AquaPaddle Leighton Buzzard 16th March 2025

What a great day, it started with a temperature of -5 but as the sun came out, and 2 dropped out it warmed up considerably.

We went from 11 paddlers signed up to 9 overnight with 5 marshals, we all scraped the ice of the vehicles and arrived in plenty of time.

Zoe and I made a stop at the turn around point to position the flag and arrived at the start at exactly 0830.

It was great to see the regular paddlers and even better to meet some new ones. Not only have I been blessed with the weather on my events, but I also feel blessed and privileged to have been overseeing many, many great people over this last year, since I have been running AP’s.

I have met and paddled with (and behind, cos I cant catch them) so many people who I would now call friends, and that’s the whole essence of AquaPaddles, that’s why I do these events, not forgetting my team of marshals, that are never late (m and m) mentioning no names..

Today was a great day and to be honest I wasn’t really feeling it at 0700 this morning but as the day went on it got so much better, that shows how invigorating an AP can be, even for a Marshal, we all put a lot of time and effort into these events, but are rewarded massively by the participants enjoyment.

It felt great to be back in my boat, and chatting to a new guy as we paddled and in no rush, and even knowing Tony and Graham were at the right place going the right way was a bonus, 😉

We had a mixed craft fleet, with Kayaks, Sups and hardboards, and a variety of paddling ability’s, but no one got wet, no one swam, and I had an easy day.

We had some great 5K times and some neck and neck finishes but it was a great effort put in by all.

Thankyou to A1 SUP and The Grove Lock Pub for accommodating us.

Some pics from today below.

Write up by Dave H

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