Press Release

30th November 2008
Slasher Cuts it Up at Ross Warland Challenge
See official results here

Sunday saw the 20 mile Ross Warland Challenge event at Banbury. This event was set up to commemorate Ross who trained lots of paddlers at Banbury Canoe Club despite a terminal illness. It is also a long race at a time of year that can have unkind weather. The start of the race is four miles north of Banbury and the race heads south through the town and turns on the southern side. Just like the Waterside races and the Devises to Westminster race there is a start window where you may choose to start at any time you like. For me this meant it best to get going early and be home in time for tea and medals.

After doing interval training since August I undetook one long paddle to remind myself how a long race needs to be approached I ate loads for most of friday. Otherwise business as usual.

The conditions on the day were typical of winter - three degrees, dull and overcast and crucially a 10mph north wind which would be an important factor on the return leg. I had decided to use a GPS to give me some idea of what speed I was doing during the race and to attempt to stick to a steady 7mph for the estimated three hour race.

This was fine on the way out. With a brisk wind on our backs I had no difficulty hitting my target speed and very soon I found myself in the centre of Banbury running past Tesco shoppers who were no doubt entertained by the spectacle of kayaks running past with boats on their shoulder. By this point I had caught many of the other K1 paddlers and a number of K2s and when I approached the turn there was just one K2 coming back the other way.

There was quite a large reception commitee at the turn and this was because a number of teams had entered the race in three boat relays. This splits the race into pleasant 8mile chunks and makes it a shorter affair for all concerned.

However for the individual racers the turn was not the halfway point as the wind was about to make a big difference. Whilst I managed 8.5 minutes for each mile on the way down I found my speed dropping to 10mins for each mile on the way back, especially in the open fields section before the town. Here the only answer was to get out and run as far as possible with the boat on the shoulder before getting back in for another go. In addition to the 6 canal locks to carry the boat around on the way back I got out a further four times and started to feel very cold indeed. Even the energy gels were starting to make little difference and cramps started to begin in my calfs, triceps and shoulders.

Thank goodness the town eventually appeared and the built up areas shielded the canal from the wind making forward progress easier. Then on the other side of Banbury a student K2 team caught me up and I was able to catch the waves they made for the last two miles which kept my speed up. We even managed a sprint for the line in Cropredy.

A big thanks to the Banbury CC for laying on the best bacon sandwich I have ever tasted. Fourth and five minutes off my previous time (3hours 4mins) is as much as I could have hoped for in the conditions and it is all good training.

Next Week the third race of the Essex Winter Series at Sudbury - or Robin and Dan are doing the Stour Descent.

Slasher