Well guys we did it! Two crews completed the marathon, and boy did we all do a good job. This the article written about the race for the University newspaper, inQuire.

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The University of Kent rowers continued the club’s annual tradition of bringing home a winning crew from the Boston Rowing Marathon as the Men’s Novice Coxed Four crew won their race, smashing the course record in the process. It’s the fifth year running the club has won a category in the marathon, the longest race in Britain. 

The club sent two crews to the race, held along the River Witham in Lincolnshire. The Men’s Intermediate 3 Coxed Four crew of Sam Webb, Miles Halahan, Nick Paterson and Christian Wren, coxed by Chloe Marshall, had to settle for second in their category, finishing an agonising two minutes behind Abingdon. However, their time of 4:01:20 was one of the fastest ever times set in their category, just eight minutes short of the course record. Christian Wren said after the race, “To complete the race in the time we got was a huge achievement, but to row so strong for four hours, only to come second by such a small margin left a very bittersweet taste in our mouths.”

It was the Novice crew of Rich Hamlyn, James Cooper, Josh Blackledge and Mark Humphreys, with their Cox Jen Fisher, who bought home victory for the club. They completed the 51km race from Lincoln to Boston in an outstanding time of 4:13:11, the fastest ever for a Novice Coxed Four. It was a magnificent achievement from the crew, made even more impressive by the fact that four of the five in the crew had only taken up rowing in October last year.

The race is held on a 51km stretch of river between Lincoln and Boston. With few landmarks along the stretch, it’s not just exhaustion competitors must contend with, but boredom. Perhaps the most exciting part of the race is the lock, 13km in. Here, crews must get out of their boat and run 50m with the boat to the other side of the river. The race followed two weeks of intense training, with the two crews returning to Canterbury early in preparation for the marathon. Both crews racked up nearly 200km of training each along the River Stour in Kent.

With the marathon being such an intense physical task, the club saw the race as a great opportunity to raise money for a local charity. The club chose to support ‘Kent Kids Miles of Smiles,’ a local charity that provide round the clock care for sick and disabled children. The club has so far raised over £700 for the charity, and fundraising is ongoing. A massive thank you to those who have already donated.

Congratulations to all those who raced, and a huge thanks to those who didn't race, but came along to support and help clean up the boathouse!

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We are still looking for donations. As of 2/10/2009 we're at £705.87 (including gift aid). Our target of £1000 maybe still quite a way off, we would love see us get close to it.

To see updates of how training is going and for more information on the club, log on to the club's website at www.kentrowing.co.uk

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