Scotch College

Scotchies in the Murray Marathon

So you want to paddle your own canoe - 404 km down the mighty Murray!

That is just how over 1000 competitors spent the five days between Christmas and New Year last year competing in the twenty-seventh Mars-Australia Red Cross Murray Marathon, the longest canoe race in the world! The Murray Marathon is a major fund raiser for the Red Cross, raising over $2m since its inception in 1969.

Five fellow boarders including Lachlan Anderson, John O'Connor, Andrew Steel, James Wallace and Charles Wark decided to take on the challenge and a TK2, a two-man touring kayak was obtained. Long and hard they practised on the Yarra at weekends and after school, as well as fundraising. All competitors are required to undertake some fundraising, each member of their relay team being required to raise a minimum of $170 to compete in the Marathon.

Each day started about 5.30 am as the sleeping crews were woken to the recorded strains of 'Morning has Broken'. The first group of paddlers set off precisely at 7 am followed by groups according to class every 10 minutes thereafter.

There was a great variety of craft; a surf boat with four oarsmen, Canadian canoes, single, double, triple and one four-man kayak, sea kayaks and even a single scull. The mornings were usually cool but the days were hot and plenty of sunscreen and cook drinks were essential.

Not all paddlers stayed dry for very long. The contest for the front rank at the start each day was fierce, the jockeying for position in the narrow river often resulting in collisions and a dunking for some unfortunate crew, especially amongst the many very competitive school relay teams. Not all teams were so single-minded however, many paddlers just enjoying the experience and competing each year for the camaraderie and the personal challenge that the event offers.

Each day's stage comprised a series of four or five sections. The land support team for each entrant waited at the end of each section to assist the changeover of their relay crew. Changeover techniques varied, speed being important. The most spectacular saw the previous stage paddlers tipped out of their boat by the land support team while the next two paddlers jumped in and were on their way before the two ejected paddlers had surfaced.

Needless to say the Scotch boarders' team, the "Scotchies", have still to perfect the art of kayak racing. The team came seventh in the Open Relay Division which was very commendable for their first attempt and now that the memory of aching muscles and blistered hands is receding there has been some talk of repeating the experience again this year - although they may need to borrow a new land support team of long suffering parents!