Red Cross Murray River Canoe Marathon
The Murray Marathon 440km over 5 days kicking off on the 27th of December
running from Yarrawonga to Echuca.
This was a dream fulfilled, a dream that was established after I paddled the
Outward Bound Hawkesbury Canoe Classic from Windsor to Brooklyn, some 110km,
when I was 16 and 17 (1978).
My dream was almost never realised, as our daughter Stephanie was just
born in November. It was a struggle as she was our first child. Naiive; I did
not realise what impact a baby can have on one's life, despite the fact that
my sisters and brother have all begun their families.
I would recommend this event to anyone keen on canoeing, it is a very pleasant
river to paddle, with a steady current assisting you all the way. The event is
well organised and patronised. We raised money to go to the Red Cross and had
fun doing it all for the cause of course ! By going as a team we were able to
provide our own land crew without extra persons and the demands individually
were lessened significantly against a soloist being roughly 20-25 km per day
per person.
Our training worked well with instruction provided to us courtesy of the
Patterson Lakes canoe club
and their regular paddles on the Yarra river at Richmond on Tuesday evenings.
We worked on a system to change paddlers quickly, with everyone's position
marked and a bath plug to use as a quick release nut on the seat bolt. Also
bought in some technology with a lightweight 'wing' paddle and plenty of
waxing on the hull.
The highlight of the event is the overall spirit of the event, there are the
paddlers and their land crew all travelling in convoy from town to town, a
moving party caravan all the way. We saw the river in its glory and visited
towns that would not normally be visited.
The soloists were tough, but needed special care: there were special
massage tents and 'clinics' to sort out blisters in delicate areas.
Every day there is a mass start for each class, it is all tension as we poise to accelerate away. Does it really make a difference ? Probably not over the overall day's distance, but it's all part of the fun.
Every day there is a mass start for each class, it is all tension as we poise to accelerate away. Does it really make a difference ? Probably not over the overall day's distance, but it's all part of the fun.
At change-over the pressure is on. We find out that we are in the running for
a position in the top 3, so the game is on !
Each day we move on to a campground, usually in a sports oval. The
ground is full of like-minded campers. The organisers put on movies at night
with a screen on the side of a double decker bus. People brought BBQs, tents
and costumes of all descriptions and were all in jovial mood. Not too late
though - sleep comes very quickly after a busy day of racing. Not only for the
fatigue but for our early start - 5:00am - which was alarmed by the loud
dulcit tones of Nana Mouskouri and Demis Roussos with "Morning has Broken"
blared out by large speakers on the bus as it roamed around the camp site.
The results are in, times posted at the end of the day. One of team members
realised that there was a surf ski in our class and lodged a protest. Did it
matter? Not to me, I was in it to have fun and fulfill a dream. the others got
competitive when they realised how close we were.
Maps and instructions were very clear and over all the event was
professionally organised. The volunteers were fantastic from publishing
stories, to food and marshaling.
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