I signed up for the 11km Cambridge to Hamilton Paddle Race two weeks before the race was on. Helen Blair, SUPWell Coach (watch out for the Helen’s here – it could get confusing here) had told me she’d done the 11km in the weekend as a practice run and it had taken her an hour so I thought even if I am paddling for 1.5hrs, I could cope.
So off I set to Hamilton. I saw Helen at registration which was comforting as I was starting to get a bit nervous, having never paddled on a river and wondering how the whirl pools and eddies were going to go.
At the race start I saw a few people doing stretches so did some myself for good measure then I got in the water. I seemed to be the only one wearing a wetsuit and without a backpack so I felt over prepared and under prepared at the same time. Also, I was really worried about falling off at the start line and getting hit by another board and bumming myself out in front of my family! So I decided to paddle on my knees to start with and graduate to my feet once I was feeling more relaxed.
We all set off and I found my space and line and just focused on my rhythm. The flow of the river meant we moved quite quickly. I felt my legs shaking from a few nerves but decided to get to my feet (probably too soon!). I stayed focused on rhythm and even, regular breathing and soon enough I got over my nerves and the shaking in my legs stopped and I started to look around at the beautiful scenery and started really enjoying myself. The view was lovely, I had plenty of space and if I needed a breather for a few seconds, the river kept me moving.
There were a few times where I wondered why my balance was off and it was because of a whirl pool, nothing too severe but enough for me to feel I was a bit out of whack. The whirl pools were strongest where the river narrows. Also the wake from the safety boats going past were a bit disconcerting because they hit the paddle board side on.
Once I saw the statues at the bottom of the Hamilton gardens I got my bearings and knew there wasn’t far to go. But then past the Cobham Dr Bridge, the river narrowed a lot so the whirl pools were full on. I couldn’t keep my balance through that bit and consequently went for a quick swim. At that stage I didn’t mind and had a bit of a giggle to myself. And about 5 minutes later I was pulling into the finish line.
The 11km race took 1hr3m and I would recommend it to anyone, an easy ride and lovely scenery. I know (the other) Helen will have me on the 23km next year!!
