Pair complete 108-mile canoe race through night

TWO friends took part in a 21-hour canoe race over the Easter weekend.

Laurence Plant, 36, from Henley, and Julian Glasspole, 60, from Shiplake, completed the annual Devizes to Westminster challenge.

They paddled 108 miles from Wiltshire, passing through Henley and finishing in London.

The race is meant to end at Westminster Bridge but was shortened due to rough water and ended at Teddington Lock instead.

The pair finished in 34th place in the senior doubles category. Mr Plant, who runs Henley Practice in the Greys Road car park and is a town councillor, and Mr Glasspole, who owns Vehicle Weighing Solutions in Caversham, had wanted to take part in the event for years.

Mr Plant said: “I’ve known Julian since I was a young lad and we have paddled for years. Around 2019 we thought ‘Let’s do it together’ but then covid happened.

“Then in September we were like: ‘This is now or never — let’s do it’.

“On March 22, Julian celebrated his birthday so we thought: ‘There’s no time like the present, let’s go and get this stupid canoe race done’.”

The pair started at 8.30pm and paddled through the night.

Mr Plant said: “The first eight or nine hours were pretty enjoyable but once the night comes and the river is at 150 cubic metres per second, so very fast and very swirly, it gets harder to navigate and you get tired.

“When you have been sitting on your backside in a carbon boat for hours everything is sore but that’s sort of why you do it — it’s for the challenge and we both had a good time.”

The duo spent much of the winter training but found it difficult due to the condition of the river caused by higher than normal rainfall. For the race, they were accompanied by two support cars filled with friends who provided them with food and water at regular intervals.

Mr Plant said: “Julian is quite a proud guy and didn’t want to announce that we were doing it and right up until two hours before the entry deadline we were unsure whether we wanted to or could do it.

“Julian has tried it twice before but retired both times around Henley, so it’s no mean feat to complete it.

“About 40 per cent retired along the course due to the water conditions.

“We had a good hug and cry at the finish line.

“We spent the rest of the weekend sleeping after missing that whole night’s sleep and I’m still pretty sore.

“When the rest of the world was tucked up in bed looking forward to their Easter meal, we were probably in Walton-on-Thames with our torch on at the front of our little boat.”

Race director Paul Fielden said: “The race was run with the highest water levels seen for many years. Not only were the river and the lower canal sections flowing very fast, some of the upper canal towpaths were swamped and underwater.

“In the main, paddlers coped with the challenges and many posted fast times. Unfortunately, the high water levels meant that the tideway section of the river was red-flagged and the race was terminated after 108 miles at Teddington.

“We offer our congratulations to all those paddlers that finished and condolences to those who had to retire early.”