Mruzek and Odvarko in K2 and Tomas Slovak in K1, winners of the Cesky Krumlov River Marathon

This last weekend, with a double session on Friday and Saturday, the Cesky Krumlov River Marathon was held in the Czech Republic, race included into the ICF Marathon Classic Series 2013. While the marathon was held on Saturday over a distance of 36 kilometers , on Friday there was a Sprint competition as an appetizer on the stretch of river that runs through the center of the city, just 250 meters long but with a weir shot included. The winners in this discipline were Richard Hala and Jonatan Sramek in K2 and Tomas Slovak in K1, all of them just arrived from paddling the Fish at South Africa.

Mruzek and Odvarko leading the marathon race. Pic: Jan Homolka

On Saturday, almost three hundred boats gathered on the water of Cesky Krumlov river to face the descent all the way down to the town of the same name. Many contestants, as usual, made it on RR kayaks, but every year there are more who are encouraged to do so on the increasingly popular tables SUP (Stand Up Paddle) as well as in large canoes and all kind of plastics, including canoes with a crew of nine members. Noteworthy is the participation and festive atmosphere at these Central European competitions , as with the French Ardèche or the Irish Liffey, without going any further. One aspect, leisure and tourism, that in Spain is trying to be exploited by the Miño and Cinca Descents, among others, although it is true that the basis of target audience is not comparable.

Tomas Slovak and Manuela Stöberl are the new ICF Classic Marathon World Series 2012 winners

Tomas Slovak winning the Adige Marathon, in Italy

The ICF Marathon Classic World Series are completed this year with the dispute in a tight October of Cesky Krumlov (CZE) and Adige Marathon (ITA), whose winners have become the winners of the series, replacing Spaniard Kiko Vega and South African Hilary Pitchford, 2011 title holders.  Slovakian Tomas Slovak and German Manuela Stöberl, both specialists in white water descent, got enough points to be the new champions in 2012. Anyway, Tomas Slovak got two victories on a surfski from his sponsor Vajda. With the ICF Marathon Series still in their childhood, they may need some review of the criteria. In South Africa, many years ago, surfskis were banned at river descents, since being longer and watertight, buoyancy in waves and the speed they were getting was an unfairness against the traditional K1. 
The series started in early April with the Devizes to Westminster, terrific English race of 125 miles (about 180 km.) and 77 portages, raced in a single day by K2s, while K1s do it in four stages.

Manuel Busto, winner at the Waterland Marathon

Last weekend was held at Amsterdam, organised by the KV Viking Amsterdam (club of the great Edwin de Nijs), the Waterland Marathon, competition included in the ICF World Classic Marathon Series. In a chilly but sunny day, the channels around the dutch city were the scene for a high quality race, where some of the greatests marathon paddlers came to fight for one of the first victories of the season.

© Nico Jankowski

From the start itself, the dutch Robin Koenders took the lead and set the pace, having on the wash a bunch of paddlers including three world champions, like they are Manuel Busto, Istvan Salga and Jorge Alonso, not to mention the always strong René Olsen. Finally Koenders felt the pressure that he was putting to himself with his pace and left the lead, where the two Spaniards managed to make a smaller group by tightening the rope. Just five members kept on the fight, including Busto, Alonso, Salga and the Danish Olsen and Nicolai Blach. These last two paddlers fell off the group and were paddling behind for a few kilometres, but finally René Olsen managed to come back while Blach had to give up and faced a solo paddle to the finish line.