thumb|right|300px|A junior doubles boat starting at Devizes Wharf

The Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Marathon is a marathon canoe race in England. The race is held every Easter over a course of from Devizes in Wiltshire to Westminster in central London. It has been run since 1948. Starting at Devizes wharf, the route follows the Kennet and Avon canal for 54 miles to Reading, where it joins the Thames. Another 54 miles later it reaches Teddington Lock, ending 17 miles later at Westminster Bridge.

Personalities to own a DW medal include former leader of the Liberal Democrats, Paddy Ashdown; explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes; TV presenter Steve Backshall; Olympic gold medallist rowers James Cracknell and Helen Glover; adventurer Sarah Outen; and the first British woman to climb Everest, Rebecca Stephens.

Route

The race follows the Kennet and Avon Canal for from Devizes through Pewsey, Hungerford and Newbury to Reading. From Reading the race follows the non-tidal River Thames downstream for through Henley-on-Thames, Marlow, Maidenhead, Windsor, Staines and Kingston before reaching the tidal River Thames at Teddington Lock. The tidal river is followed for the final through the western suburbs of London to Westminster. The 2008 race was the 60th anniversary of the event.

The course requires competitors to portage their canoes and kayaks around 77 locks. Starting from Devizes, there are four locks before the Bruce tunnel, and another 31 locks before Newbury wharf, and the end of the first stage, is reached. Stage 2 has 22 locks on the Kennet and Avon Canal, before the junction with the River Thames is reached, and a further six locks on the Thames, before the stage ends above Marlow lock. Stage 3 includes 14 locks, ending below Teddington lock, while stage 4 has a single lock at Richmond before the final on the tideway. Richmond lock is only operational at some states of the tide, and so a portage may be avoided if passage is made during a period of two hours either side of high tide.

History

The idea of canoeing from Devizes to Westminster was first suggested by Roy Cooke, who had been part of a team who had attempted to canoe along the River Avon from Pewsey, near Devizes, to the sea at Christchurch in 1947. He then planned to see if it was possible to reach Westminster from Devizes in under 100 hours. At the time, much of the Kennet and Avon Canal was derelict, but still in water. He was unable to attempt the course, but a number of locals offered some money for Scout funds if the Devizes Scouts could succeed in "taking a boat from Devizes to Westminster in under 100 hours, all food and camping kit to be carried in the boats". Four of the scouts, Peter Brown, Laurie Jones, Brian Smith and Brian Walters, all aged 17, attempted the route at Easter 1948. The event generated much interest, with some national press coverage, and a large crowd gathering at Westminster Bridge to see the end of the feat, which was completed in 89 hours 50 minutes.

Chippenham Sea Cadets attempted the route at Whitsun 1948, and managed to reduce the time to 75 hours 50 minutes, but several attempts later in the year were thwarted by the amount of weed in the canal. In 1949, although no race had been organised, nearly 20 boats attempted the course at Easter, and although many failed to complete it, two crews representing Richmond Canoe Club completed it in 49 hours 32 minutes, and a team from Bristol Scouts managed 53 hours 10 minutes.

In view of the interest shown, Frank Luzmore, one of the competitors from Richmond Canoe Club, decided to organise the event as an annual contest. Albert Weibel, another member of the Richmond Canoe Club, donated a trophy for the winner, and at Easter 1950, 17 boats took part in the first official race. A team from Richmond Canoe Club won again, by completing the course non-stop in 34 hours 52 minutes, closely followed by a team representing the Royal Marines. Ten of the boats completed the course.

Classes

There are five classes of event, each with its own set of rules.

  • Senior Doubles: This is a non-stop race, timed continuously from the moment they start, until either they reach Westminster, or they admit defeat (which accounts for one third of the entries, rising to half in 1998).
  • Junior Doubles: Two crew members, completing the course in four stages with overnight stops.
  • Junior/Veteran: Two crew members, one who must be a junior, and one who must be over 35, completing the course in four stages with overnight stops. This class was introduced in 1989 to encourage parents to canoe with their children, but most crews which have entered are not related.

In 2001, along with a large number of events in the UK, the race could not take place due to a nationwide outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease restricting unnecessary access to the countryside (and thus large parts of the course).

In 2016, Storm Katie brought storm force winds to London on Easter Monday and a decision was made to cancel the last day of the staged race; the results were based on the times taken to reach Thames Young Mariners. Finishers' medals were awarded to those that reached this point and certificates issued marked "shortened course". This decision did not affect the non-stop race, which had already finished on Easter Sunday.

In 2018, heavy rainfall prior to the Easter weekend and throughout Good Friday again brought the River Thames up to flood levels with fast-flowing water. The race committee initially ruled that no night-time paddling should occur on the Thames, but after conditions worsened they decided that all classes would finish at Reading (Wokingham Canoe Club at Dreadnought Reach). No finishers' medals were issued and certificates were marked "shortened course".

In 2020 and 2021, the event was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2022, the event was shortened to 108 miles and finished at Teddington, since the grounds of St Thomas' Hospital were occupied by a vaccination station.

In 2023, race entries were curtailed due to extremely high water levels. Many crews were disallowed from the start, based on ability, to let organisers focus health and safety efforts on crews who were more likely to be water-competent. Thus, no crew with a junior was allowed to go past Dreadnought Reach in Reading. This was also the case for Senior Singles, Junior Doubles, Junior Vet classes and any Endeavour crew containing a junior. Only Senior Doubles were allowed to finish in Westminster.

In 2024, the organisers intended to have the finish line for the Senior Doubles at its traditional Westminster site, while the Stage Races would span three days and finish at Thames Young Mariners, Ham, opposite Twickenham. These changes arose from concerns over increased powered traffic on the Thames tideway, in particular the high-speed Thames Clippers river bus. In the event, high water levels from Storm Nelson led to parts of the canal overflowing, reaching Richmond. This initiated the Port of London's Ebb Tide Red Flag warning. Therefore, the Single K1, Junior/Vet, Endeavour class, and non-stop Senior Doubles races were all terminated at Teddington, and the Junior Doubles race terminated at Dreadnought Reach in Reading. Altogether, these limitations meant no course records attempts could be made.

Course records

The current (non-stop) course record was set during an unprecedented race in 2023, which saw half of the senior entrants disallowed by a competency-based assessment for safety reasons. Keith Moule of Chelmsford Canoe Club and Tom Sharpe of Richmond Canoe Club set a new record with a time of 15 hours and 19 minutes. For the previous 44 years the record stood at 15 hours 34 minutes, set in 1979 by Brian Greenham and Tim Cornish, one from Richmond Canoe Club and one from Reading Canoe Club.

For the staged events, the solo record was set in 1993 by G Butler of Nottingham Kayak Club in a time of 14 hours 46 minutes. The junior record was also set in 1993 by the Richmond / Royal pairing of Steve Jensen and Tony Richardson in 14 hours 13 minutes, faster than the senior record, but they did have three night's sleep on the way down.

In the months leading up to the races, there are two series of races, the Thameside Series and Waterside Series, that are deemed good practice for crews competing in the main Devizes to Westminster race. The Thameside Series is based around Reading, with two races, going from Aldermaston to Reading and Reading to Marlow respectively. The Waterside Series is a series of four races based around Newbury, Berkshire, of lengths 14 miles, 17.5 miles, 23 miles and 34 miles; it is often competed as a series on its own.

References

  • The Paddler's Perspective – last updated 2006, archived in 2011