Sensational fourth place result for James Russell (Chelmsford) at the Marathon World Championships today.
Russell proved his international marathon prowess, battling it out in extremely choppy conditions for the senior men’s K1 long course.
Straight to the font of the lead group for Russell after a powerful start. The harsh waves claimed a number of experienced athletes early into the race.
Nottingham paddler Finn Cadell joined James on the start line.
He put in a huge effort down the first stretch off the race to make up the ground lost after getting trapped behind the start gate buoy. He powered to get back into a great fighting position in the opening lap.
Pedersen of Denmark and Martin of Spain managed to make an early break opportunity in lap one after the turbulent start.
Going downstream in lap two, Russell went wide from the group towards the bank with Paufler in tow. The move boded well as they stayed out of the big waves in the centre of the river to reconnect with the chasing pack.
The Chelmsford athlete made short work of emptying his boat on the get out of portage one which allowed him to keep contact with the group.
He sat comfortably in a group of four with Ramalho, McGregor and Sanchez at the start of lap three.
Cadell also had to empty water from his boat on the first portage, but ran well and was in touch with the top ten position going into lap three.
Heartbreak for Cadell as he was awarded a 15 sec penalty for paddling left of the finish line markers during lap three. Unfortunate as this rule change was only made the morning of the race.
He took his penalty during his second portage alongside a number of other athletes who made the same mistake. He dropped to 19th position and had plenty of distance to make up around lap four.
Lap six saw Russell leading the chase group hunting down the lead two. He came into the third portage alongside Ramalho, but the Portugues athlete made a break for a medal position going into lap five.
Finn had a strong lap four to make up the distance from the penalty. He came into portage three alongside South Africa’s Birkett, who had sunk back in lap one.
Russell sat just inside a top five finish throughout the closing laps of the 29.8km race.
James kept enough in the tank for a phenomenal sprint finish to drop Sanchez and confirm fourth. He finished with a time of 2:07:50.
A dedicated performance from Cadell saw him finish 20th, clocking a time of 2:13:41.
Speaking after his race James said: “the conditions were definitely challenging, it was survival to the first portage where I could empty my boat properly. The wind only picked up as we got onto the race, so not much time to make changes to the boats.
“Being part of the chasing group, I made sure not to do more work than necessary. I tried to cover the moves at the portages as best I could and I felt strongest on the water. The heat was still a big concern, I made sure to take on plenty of fluid and electrolytes.
“I’m very happy with my 2024 season, I feel like I’ve made a step in the right direction with my training. I’m hoping I can carry the momentum forward to 2025.”
Stunning sixth for Joe Enoch (Nottingham) in the stacked junior men’s K1 long course race this afternoon.
Rapid off the line, Enoch claimed a strong position on the front side wash and stood his ground against the competitive movement within the lead group.
William Short (Elmbridge) joined Joe on the start line. He was just off the back of the lead group away from the line. Showing racing experience above his age, he went wide and pushed himself back up to make contact with the back of the lead group in the opening stages of lap one.
Will worked his way comfortably into the lead group of eight, whilst Joe dropped slightly off the pace towards the end of lap one.
It was trouble for Short on the first turn of lap two with the Danish athlete causing a hold up, resulting in the lead group thinning out.
Enoch and Short joined forces in the chase group to hunt down the leaders in the run up to the first portage.
Strong portages from both Brits saw them lead out into lap three. Enoch clocked the fastest lap time around lap three in 15:25.
Will came into his second portage just off the chase group.
Enoch tried to bridge the gap to the leaders throughout laps four and five alongside Fernandez of Argentina.
Short worked hard in a midfield chase group, making up strong ground in the closing laps.
A swift final portage for the Nottingham paddler saw him get out ahead of the Argentinian and Portuguese athletes. He stormed around the final small lap and pushed hard all the way to the line.
It was a tight sprint finish with Fernandez, Enoch looked as if he was going to come through in the final moments but just missed out on the top five spot by less than a second.
An outstanding race from the Nottingham junior to secure sixth with a time of 1:39:25.
Joe talked through how his race went, saying: “I had a good start, getting on to the lead side, but then I had a bad turn, going around on the outside and dropped from the group.
“I was part of a chase group of four, but me and the Argentinian broke away on the second portage, and in the sprint finish he just outsprinted me.”
It was 14th for William Short in a well navigated race. He completed the 22.6km course in a time of 1:42:50.
Will reflected on his race and said: “It was very hard, I had a disappointing start, worked very hard to catch up to the group. From there, the heat caught up with me and I found it surprising how hard it was to get a chance to drink enough.”
A tough senior women’s K1 long course for Melissa Johnson (Chelmsford) opened this morning’s racing.
The race was dominated by the high pace of Kiszli and Andersson from the start line.
She wasn’t quite able to make the lead group in the opening of lap one. She put in the work in the chase group to try to close the gap.
The Chelmsford paddler was back in action after coming seventh in her short course on Thursday.
The two Hungarian’s and Andersson broke away after the first portage and the field started to stretch out behind them.
Johnson maintained her position in the chase group, paddling with the likes of Spain’s Barrios.
She held a strong position in the midfield for the majority of the 26.2km race.
It was a solid 13th position for Johnson as she completed her race with a time of 2:05:30.
Racing gets underway at 8:00am BST with the junior men’s K2.
Make sure to follow the Marathon Racing Committee social media pages for updates on all races over the next three days.