Well, after snowfall a few weeks back the final Dash Hound / Hare & Hound race took place. We were treated to another lovely day – very spring-like, even the adults thought it was warm! It was another excellent turnout from the juniors who are now very familiar with the race and set about getting ready and warming up.
Once again, in the Dash Hound, there were some excellent performances with many kayakers producing a personal best (PB) time – just goes to show all that training works!
Eliie came second overall with a very good time and first in her class – U12F. Alice was not far behind (3rd overall and second in U12F; in the same class Lily came third with a PB more than five minutes faster than her previous best; Rhiannon also did well to produce a PB as did Jojo finishing in a time four minutes faster than her previous race.
Alex finished 5th overall but with a new PB – two minutes faster. In the U14F Mia put in another solid performance first in her class (6th overall – so that’s five RIC paddlers in the top 6!!); Milly was a little further down the field but with a good time just outside her PB; Elena – who has missed a few weeks – took herself nicely round the course in only her second Dash and with a PB.
In the U12M Freddy was second knocking another 30 seconds off his PB, with Matteo zooming round taking nine minutes from his – wow! Rosie worked very hard and, clearly not feeling very well at the end, finished in a good time only a few seconds outside her top time. In K2 Annabelle had a new partnership with Anoushka (the “AA-team”) and between them put in a very creditable performance.
Jessica had to tolerate Marcus in her C2 – another RIC boat leading the field. Tania, in her C1 paddled halfway up the course before feeling very unwell and having to turn back, she was so disappointed – a brave performance, well done.
There were only a few juniors in the Hare & Hounds event. Alex (U14M) took 90 seconds off his PB and finished 8th overall and first in his class. Oliver also came first in the U12M. Kerry is now a consistent sub-60 minute finisher coming second in a field of seven.
And last, but by no means least, Ben and Adrian put in good efforts in their C1s each comfortably beating their previous PBs – well done.
After all of that effort the morning finished off with medals, goody-bags all round and prizes for many RIC paddlers and a huge thank you to Wey Kayak Club, and especially Pam, for hosting and organising a superb event. Roll on next year.
As usual, many, many thanks to Tim and Sue organising us and pulling the trailer up and down the M3. Brilliant.
(And thanks to Jeff Lindsay for this race report)
