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Starting in Lechlade, Gloucestershire, the team paddled through five counties,
navigated an impressive 46 locks and battled a troublesome tide before finally
crossing the 150-mile finish line under London’s Tower Bridge on 21st June. It
was an incredibly challenging journey for the kayakers, made even tougher by
the fact that it happened to be five of the hottest days of the year, but everyone
who set out on day one made it to the end and still managed to smile regardless
of the countless blisters and, not surprisingly, numerous aches and pains.
We caught up with Adam, event organiser and,
prior to the challenge, a complete kayaking
beginner, to find out what inspired him to
choose kayaking as a challenge and how himself
and his team found the experience…
How did you come up with the idea
for the kayaking challenge?
Everybody was different. I first mentioned the
idea to a couple of work colleagues, and without
thinking, they were onboard. It wasn’t long after
that, that the scale of the challenge dawned on
them I’m sure. Having followed my story, I think
others wanted to do something in memory of Finn
and raise money for a great cause. Regardless
of any hesitations, the group were “up for it” by
the time we were ready to set off in Lechlade
>>
On the 17th June, Adam Castleton and
five friends set off on a larger-than-life
journey down the River Thames with the
aim of kayaking 150 miles in just five
days to raise £10,000 for the British
Heart Foundation. The money raised will
help fund Paediatric Cardiac research, in
memory of Adam’s son Finn who was born
on 17th June 2015 with Hypoplastic Left
Heart Syndrome and sadly passed away
on 6th December 2015.
The entire group had no kayaking
experience, how did you persuade
them to get involved?
I live by the Thames in Oxfordshire and always
thought how nice it would be to get out onto the
water. I wanted to do some fundraising in memory
of my son, Finn, who sadly passed away in December
2015. So one day the idea came to me - “I wonder if I
could kayak the whole length of the Thames, it would
be beautiful”. After some Googling, I realised that
with some careful planning and solid practice it would
be a big challenge for novices, but totally achievable.
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