|
Australian Marathon
Championships
Day 1.
I think if you could pick
any venue in Perth to run the Marathon Champs it would be
hard to find a better location than the Ascot Kayak Club at
Garvey Park.
At registration and briefing on Friday
evening it had such a relaxed atmosphere in such a beautiful
location. The Championships organizing committee was headed
by Peter Martin who did a marvelous job in getting things
ready for the day. There was an small army of volunteers who
all had their important jobs to do. The championships itself
though was run by Australian Canoeing, I wasn't sure if it
was going to be a good or bad thing!
Many of us arrived before 7.00am on
the Saturday morning and when we saw the ladies sitting comfortable
in their chairs ready to give out numbers at 7.00am we started
lining up. We were soon turned away as they had strict instructions
not to give out the numbers until 7.15am as that was the time
on the program and they were told to follow it. So instead
of allowing the ladies to get on with their job and start
the process they made people wait. Vince and I thought it
was a little silly, officialdom at it's best. Luckily things
did get better.
The morning races were for all the juniors
and veterans, the elite classes were going to be run at midday.
Being one of those old paddlers I was off at 8.04am. We had
plenty of time to warm up and with the conditions being near
perfect it was a pleasure to be on the water.
When the first grid was called to the
line I waited close by, but the starters took one hell of
a long time to get the first grid started. Robby Roll had
the right idea he rested against the shoreline and waited,
whilst I was in the middle of the river just sitting there
trying to keep my slim kayak upright. Eventually the first
grid did take off but the the second grid was also delayed,
but not quite as long as the first. The starters wanted every
boat in a perfect line before they would start them.
By now I felt jittery having spent the
last 10-15 minutes sitting in an unstable kayak waiting, but
at least it was now our turn. Our start didn't go so well
either. One or two of the boats were hanging back including
John Dinucci, so it seemed to take forever for the starters
to get everyone perfect. It appeared that these paddlers wanted
to hang back but the starter wanted them in line. By now I
was feeling it was time for me to rest as it felt like I had
just done a marathon, but than out of the blue the starter
shouted ready, go and we were off.
Rob Roll took off like a steam train
on my right and John Dinucci was going okay on my left. The
boats either side of me were slower to take off than me, which
was a change, so I had some clear water to race towards the
first turn in. It was good to be at the front of the pack
for once with only four boats ahead. The top turn was quite
easy to do in my K1 especially as there were no wind waves
to unsettle me.
This week with the calmer water, John
Dinucci was soon well ahead of me but he also had a guy from
the eastern states up with him and Rob ahead of him. Right
from the start our race was decided, I was going to come forth
unless something drastic happened to one of the other three.
Knowing that from the start didn't mean that I was going to
slack off, I might not be as fast as my opposition, but there
were others behind me like the guys in the Multisport kayaks
and skis who I wanted to keep in front of.
Photo Lawrence Greed
I began passing some of the slower female
paddlers who had started before me. A few gave me no opposition
although some of them were a lot prettier and certainly faster
than I was. Although I was fighting to keep up a good pace
I had no one close by to spur me on.
I did two laps before my first portage.
There was no one at the portage so it was easy for me to literally
roll out of my kayak, bounce to my feet, lift the kayak on
my shoulder and run. I really havent done much running for
the last four years but it soon came back to me and it felt
good to be galloping along. There were cheers from the crowd
as I ran by but it was impossible to acknowledge them, although
I could hear some familiar voices amongst the crowd.
Although I was a long way behind my
opposition I felt pretty good and I was paddling as well as
I could so whatever was going to happen today I would be pleased
with. Passing Claughton Reserve on another lap several paddlers
from our Saturday morning training group came paddling towards
me. They shouted encouragement as I passed. I put some extra
speed on and sat upright to impress them.
Wait for me - wait for me! Photo Adrian
Quick
I was really pleased with all my portages
and the speed I was able to run, in fact at the last portage
one of the top guys hit the pontoon at the same time and I
was putting my kayak back in at the second pontoon a second
or two behind him. I'm not bad at all, I thought.
Whilst the multisport boats and skis
went around in circles without portages, I was having fun
running the portages. I loved it.
With all the different divisions
on the course at one time it got busy in places. Photo John
& Jane Hilton
On my last lap I rounded the last set of buoys and sped to
the finish line. About 200 metres before the finish line a
kayak started passing me. I caught a glimpse from the corner
of my eye and noticed it was Darryl Long. I put the pressure
on and he had a hard job getting by, but he did and within
a flash the race was finished.
I crossed the finish line in 4th place
in the 60 year old division. I missed out on a medal but I
have the memory!
It was great to be able to get a massage
after the race from Greg Murphy and his partner Alannah who
were on-site over the weekend.
*************************************************
Day Two - Senior
Doubles - Junior Singles
Being over 60 years old John Breed and
I were put in the over 60 plus class but we were the only
ones so instead of racing ourselves, which would be pretty
boring, we asked to be put into the 50 year old class. This
meant we would be racing against Darryl Long and John Hilton
(and would need a miracle to beat them). We would also be
on the same grid as Lawrence Greed and Graeme Godwin and Vlad
Vanek and Nick Parker who we had the tussle with in the state
championships. Although we knew that we were far from being
the best in Australia it didnt matter it was just great to
take part in the National Championships which was on our door
step, We might not have been the best, but we were still out
there to race hard, have fun and to be competitive amongst
the group of paddlers on that start line.
By changing classes meant that we would
have to do more laps and more portages, (old people do less
kms) but we didn't feel that was going to be a disadvantage,
we weren't in wheel chairs, well just not yet.
The air was cool and it was a little
windier than the previous day. Our main opposition Lawrence
and Graeme and Vlad and Nick hadn't paddled the previous day
so in theory they should be fresher, but we didnt want to
use that as excuse as John and I both felt good.
The start took a lot less time in getting
away than the previous day so things were getting better.
We seemed to have had a reasonably start but Lawrence and
Graeme managed to get the wash of Darryl and John so they
streaked ahead. Vlad and Nick were also quicker off the line
this week so they slipped ahead as well. That wasn't a good
sign so early in the race, was it even going to be a race,
could we keep up? We eventually got into a rhythm and quickened
our pace so now we felt we had a chance. By now though, they
were a long way in front and it still didn't look too good
for us but we had caught up with them before, so I could see
no reason why we couldn't do it again. On second thoughts
they did look fitter and more determined than two weeks ago!
John Hilton & Darryl Long won the
50 plus class
At the first turn buoys we rounded them
as good or even better than any of the other boats. In the
states championships we had a problem with turning and after
realizing the rudder wasn't set in the right position we were
able to get it sorted for this race and it worked a treat!
We had no excuses with our turns this week.
On the downwind section back to the
start line we powered on and eventually caught up with Vlad
and Nick who had caught up with Lawrence and Graeme. We breathed
a sign of relief, but we still had a long way to go, so instead
of trying to outpace them, I decided to stay behind and use
their wash to our advantage.
We had to paddle 2 laps before we did
our first portage and one kilometre from the portage I steered
our craft to the right side of Vlad and Nick with Lawrence
and G on their left. My plan was to be on the right the best
side and in front of them for the portage. This would allow
John and I to get the best spot and Lawrence and Graeme would
have to take the left side of the pontoon which wasn't as
easy to get to.
We were trying to get to the pontoon
first to get the best spot
Vlad & Nick on our right were faster
on the portage
Our plan worked and we reached the portage
first, but Vlad and Nick were quick on the run, soon passing
us. I heard a bang, it appeared Lawrence and Graeme dropped
their boat on the pontoon. The crowd were shouting encouragement
and words like faster, faster. As a team we didn't run as
fast as I would have liked, but as long as we kept ahead of
Lawrence and Graeme I was happy. With Lawrence giving me a
hard time in the last two weeks, about them beating us in
the state championships, we just had to beat him today or
my year would be murder!
We managed to put in a few seconds after
Vlad and Nick. They sped away with us chasing, but the run
at the portage had left me puffing. I don't know how John's
heart rate was, but mine was ticking faster than an excited
stopwatch. It took at least 200 metres for me to feel settled
again. When I did settle the boat ran a lot faster and we
started to catch up with Vlad and Nick again, which we did
before passing the club. Three of the mixed teams passed us
here, they were very close to each other and travelling at
a fast pace. Mark Lawson had teamed up with a women from Canberra
and they were going well.
Although it didn't seem right not having
Lawrence and Graeme beside us and making us work that much
harder, we didn't complain. It was better for them to be behind
rather than in front. After the bottom turn we pulled beside
Vlad and Nick again and got to the portage moments before
them. Having younger legs they forged ahead again leaving
us trotting like two old ducks waddling to the water. The
crowd was cheering us again, but they were also cheering Vlad
and Nick so our self esteem and the advantage we got from
the support was lost.
Vlad and Nick managed to get away again,
although we eventually caught them up, but instead of trying
to pass them before the next portage, I decided stay behind
them to conserve our energy as we would get to the pontoon
virtually together anyway.
I now believe that this tactic was
our downfall as they were quick to get out and run the portage
leaving a good fifty metre gap between us. I don't know what
John was thinking, but even with their extended lead I felt
that we were strong enough to peg them back.
At the top turn we could see Lawrence
and Graeme well behind and unless we had a bad spate of luck
and fell in they would never catch us. In the meantime we
started catching Vlad and Nick but when we got within 50 metres
of them they seemed to speed up and not allow us to get any
closerer. This wasn't good and it showed that Nick and Vlad
had stepped up their training since the state championships.
They were not going to let us get close and we were left hoping
something would slow them down, but it had to be soon as we
were running out of time.
At the last portage I yet again rolled
out of the kayak and was ready to run in seconds. We were
going pretty good considering we were a lot older than Vlad
and Nick, but I saw that as no excuse for us to be lagging.
We could have done more training. Dropping off the second
and higher pontoon we were soon away. Getting in from a pontoon
was a skill. Some overbalanced and fell in. We were lucky
as we didn't but I had been praying for Vlad and Nick to!
God apparently wasn't on our side!
Hey John what do you think about the
race so far, do you think should we jump in or do you want
to just sit here and talk?
Once off the pontoon I was a little
breathless again but we were soon in rhythm and desperate
to catch Vlad and Nick. As we only had about 1200 metres to
catch them, our hopes of winning faded as with the morning
coolness, but we gave it our all, and finished only 35 seconds
behind them.
We felt that we paddled well and I wasn't
even tired, as our portages were not as good as Vlads and
Nicks, we knew we had something to work on for next year.
By the time Lawrence and Graeme came
over the line we had showered, had lunch and were sittting
in the sun. Oooppps, no we hadn't...they were only 1 minute
32 seconds behind us! Both boats with Lawrence and Graeme
and Vlad and Nick were in the 45 class so we weren't in their
division anyway. We instead came 2nd in the over 50 class
after Darryl Long and John Hilton, and so we managed to pick
up an Australian Championships silver medal.
It was another good race and well worth
entering.
****************************************
After the
racing there was still work to do
When the last race had
finished it was time to pack up all the fencing, the boat
racks, empty the sand bags and dismantle the pontoons. The
pontoons were heavy work. Apart from 3-4 paddlers staying
back to help, most of the team were the volunteers who had
been on the course in the hot sun all day.
By the time all the things
were packed away we had about an hour or so to get to the
presentation dinner.
Thanks to all the volunteers.
A team dismantling one
of the pontoons, which had to be paddled to the club beach,
whilst a team of people were dismantling the other further
upstream.
|
