The Waterside Series is a series of four
marathon canoe races held on the
Kennet and Avon Canal and finishing at the
Newbury Waterside Centre.
The race series is held in the Spring each year in the eight weeks leading up to
Easter
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
. They are held on Sundays at fortnightly intervals starting eight weeks before Easter, and the races are progressively longer in distance.
It is common to use the Waterside Series as a warm-up event for the longer, 125-mile
Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Marathon
The Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Marathon is a marathon canoe race in England. The race is held every Easter over a course of from Devizes in Wiltshire to Westminster in central London. It has been run since 1948. Starting at D ...
. Despite its status as a warm-up event, it is considered a gruelling challenge in its own right.
Races
*Waterside A – 13.5 miles (21 portages) from
Great Bedwyn
Great Bedwyn is a village and civil parish in east Wiltshire, England. The village is on the River Dun about southwest of Hungerford, southeast of Swindon and southeast of Marlborough.
The Kennet and Avon Canal and the Reading to Taunton ...
to Newbury
*Waterside B – 17.5 miles (19 portages) from Newbury to
Aldermaston
Aldermaston is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. In the 2011 Census, the parish had a population of 1015. The village is in the Kennet Valley and bounds Hampshire to the south. It is approximately from Newbury, Basingsto ...
and back
*Waterside C – 23 miles (35 portages) from
Pewsey
Pewsey is a large village and civil parish at the centre of the Vale of Pewsey in Wiltshire, about south of Marlborough and west of London. It is within reach of the M4 motorway and the A303 and is served by Pewsey railway station on the Re ...
Wharf to Newbury
*Waterside D – 35 miles (35 portages) from
Devizes
Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-century civil war between ...
to Newbury
The races take place in a time trial format, whereby competitors choose their own start time within the start window and must finish within the finish window. The opening and closing times of these windows varies from race to race, with the longer races having earlier start windows and/or later finish windows.
Races C and D include the
Savernake Tunnel, where overtaking is prohibited for safety reasons.
Competitors
The Waterside Series attracts a range of entrants from regular marathon paddlers based at clubs around the country to endurance athletes from other sports seeking to use the races for training. The race is also popular with
public school
Public school may refer to:
* State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government
* Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...
s and the military. Races A and B, and in particular A are used as training events for Great Britain team paddlers.
Classes
There are 12 classes where prizes are awarded for the individual races and for the series overall:
*Senior K2 – Open to any
kayak doubles.
*Senior K1 – Open to any kayak singles.
*Junior K2 – Open to any kayak doubles where both competitors are under the age of 19 on 1 January of the year of the race.
*Junior K1 – Open to any kayak singles under the age of 19 on 1 January on the year of the race.
*Ladies K2 – Open to any female kayak doubles.
*Ladies K1 – Open to any female kayak singles.
*Mixed K2 – Open to kayak doubles with one male and one female competitor.
*Veteran K2 – Open to any kayak doubles where both competitors are over the age of 35 on 1 January of the year of the race.
*Veteran K1 – Open to any kayak singles over the age of 35 on 1 January on the year of the race.
*Junior/Veteran K2 – Open to kayak doubles with one competitor over the age of 35 and one competitor under the age of 19 on 1 January of the year of the race.
*C2 – Open to any
canoe
A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle.
In British English, the ter ...
doubles regardless of age or gender, this may either be a touring canoe or
sprint canoe
A sprint canoe is a canoe used in International Canoe Federation canoe sprint. It is an open boat propelled by one, two or four paddlers from a kneeling position, using single-bladed paddles. The difficulty of balance can depend on how wide or nar ...
.
*C1 – Open to any canoe singles regardless of age or gender, like the C2 class, this may either be a touring canoe or sprint canoe.
In addition, at the end of the series team prizes are awarded to the fastest teams composed of Juniors, Seniors or members of a uniformed service. Prizes are also awarded for the fasted junior competitors in the Ladies K2, Mixed K2 and C2 classes, as well as the fastest competitor aged over 50.
Warm-up for Devizes to Westminster
The series is an excellent build up race for the world-famous
Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Marathon
The Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Marathon is a marathon canoe race in England. The race is held every Easter over a course of from Devizes in Wiltshire to Westminster in central London. It has been run since 1948. Starting at D ...
. The 'DW' race is held every
Easter
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
over a course of from Devizes in Wiltshire to
Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...
in central London. It has been run since 1948. Starting at Devizes wharf, the route follows the
Kennet and Avon Canal for 54 miles to
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...
, where it joins the
Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
. Another 54 miles later it reaches Teddington Lock, ending 17 miles later at
Westminster Bridge
Westminster Bridge is a road-and-foot-traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, linking Westminster on the west side and Lambeth on the east side.
The bridge is painted predominantly green, the same colour as the leather seats in the ...
.
References
BCU Marathon Canoeing – Other Important Races
External links
*
BCU Marathon canoeing
Reading Canoe Club, organisers of the Thameside Series
{{Canoeing and kayaking
Canoeing and kayaking competitions in the United Kingdom
Sport in Wiltshire
Sport in Berkshire