Another exciting day on the water on Day 2 of ThruDark DW

Wow, what a second day here at the 2025 ThruDark Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Race!

We have had many exciting things happen today, including the start of the Senior Doubles who are still racing now. We will hopefully have more of an idea of the pecking order for that tomorrow, however today we have been kept entertained by the Stages Race.

The weather held out slightly better today with some rain this morning but sunshine to welcome the padders into Marlow. Some paddlers had an early start today as they left Northcroft Leisure Centre at around 6:30am, however our fastest Junior Doubles and Senior Singles didn’t leave until 8:30am to 10:00am, meaning they had a way to go to catch up to the rest of the crews. But they didn’t let this stop them as some brilliant times were recorded today.

Our Junior Doubles top three remained the same at the end of the second day, with Lovell and Cramer (123) recording a time of 10hr18 mins to get to Marlow.

Barrett and Brown (107) and Phippard and Francis (119) both recorded times within two minutes of each other, making for an exciting day tomorrow, as they race to Teddington.

In our single seniors, yet again, Durden (714) recorded a staggering time of just under 10 hours. However in our Junior Veteran category, Davies and Davies (51) also made a great time into Marlow, recording 12 hrs 30 mins, which I am sure they will want to keep up tomorrow.

As always all the support crews were brilliant, providing refreshments and comforting their crew when needed. I’m sure this will continue tomorrow, as we find out the senior doubles times, and as the stages race powers on through to Teddington, ready to prepare for one last push!

Written by Hannah Webb