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The club newsletter is usually issued once a month, and occasionally more frequently. The club magazine On the Bank is published twice a year - if we get enough articles!

Banbury & District Canoe Club

Mini-newsletter sort of thing … March 2007

 Hi all,
I know we’ve only just had a newsletter, but there’s a lot going on, so here’s something to keep you up to speed.
Dom

Painting Day
Time to get the walls of the club all shiny bright. Turn up tomorrow, Saturday, morning wearing old clothes and armed with paintbrushes if you’ve got them. The more the merrier. Those in the know have been having very earnest discussions about the merits of stiff brushes, paint and PVA glue …

Arctic Challenge
A message from Calv Hobday.
 
If any of you are visiting the Outdoors Show at the NEC next weekend please visit the Montane stand. Montane are the very generous people who have supplied me with the necessary clothing for my participation in the 6633 ultra marathon in Canada (also starting next weekend). So call in on them, and tell them that you know me (...even if you don't!) - all publicity helps and hopefully they'll continue to support me in future exploits! You may even wish to buy some of their kit ...I'm going to be out in conditions 40 C below so it's good gear!

My progress can be followed on www.6633ultra.com, race updates will be amended when and where practical -and a special thank you to all club members who have supported our fund raising events and have wished me well, especially Mick who has kindly arranged for me to go and play in a -27 C freezer!
Cheers
Calv Hobday

First Aid Course
Copy of an e-mail that Neville has sent out to Regional Coaching Officers and other important people. If you want to book a place, get in touch with Neville asap.

Neil Dixon has kindly offered to run and Aquatic First Aid course for us at Banbury and District CC on 8th April 2007.  This is the earliest opportunity I can get, and as several people are about to become overdue on their three year renewal, we will hopefully have plenty of candidates.  I know it is in the Easter holiday but you can all enjoy the sunny weather at our smart refurbished premises and shelter inside if it is cold.  Even give a cheery welcome home to our Devices to Westminster teams as they drag themselves home!
Course fees are £20 for non Banbury club members.  All candidates will be required to pay their BCU registration fee for the coaching awards registration £5 for BCU members, £ 7 for non BCU members.
We need a minimum of 8 candidates so please let me know as soon as possible your requirements.
I anticipate we may be oversubscribed and will endeavour to fit everyone in even run another course soon after.  This has gone out to Southern and Eastern Regional Development Officers so don't get left out.  We are pushing to get you gaining as many coaching prerequisites as possible.  We are pushing to get as many Coaching courses started as early in first half year as possible.
By copy of the mail could James and Howard please let me know of their regional course programme ASAP.  If we need more courses, then I suggest we get them sorted soon.  Banbury are happy to offer a venue and I am prepared to help run some. Time I used my A3* to some effect and justify all these coaching updates that keep costing me my pension before its too late! Particular demand could be the Level 1 and Level 2 coach and these can be either generic or PW specific.  I think we have to push ahead on the current award system and not wait for the final New BCU coaching system.  Don't forget we are operating for Clubs not  Commercial Centres!
Looking forward to some early replies, if not I am off on my boat.
See you on the water
Neville

Marathon News
And a message from Lisa, about all things marathon, plus a calendar. (Cross check with our own club calendar, as there are other events on there as well).
Hi all!
Well, it seems hard to imagine that in less than a month, the first out-of region marathons will be upon us. Attached is a calendar of all the races through to the Autumn (subject to change – note especially Thames Valley and Reading Circuits which have, apparently, moved dates).
For those who are new to marathons, they are divided into divisions (based on ability, not age) and you begin your racing career in Div 9 – the entry division. From there, as you climb to the top of a division, you are promoted to the next, and so on. Divs 9-7 are 4 mile races, divs 6-4 are 8 miles (with portages) and divs 3-1 are 12 miles (but most of us will not have to worry about this for a while!!!). The marathon clubs are divided into regions (we are in southern region) and we compete against all the other clubs in our region to gain ‘Hasler points’. The clubs with the most hasler points in each region at the end of the season compete against each other in the Hasler Finals. For this reason, we try to put out as many racers as possible for the races in our own region (marked S on the attached table) and encourage everyone to have a go, if they want to.
Under 12 and under 10s have their own shorter Lightning races (between one and two miles) and compete in boys and girls races. They have safety boats to look after them as they race and tend to get certificates or medals to take home at the end. I recommend these for the kids are they really give them a sense of achievement and they are fun too.
It is absolutely no problem if, as a new div 9, you just have a go to see if you enjoy it … your main aims being to stay dry and finish!! If you don’t fancy going it alone, I can always find you a K2 partner who is more experienced. The marathon days are great fun, with lots of camaraderie... and there is also excellent cake at many of the races!
Official team entries through me will not be made until Basingstoke marathon (the first Hasler, 6^th May) but people sometimes go to nearby out of region races (marked on the calendar) to see where they are after the winter’s training. If anyone would like advice or information on any of these races please let me know, as some people are bound to be going. We can even maybe arrange lifts if anyone is stuck. After that, I will take entries for Basingstoke a couple of weeks before, so start planning what you would like to do!!
Finally, can I just remind people using club boats that they need to let me know if they intend to remove a boat from the clubhouse and take it away – it is awful to turn up on the day of a race, only to find that someone has already left with the boat you had reserved!!! You can get me on 07980884484, 01295711356 or by email – but give me 24hrs notice as I don’t always check for emails during the day!!
I look forward to seeing you at the races (hopefully with my leg out of plaster!!).
Cheers,
Lisa

Time Trial Awards
As promised, we are adopting the BCU’s time trial awards for Sprint (500m), marathon and Wild Water. Details of these are on the club website – go to the results page, and follow the time trials link. The sprint and marathon awards only go as high as about division 7 standard, so we’ve also got our own BDCC awards which are considerably harder, and are based on sprint and marathon promotion standards.