Reading Canoe Club played host as hundreds gathered for the second day of racing at the Marathon National Championships in beautiful sunshine.
Plenty of National Championship titles were up for grabs and athletes brought their A game to the crew boat races.
Mixed K2
The highly anticipated Mixed K2 race rounded off the weekend.
James and Emma Russell (Chelmsford) were crowned the National Champions after a thrilling race that saw the highest participation of the weekend.
After a number of false starts and a couple of motor boats needing to navigate past the 72 K2 field dominating the river, they were let loose down the 12.6km course.
Four crews were victims of the start line carnage but a quick swim didn't stop them from persevering on to complete the race.
The top group started to break down as they powered upstream. The Russell Siblings dominated the race from early on and led out of the first portage.
They had three other crews made up of Banbury's Joe Petersen and Richmond's Anoushka Freeman, Melissa and Matt Johnson (Chelmsford), and Hannah Brown and Ben Oakley (Nottingham) that were sticking with the pace.
This group split up in the stretch back downstream and the second portage which solidified the top two positions to either Emma and James or Anoushka and Joe.
Pushing all the way to the line, a sprint finish decided it. The brother and sister duo finished with a time of 0:52:58.
The second National Title of the weekend for James and third back to back win in the Mixed K2 category. And for Emma it was a successful return to the marathon scene to reclaim the Mixed K2 title she earnt two years ago, also with her brother.
Speaking after their win, James said: “Once the start eventually got underway, we made our way to the front and tried to stay cool and collected while there was a lot of carnage going on…you can't really predicted what's going to happen but we just tried to keep clean and towards the front until the first portage where we made our move.”
Emma continued: “It was hard work, but it makes it a little bit easier when I'm sat behind James, because I just have to follow exactly what he was doing and stay focussed”.
Watch the full interview here.
A second behind the gold, Petersen and Freeman had an awesome race that saw them finish in 0:52:59.
Matt Johnson made it a family affair by jumping into K2 with Senior Women's K1 National Title holder, and sister, Melissa to finish third with a time of 0:54:02.
A notable shout out also goes to Chelmsford's Sienna Payne and Andre Hinves of Southampton for being the first Junior only mixed crew across the line. They came in seventh with a time of 0:55:04.
![](https://paddleuk.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/H-Starts-5210-1024x581.jpg)
Senior
A full house for Melissa Johnson in the Senior Women's categories this weekend as she was joined by Emily Lewis (Worcester) to take the Senior Women's K2 National title.
A strong start helped them keep out of the rocky waters and a couple of collisions. A lead group then formed round the first lap containing Johnson and Lewis, Katie Brookes (Exeter) and Elise Montagna (Royal) and the Wey crew of Samanatha Martyn and Nerys Hall.
A tight third portage saw the crews of Johnson and Lewis, and Brookes and Montagna run really well to get back in together and break away.
Having the sprint powerhouse of Lewis in the back of the boat proved successful as they crossed the finish line in first with a time of 1:59:17.
Speaking after their win, Melissa said: “It was really good, nice going round as a group and having Emily in the back for the sprint finish was great. The race went to plan, nothing more I could ask for.”
Emily continued: “It was a challenge and I knew that coming into it as it's such a long race and I don't really do anything more than 70 minutes paddling normally…I think it was really good that we had the group and were able to sit on washes. Melissa was really good at keeping me relaxed and saying don't work too hard so I kept some energy for the end. It was really good fun”
Watch the full interview here.
Brookes and Montagna proved their success as a duo before they head out to compete in the Senior Women K2 race at the European Championships at the end of the month. They earnt the silver with a time of 1:59:55.
Freya Peters joined forces with Maia Wallace-Loizou to fly around the 25.2km course. The Richmond duo were third across the line posting a time of 2:01:01, after catching Martyn and Hall coming into the final portage.
The Senior Men's K2 was a tactical race dominated by Chelmsford, Norwich and Nottingham paddlers.
Chelmsford's Matthew Johnson joined forces with brother Dan to take the Senior Men's K2 win; a second year in a row for Dan.
James Russell was also in action, combining with U18 junior paddler Joe Enoch from Nottingham. Enoch took the K1 National title the day prior and took racing up with the seniors in his stride performing well around the 25.2km course.
The pair were leading around the first lap closely followed by the Johnson brothers and the Norwich duo of Tim Dowden and James How.
Tensions were high on the final portage, a messy get out for Russell, Enoch and the Johnson brothers gave the Norwich crew a momentary clean break on the get in.
The pace upped as the lead group of three reformed down the final stretch of the course.
A fierce sprint finish between the Johnson's and the Chelmsford/Nottingham team determined the new National title holders.
Dan and Matt crossed the line in a time of 1:45:14, swiftly followed by James and Joe with a time of 1:45:18.
Tim and James took third with a time of 1:45:25.
Speaking after the race Dan said: “It was a lot harder than last year…I think I was a passenger for a good hour of that race, but I really enjoyed it and it's nice to win again. A big tear up at the end with James and Joe, and it was nice to have a bit of race practice to finish the season off.”
Matt continued: “It was much more tactical, quite slow and a lot more burn going in. It came down to the sprint finish as we expected and it's good to take the win.”
Watch the full interview here.
Three crews took to the startline of the Senior C2 race. Nick Poole and Peter Jones (Devizes) proved to be very experienced across the 12.6km course, breaking away from their competitors early on in the race.
They navigated a full lap of the course and two portages in 1:09:50 finished over four minutes ahead of the field to earn their National title.
Liz Murnaghan (Taunton) and Vicky Metcalfe (Pangbourne) were the winning women's C2 in a time of 1:16:55.
![](https://paddleuk.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/G-Starts-8661-1024x793.jpg)
Junior
The U18 junior K2s competed over 21K. Alexander Worgan and Flynn Holt (Richmond) powered around the course and were able to break away from the field to put one minute between them and second place. They clocked a time of 1:24:01. The Women's U18 National title went to the Oxford Falcon and Norwich pairing of Frankie Scrivener and Kamila Sklenarova with a time of 1:36:50.
National Champions in the U16 age group were Kyla Holt (Richmond) and Sienna Green (Wolverhampton). They raced ahead of their field and had a minute up on second place with a time of 1:02:11.
Freddie Heard (Exeter) and Olivier Mazur (Reading) took the win, after a rapid and tight sprint finish in the U16 Men's race. Their time over 12.6km was 0:53:38.
A fast paced race ended in a sprint finish to the line for the U14 men as well. After his K1 win on Saturday, Lorenzo De Bilio (Royal) teamed up with Louis Smith (Worcester) to earn first place. They finished with a time of 0:35:51.
Strong showing for the U14s with a second National title win for Matilda Burton too. She joined club mate Madison Mckernan (Elmbridge) to take the win over 8k in 0:37:20.
Fergus Barnett (Worcester) and Jack Wade (Reading) broke away early in their U12 junior Men's race. They put in a good effort to finish almost four minutes ahead of the field in 0:40:24.
Over 8k, it was Orla Anderson (Southampton) and Agnes Grant (Wey) to end up victorious for the U12 Women. They clocked 0:43:54.
The U10 National Champions were Astrid Bartsch-Cotta (Oxford Falcon) and Florence Enoch (Exeter). They completed their 3.3km course in a time of 0:25:56.
The Mini K2s were also in action on Sunday. The Elmbridge crew of Phoebe Field and Luc Mckernan were joined by Benjamin Boughton and Xavier MacLeod (Reading), both K2s did a great job on their introductory race.
![](https://paddleuk.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/F-Starts-7753-1024x645.jpg)
Masters
Athletes in the O34 Men's race took on a 21km course. It was a high paced, tight race. Juan Caruncho (Barking and Dagenham) and Edgar Boehm (Reading) were able to break away after the final portage to secure the National title win with a time of 1:27:37.
The O34 Women National Champions are Katherine Wilson (Bishop Stortford) and Victoria Knee (Bradford upon Avon). They completed in 1:03:11.
The O34 women took on a 12.6km course alongside the O44 race class.
A home course advantage proved advantageous for the O44 Women's Reading pairing of Erika Hutchinson and Timea Muszkane. They earnt the National title with a time of 1:07:58.
Steve Baker and Brett Irvine of Richmond were the Men's O44 National Champions with a time of 0:55:15.
The remaining race classes competed over 8km, completing one lap of the full course.
Kerstin Queeney (Bishop Stortford) and Catherine Ayling (Ealing) took on a sprint finish and
won their O54 Women's K2 race with a time of 0:40:36. In the Men's race the Norwich crew Ian Hayward and Dyson Pendle were crowned National Champions finishing in 0:35:05.
The Bradford upon Avon duo of John Escott and Stan Missen were the O64 champions. They held strong in a leading group of two for the majority of their race, finishing mere second ahead of second place. They clocked a time of 0:36:55.
A home win for the Reading crew of Tamsin Phipps and Catherine Gaffard. They secured the O64 Women's National Champion title in 0:46:19.
Finally it was Christopher Sharp and Clifford Lee-Smith (Norwich) who championed the O74 age category to earn the K2 National title, clocking a time of 0:45:15.
![](https://paddleuk.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/F-Starts-4981-1024x624.jpg)
The full photo gallery from the weekend is now available here. See if you can spot yourself in the fab photos from Antony Edmonds.
All the results from the National Championships can be found here.
A huge thank you to Reading Canoe Club for hosting and to the Marathon Racing Committee. And congratulations to all the National Champions.
Marathon racing takes place regularly throughout the country. If you are interested in getting involved, visit the Marathon Racing Committee website here for more information.