It’s been a busy 9 days for GSCC! In this post, starting with the latest news first, read about:
Sir John Nelthorpe School Sessions
On Monday 9th June we delivered two sessions for Sir John Nelthorpe school’s year 10 pupils to give them a practical opportunity for their Outdoor and Adventurous Activities course work.
Iain, Graham, Sue and Martin ran two hour long sessions in the morning and afternoon for groups of 11 and 10 pupils respectively. They were accompanied by teacher Miss Black, who joined in in both sessions. Jean of course provided drinks and sweets!
Head of Physical Education at Sir John Nelthorpe School has written to our our Chair, Iain, to say:
“On behalf of Miss Black, our pupils and myself can I just say a huge thank you to you and your team for today.
Miss Black reported back how fantastic the staff were and how much the pupils enjoyed it. Hopefully some sign up to become members and we can come back each year
Thank you once again”
Chesterfield Canal Trip
On Sunday 8th of June, 9 of our members enjoyed a 10 mile round trip from Drakeholes to The Boat inn at Hayton and back.
Led by Iain and Dave, Mike, Hazel, Kelly, Gerry, Sally, Helen, and Owen paddled in canoes and our new touring boats. And they were treaded to a fly-past of club members Neil and Jim training in their new racing C2!
Here’s the nine paddlers just setting off. For more photos click here
Burton Hasler
On Saturday 7th June, Graham and Sue took Karl and Helen to the out-of-region Burton Hasler on the river Trent. Graham said:
“Four of our senior marathon paddlers visited Burton to gain more experience among a bigger fleet of paddlers. Despite a very poor weather forecast we managed to avoid all but a couple of rain showers and had no thunder and lightning.
Karl and Graham both raced 8 miles which included not ONE but TWO beach portages. This was a new experience for both of them and their attempts can be seen in the photos. Karl (in the yellow hat) finished 6th out of 11 starters in Div 5 only 6 minutes behind the winner who was promoted to Div 4. Graham had a poor start (he must practice washes) and finished near the back of Div 6, ten minutes behind the winner. He lost out at the portages to two paddlers who were given a paddle-through due to mobility problems.
Helen and Sue paddled K2 (doubles) in Div 8. They were the only boat but had to race against four good Div 7 pairs and one Div 9 pair. They kept the Div 7 paddlers in sight for the whole race and managed to finish ahead of the Div 9 pair in a great time of just over 31 minutes. Magic, Helen’s dog, put in an appearance for the Prize Giving.
Here’s Magic accepting the medals on behalf of Sue and Helen. For all the photos click here
Brigg Bomber Quadrathlon
And finally, on Sunday 1st June two GSCC teams completed in the team event of the Bomber Quadrathlon, hosted bu our friends at LincsQuad. Quadrathlon is swim. bike, kayak and run.
Graham reports:
“Our club entered two teams for the Brigg Bomber Quadrathlon on June 1st with a little help from three “guests”. The conditions were good although a bit warm and breezy. GSCC Allstars took the first (4 person) team prize with GSCC Superstars coming in not far behind in second place.
Allstars got off to a flying start thanks to Eve (Guest swimmer). Karl followed up with a blistering cycle leg to give Connor a comfortable lead going into the kayak section. Graham finished off with a solid run. A “pair” from Royal Leamington Spa Kayak Club finished faster BUT their runner who stormed past Graham with about 2km left to run was less than a third of his age!
Superstars also got off to a good start. Janine (Guest swimmer – also Eve’s Mum) exited the water about two minutes behind Eve followed with a great performance by Mark (guest cyclist) who couldn’t quite match Karl’s pace. This left Charles about 4 or 5 minutes behind Connor in the kayak – a gap which he couldn’t close. Caroline (Connor’s Mum) was a late replacement for the 10km run and she finished well to leave Superstars in second place.
There were also three other club members competing. Neil and Wayne both did the quadrathlon on their own. Andrew competed as part of a rival team!!!!
An excellent day out for all the competitors and we even got some interest from other participants about joining our club. Thanks to all participants.”
Here’s our winning team (with Janine standing in for Eve). more photos and a link to the results can be found here 