The inaugural Watersports Marathon Challenge held last week in the Hawkes Bay over King’s Birthday weekend was deemed a success by attendees and event organisers, with perfect weather and paddling conditions and an exciting event format that resulted in close and exhilarating racing throughout the two days.
Proudly hosted in a collaborative effort by Mana Kayak Club and Hawkes Bay Kayak Racing Club on the Te Awa o Mokotuararo (Clive River), this new marathon event piloted a new divisional racing system with the aim to allow closer racing and a better experience for all paddlers. It largely succeeded with many paddlers experiencing close competition regardless of age group, gender or craft, and included kayaks, skis and waka ama all racing together.
The event was made up of single person craft marathon races on Saturday, which also doubled as CRNZ selection races for the 2025 ICF World Games and World Championships, followed by team boat marathon races on Sunday.
In the top division’s 20km race, Gene Prato came out on top after a close race with marathon masters legend Garth Spencer and young local paddler Lachie Harkness.
Gene got the gap and took the lead just over halfway through the race and held on to secure the win. The battle for 2nd and 3rd was only decided in the final portage, with the experience of Spencer giving him a short lead ahead of 16yr old Harkness for the final short lap to the finish.
Both Gene and Garth were impressed with Lachie’s race and his competitiveness at the front of the race at his young age. Marathon racing is a discipline where experience is key so he will certainly be one to watch in the marathon world in the future. This race showcased the special feature of divisional racing, with an age gap of over 30years between the top 3 paddlers but all competing fairly and challenging each other.
In the 3rd division, Mana’s Emma Kemp was victorious over Claudia Kelly, who travelled from Dunedin for the event. Whilst no stranger to elite sports and endurance events, it was Claudia’s first kayak marathon event, and the skill and experience of Emma shone through. Emma was 14th open woman at the 2024 World Championships in Croatia, and she will be looking to add to that in Hungary later this year.
Division 4 came down to a sprint finish between Waitara Kayak Club’s Paul Randall and Hawkes Bay’s Ryan McBrearty with McBrearty just holding off Randall’s late sprint to the line.
Divisions 5, 6, 7 and 8 all had close racing with paddlers of variable ages and experiences paddling on the river and competing together.
The divisional format is designed so that paddlers can have close and tactical racing against people of similar speed, regardless of age, gender or craft, creating racing and learning opportunities that can often be lost in age group events where paddlers can just end up strung out and racing around the course on their own.
A highlight of the event was the inclusion of a K4 Marathon race, the first time big boats have done distance racing in New Zealand in recent years. It was awesome to see multiple K4s racing off the start line, wash riding and negotiating buoy turns. The paddlers involved were buzzing after the race and keen to see more of it moving forward.
The team boats (K2 and K4) was great racing with divisions determined based on the average of the crew, meaning teams can be made up of all ages and genders.
Event organiser Mark Watson hopes more events will be set up and run under a divisional system, as this event showed that the racing was competitive and all paddlers were able to enjoy some close competition and gain valuable racing experience.
Canoe Racing NZ’s Participation and Engagement lead Danika Mowlem echoes his sentiments.
“It was great to see clubs coming together to run a regional marathon event and paddlers supporting and appreciating the event. Marathon racing is a great way to bring paddlers of all craft and disciplines together, as it provides an interesting challenge, great training and monitoring opportunities regardless of your paddling goals, as well as fun and social events. The passion and enthusiasm of the organisers and paddlers really shone through and we look forward to seeing and supporting more events like this.”
Marathon racing is as an exciting kayaking discipline that involves endurance and fitness and well as strategy and tactics. It often includes portages where paddlers run a short distance carrying their craft.
Last week entries opened to the 2026 NZ and Oceania Canoe Marathon Championships to be held in Motueka over Labour Weekend (25/26 October). This event aims to attract both the best marathon paddlers in Oceania as well as kayaking enthusiasts keen for a challenge.
The first Watersports Marathon Challenge certainly ignited a spark in marathon racing for its participants and supporters, and the host clubs are energised to see the event grow and develop in future years.
Results – https://www.webscorer.com/crnz
Check out Event photos on the Hawkes Bay Kayak Club’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/hawkesbaykayakracingclub
Thank you to the event organisers and volunteers who ran a seamless and enjoyable event. Congratulations to all paddlers on their efforts over the weekend and thanks to their support crews for their dedication and encouragement at the event.
