enough to do the 12 mile course, finishing 2nd to Chas Fleeson of Anker Valley in the final sprint. Congratulations on promotion for Sarah, Shobhanaa, Rex & Ralph. You can read the rest of the results for yourself. The link will be on the NKC website as soon as the organiser sorts out the tangle in his computer & posts them on the Lincoln site.
Well that’s a few white & blue mugs on the shelf & a stack of points towards the Hasler Trophy then!