Watching the Clifton Race

George kept a watchful eye on the Clifton Race and for many years did all the timing himself. The rota was introduced and Norman handed that over to Kath after a few years. George continued to maintain the race records until the last set in February 2020.

Early days of  George running the Clifton Race (1980s)

 He still kept an eye on it till this year. This one is a 2015 Clifton Race

NKC at the National Marathon Champs

A bit more ancient history. Many of the paddlers in these pictures are still paddling at NKC all these years later. See who can spot. If you know the years or the venue for the top picture let us know. The 2nd picture is Worcester.

George

The tribute to George can be found on Facebook and various websites,  but there are quite a few pictures from 1970 onwards that would clutter Facebook and the club website is permanently filled to capacity so it is my intention to move some sections here. The advantage is that you can click on a label and get all posts with that label so as I find more pictures of George I can just add them with the same label.

People not on Facebook or other social media can access this blog from links on NKC website. In the days before Facebook, this blog was better used. It's about to get revived .... I hope.

So this is the first one for George.

The Outer Hebrides

Sunday Training Pleasures

Days don't come much more miserable, but there were still about 30 NKC paddlers out training in K1 or K2. Not content with high water and weather discomfort, the majority opted for adding to the pain  pleasure by doing a long paddle to Beeston or even Barton Island.

Some people also added to the pleasure by swimming a little to cool down as they headed upstream, but most paddlers settled for gritting their teeth and carrying on round Barton Island and back downstream to Beeston.

The conditions downstream of the weir added extra spice to the mix which offered more swimming opportunities for some. Fortunately others on the water or bank were on hand to make sure it didn't get too exciting. Particular mention must go to Nigel for a starring role as lifeguard and his skill, prompt response and loud voice all proved invaluable.

Music featured in the videos from CCMixter:
The Final Rewind - Tryad
This River - loveshadow
Drops of H2O (Filtered Water Treatment) - djlang59

Big Water Classic

It was a crisp sunny morning for the Big Water Classic K2 Time Trial.

A few "motley crews" turned out including one from Solihull club. A few K1s were along for a pleasant paddle. The water lived up to its billing and could be regarded as "Big." The boats appeared up the canal and portaged on to the Trent for the leg round Barton Island, before portaging back onto the river below the weir.

Most crews managed without problems although one seemed to have difficulty with route finding, portaging down on the wrong side of the river. The Solihull crew investigated the possibilities of tree climbing from the river side of the tree and succeeded in turning the event into a triathlon.

The K1s including Tom from Solihull all negotiated the course without incident.

Hightlights at Beeston

Results when available

NKC New Year K2 Knockout Race 2014

Well done to all the members who turned up and raced on a miserable morning and in the process raised money for club funds.

Golden 10 - K2 10km race

Kath took a few photos as we all raced round.

Results on the club website.