The entries for the 2026 National Short Course Championships are now open!
The Marathon Racing Committee are super excited to be taking this year’s championships to Manvers Waterfront Boat Club for the very first time. Make sure you get your entry in by Sunday 26th April (11:59pm) to avoid late entry fees and to ensure we can organise heat draws and confirm the final schedule.
We look forward to another exciting and action-packed day of racing at a brand new marathon location!
The Marathon Racing Committee would like to wish all competitors racing in the 2026 edition of the ThruDark Devizes to Westminster Canoe Race the best of luck. We hope you all have a safe and enjoyable race with many memories and stories to share for many years to come.
We would also like to thank all the volunteers (directors, committee, marshals and more) out on the course over the next few days. Without you, these events could not happen.
There is a variety of coverage happening over the next four days as the straight through crews, juniors and stages compete and you can follow their progress in a variety of ways.
The official DW organisation channels include the following:
PaddleDaily, an independent paddling media company, will also be following the race through their channels. In particular, they will be running a non-stop live stream throughout the senior doubles event on their Youtube channel. You can find their channels below.
Following the assessment race at Norwich, the MRC Selection Committee selected the Under 23 and Under 18 team for the Development trip to Waterlands International Marathon. The team was selected according to the published policy.
To see the full selection note by the selection committee, click here.
REQUESTS FOR REVIEW
As per the 2026 Selection Policy (published here), any requests to review the selections must be made in writing to the Chair of the Selection Committee, Nanette North at Marathon Selectors [email protected] within 48 hours of the publication of this document,. by 18:00 Thursday 2nd April.
On behalf of the Marathon Selection Committee – Fay Lamph, 31/03/26
The Marathon Racing Committee have been notified by the 2026 Hasler Finals host club of the need to move the event date to the 13th September. It was previously advertised as the 20th September.
This date change is out of necessity by the Richmond Canoe Club for the event to happen and the MRC apologises for any disruption this might cause.
We look forward to another successful Hasler Finals event on the 13th September.
Joe Petersen and Brynde Kreft have set a new world record for paddling the navigable length of the River Thames, completing the route from Lechdale to Teddington in just 14 hours and 3 minutes – 1 hour and 44 minutes faster than the previous mark.
The pair launched beneath the bridge at Lechlade at 6:26am, beginning a relentless push down the Thames that would see them cover nearly 200km of river, tackle 43 lock portages, and paddle the final stretch in darkness before reaching Teddington at 8:29pm.
To read the full article and interview, visit the Paddle UK News page here.
Please see below message and invitation from Dave Martyn, the Sprint Racing Committee Chair. For more information, visit the SRC website here.
On behalf of the SRC, you are invited to a webinair on Monday March 16th at 20:00
The purpose of the call is to start a conversation across our community. We know that the sport needs to grow, we can only do this by working together. The SRC does not have the monopoly on good ideas, but might have information some people have not considered.
Come along and join in the conversation on how we can make our sport more fun for more people.
National regattas, how can we be more inclusive, get more people racing and enjoying the venue. What stops us doing everything we all imagine we would like.
Local regattas, What is the most fun local regatta, how do we make them all more exciting? What would a local regatta series look like and how would it help?
How do we invest in the sport when we struggle to break even. The case for a levy system.
The session is open to anyone who has an interest. Come along, understand the issues, discuss with friends and family and see what ideas we can come up with as a community. The SRC will have a desk at each regatta ,come and see us there or contact any of us at your convenience.
We intend to have a plan for 2027 by the September regatta so get involved early to make your opinions count.
Please use the link below to access the webinar and please feel free to share the link with others who may be interested.
The first marathon assessment race of the 2026 season is being held at Norwich Canoe Club on Saturday 28th March. Results from this event will be used to select the Under 18 and Under 23 Waterlands Marathon development team for the trip in April. For full information on the selection process, please visit the selection policy here.
To be considered for selection, athletes must complete the availability form by 22:00 on 25th March. This can be found here.
Entry and details for the race are available on the marathon racing entry site here.
Sign up is now open for the fourth JDS winter series event for 2025/26. This will be taking place at the Norwich Canoe Club on Saturday 21st March and will be led by Matt Robinson & Scott Hynds, alongside the wider Junior Development Squad coaching team.
In addition to the event on the Saturday, Norwich Canoe Club will be running a sprint regatta on Sunday 22 March for juniors, in conjunction with hosting the BUCS regatta. Therefore, the JDS is partnering with Norwich CC to offer a full weekend of activity for juniors engaged in the JDS programme.
Saturday will focus on racing skills that can be applied at Sunday’s regatta and Sunday’s regatta will consist of K1 500, K1 5000 and a K1 200 mixed relay. Both Saturday and Sunday will be in K1s.
The cost to attend the full weekend is £22.00, but there is also a ticket option for those who just want to attend Saturday’s JDS session.
Travel, accommodation and food are to be organised individually, unfortunately we cannot offer any of these as part of the weekend.
For standards to attend and to sign up, please click HERE. Sign up closes on Friday 13th March at 17:00.
Junior Development Squad (JDS) is a joint initiative between the Marathon Racing Committee, Sprint Racing Committee and Paddle England Talent. Having been running as a collaborative exercise since 2021, the JDS has supported hundreds of juniors from a wide spread of clubs to develop their racing skills, create long-term friendships and increase exposure to crew boats. For more information on JDS, please visit our website page here with further links onto the main JDS site.
The Marathon Racing Committee are excited to finally confirm all the dates and venues for the 2026 Major Events. The variety of venues and locations, particularly new ones, makes 2026 a great time to get racing as much as you can!
Thank you to Manvers Lake Trust and Boathouse, Wey Kayak Club and Richmond Canoe Club for supporting canoe marathon by hosting and organising one of our major national events this year.
Keep your eyes peeled for a confirmation of the ACM date and further details on all our major events in the coming months!
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