One hundred paddlers are expected to arrive at the Montgomery Canal in Queens Head, near Oswestry, on Sunday morning, June 29, for energetic qualifying races in national canoe championships.
At 11am, singles and doubles will set off, in sprint sta
rts, towards Rednal and Welsh Frankton for two-miles before returning to Queens Head for the finish. And at 12 noon an eight-mile course will take participants over that same course plus another two miles in the other direction, south towards Maesbury Marsh, before returning.
The canal at Queens Head is part of a restored section of the Montgomery Canal which is connected to the national network at Welsh Frankton. It was recently used for another of this summer's Montgomery Canal Festival events - the Dinghy Dawdle and Meander.
One of the organisers of the Shropshire Paddlesport Marathon, Phil Russell of Oswestry said: "The races are a West Midlands Regional Hasler Qualifying Event and will provide lots of interest for spectators around the canal at Queens Head." He added: "We will also be promoting our beginners' courses in canoeing which commence next month."
The event forms part of the summer-long Montgomery Canal Festival, known as Monty 08, officially launched by Lembit Opik MP and Gabriela Irimia at Llanymynech in May and culminating with two busy boating weekends in August and September - 30/31 August at Welshpool and 6/7 September at Maesbury Marsh.
Further information can be found on
www.monty08.com and
www.shropshirepaddlesport.co.uk The full article contains 282 words and appears in Border Counties Advertizer newspaper.
