Hawkesbury
Fat Paddler finishing Hawkesbury Canoe Classic 2009
The Hawkesbury Canoe Classic 2009 – 24th & 25th October
In 1977, members of the NSW Outward Bound Ex-Students Association decided to organise a canoe race along the river they had paddled during their course. Apart from being a challenge, this 111km race was going to help the community by raising money for medical research.
That first race attracted 250 paddlers and raised $8,500. 30 years later, in 2007, that same race attracted over 620 paddlers and raised over $240,000. In the 30 year history of the Hawkesbury Canoe Classic over $1.9 million has been raised for medical research.
The race was originally run overnight to take advantage of the calmer weather conditions and the lighter traffic on the river. It also allowed the slower paddlers to make those last painful strokes in daylight. What the organisers did not realise when they made this decision was that the beauty and magic of paddling beneath the full moon would far outweigh any of their practical reasons for running the event overnight.
The Hawkesbury Canoe Classic is a fun (!!!!!) paddle to help raise funds for The Arrow Bone Marrow Transplant Foundation, a charitable foundation funding medical research into the cause, prevention, treatment and cure of leukaemia and other diseases treatable by bone marrow and adult stem cell transplantation. Arrow also supports patients and their carers through providing accommodation, patient information guides, assistance with travel costs and our free Wig Library available to patients experiencing hair loss through chemotherapy.
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July 16th, 2009 on 1:00 pm
‘Yer mad ya bastard!’
July 16th, 2009 on 2:27 pm
That’s how I roll….
July 19th, 2009 on 9:43 pm
JUST UPDATED! SPONSOR ME FOR THE CLASSIC!
http://www.canoeclassic.asn.au/my/races/profile-public?rid=4550
Thx!
September 17th, 2009 on 2:57 pm
Good luck FP,
I have been following your exploits since coming across your website whilst trolling the web for a kayak to do the Hawkesbury in this year. Having done it once before (in 06) I can tell you it’s a real blast to finish and an amazing way to see the river. Keep an eye out for the phosphor in the water once the moon goes down!
See you on the river perhaps,
Angus
September 17th, 2009 on 11:21 pm
Gday Angus! Make sure you say gday out there, I’ll be the fat guy struggling along!
October 22nd, 2009 on 2:39 pm
hey FP..I’m in this hawkesbury paddle also. Must be crazy as i’ve done more than a few times.
I’ll keep an eye out as you paddle past…or pre race for a quick chat.
October 22nd, 2009 on 3:00 pm
Gday Dave, definitely come and say gday. I’ll be hard to miss, i can assure you.
p.s. why does everyone think I’m going to paddle past them??? HIGHLY UNLIKELY!