RACE REPORT:- RUNCORN:- 04\05\2003

Runcorn Canoe Club host the fifth round of the Regional Hasler league on the lower stretch of the River Weaver. It’s a wide, deep river which can sometimes catch the wind and be quite rough. A lovely, warm, sunny day greeted the twenty four MADCC members who ventured out to try to maintain our reputation as the dominant force in the North West marathon league. Runcorn always manage to get their race sponsored so dish out some nice prizes, and today the winning club would be taking home a set of ‘ V’ bars for carrying racing boats on. With this firmly in mind the team was spread across the range so as to maximize our points. Thirteen singles, five doubles and a Lightning made up the squad.

Newly promoted Robin was first off in a combined Div 2 & 3 K1 race. His first race over 12 miles went quite well and saw him take 3^rd place just inside the points. Next away was Div 4 & 5 K1 where Gordon couldn’t quite pull away enough to overcome his time penalty, so although he crossed the line first he had to settle for a bronze medal. Neil kept up the standard in Div 6 K1 with his usual solid paddling gaining our third bronze of the day. Div 5\6 K2 was a two boat race which John and Adrian won by about 40 seconds, well done lads.

Div 7 K1 were the first of the four milers to leave and four out of the seven entrants were MADCC. Paul worked really hard all the way to secure 2^nd spot with Mike chasing him all the way home but had to settle for 3^rd place. Andrew found the choppy waters up near the turn a bit rough and so put stability before speed and came home 4^th. Mark did really well, having led to the turn he lost concentration, balance and promptly fell in! However, a very determined return paddle saw him gain a place to take 6^th and score points, well done that man! Div 7\8 K2 was again an all MADCC affair. This didn’t stop it being a very messy start with paddles and water flying in all directions. Nathan and Cathrine put in a superb turn to take the lead and powered home for the gold. Simon (hiding again) and Michelle followed closely for silver with Douggie and Nich in bronze position. Kerrian and Tom recovered well from their early swim and weren’t that far behind at the finish, good on you two! Div 8 K1 had a larger than ususal entry and the pace was quite fast. Sarah worked hard to gain 5^th place with Pat, experimenting with a new boat, just behind in 6^th place but just out of time and so collected a D notice, I’m sure she’ll pick up speed once used to the new boat. Div 9 K1 had eighteen entrants in it and was by far the most contested race of the day. The pace was so fast, the winner beat the Div 7 time by two minutes and the first five were all promoted! Margaret worked hard to take 6^th place with Stephen chasing hard for 9^th spot. Karen and Bill pushed each other along and finished 12^th and 13^th respectively.

Last, but by no means least, was the Lightning race. After a quick boat repair Robert was thrust out into a six boat race. After about 2 km he was looking tired but held off a determined challenge to take the bronze medal. Really well done lad!

A very good set of results for MADCC given the level off opposition proving that the quality of MADCC is still improving. The spread of the team proved correct as MADCC walked off with the ‘Points and Posteriors’ title, and scooped up the ‘V’ bars! Well done and thank you to everyone that put in so much effort to ensure the continued success of MADCC this season.