Help for Heroes paddle the Nene this weekend!
Viking member Mick Child and three other paddling friends - Thomas Fitzgerald, Michael Prosperino and Dan Jenkin. - are aiming to raise thousands of pounds for the Help 4 Heroes charity this weekend!
They are attempting to paddle their two tandem kayaks nearly 60 miles down the River Nene. Mick and Thomas will be paddling a Perception Vista weighing in at 41kg empty and Michael and Dan will be paddling a 30kg Prijon Capri. The Nene is a river that rises from three sources in Northamptonshire and is the ninth longest river in England, and the twelfth longest in the United Kingdom.
Mick says “Our journey will take us from Rush Mills lock on the outskirts of Northampton to Peterborough City Rowing Club, situated at Thorpe Meadows and at the end of a purpose built rowing course. Along the way we shall have to negotiate 36 locks over a total distance of 57.4 miles. We do not use the locks and have to carry our kayaks and equipment to the lower part of the river at each one.”
“We are a team of 4 and will paddle 2 tandem kayaks between us. We have set ourselves the challenge of completing the trip within 19 hours. This means we have 5-minutes to portage our equipment at each lock, with the luxury of 10-minutes approximately every 4 hours. We will spoil ourselves along the trip with 3 x 20-minute stops for breakfast, lunch and tea.”
“One of us is in his 30's, two of us are in our 40's, and arguably the fittest is in his 50's. We all have full time jobs and enjoy doing this kind of thing for fun.”
“So our quotation for this trip is: Pain is temporary - quitting is forever!' (Lance Armstrong)
To find out more, go to: http://www.greatcarizmo.co.uk/carizmo_test_014.htm
To donate to Help for Heroes at their page go to: http://www.justgiving.com/river-nene-kayak