help with the long distance racing committee too . “ I said , “ Yeah alright , what do you want me to do ?” and at age 25 / 26 that was the start of my administrative career .”
Alan was voted onto the committee in 1969 and became chairman in 1974 , a position he held for the next 28 years . Alan was one of the founding fathers , if you will , of marathon racing along with other passionate individuals who transformed the sport both in the UK and internationally .
“ It was a really interesting time , there was a new set of articles created for the agreement with the national associations . I wrote , or helped to write many of the articles that are current and are still in force now .
Domestically , the move from long distance to the more recognisable term marathon occurred in the early-mid 1970s .
“ I was on the committee when David Train came up with a brilliant idea of divisionalisation . Together we put the plan into place and over the years it expanded and developed into the format we have today .
In 1982 at the ICF Congress marathon racing became a subcommittee of the ICF sprint racing committee . Alan was involved in those negotiations , and the creation of rules along with John Dudderidge and Jorn Cronberg . It was their success and the quality of competition which led to a full committee being established in 1984 with Jorn at the helm . A position he held for the rest of his life until he passed away in September 2019 .
“ We had 34 years working together to establish the sport , the rules , the format and presentation ,” remarks Alan fondly . “ We created the World Championships and Grand Prix and in 1988 the first ever Marathon World Championships was held in Nottingham at Holme Pierrepont .
“ The contract between National Federations and the ICF for Marathon World Championships along with the specifications for the event were both documents that Jorn Cronberg and I created , which made sure that the event was run to ICF requirements . It wasn ’ t as it might sound as every federation organising the event for the first time thought that they knew how to do it better than we did . This sounds arrogant , but our specifications were based on our experience of the eradication of the mistakes made by previous organisers .”
Having led the organising committee for the inaugural World Championships in Nottingham , Alan went on to attend every world championships up until 2016 when he stepped away from his committee roles . “ I worked out that I attended 101 senior international events , all over the world .”
On being asked for his favourite ?
“ Oh there ’ s a question ”, he said before confirming that Copenhagen ’ s Lake Bagsvaerd would take the top spot . “ It played host to the second world championship in 1990 where the top two in the senior men ’ s event were separated by just nine inches , after a gruelling 42km race .”
Alan cites two events as career highlights in his 60 years in the sport . The 1996 World Championships in Vaxholm , Sweden is top of the list .
“ I was the chief official there , we had the biggest entries to date and it was an absolute spectacle . There were 52 K2 boats with the first turn only 600m from the start line so it was fantastic viewing and it was great to lead the event overall .”
The second was receiving a Recognition Award from British Canoeing in 2017 for his exceptional influence and dedication to the sport . “ All the years in the sport gave me the means to meet so many good people all round the world which really should have been thanks enough ,” he added .
“ I started the withdrawal process , some years ago , because I recognised that on the various committees that I was part of , I was occupying a space that I had occupied for a long time . There were probably people behind me with better ideas coming through , who are younger and I just felt it was wrong for them to wait for dead men ’ s shoes as it were .”
While Alan has stepped away from his various committee roles , his legacy for the sport lives on and while Covid has limited his water time , he does still enjoy a paddle . “ Once the weather starts to pick up again , I shall be heading out on the water again . At 75 it won ’ t quite be the same effort as my younger days but I will go out , not too far and just enjoy the magic of being on the water .
Paracanoeists Jeanette Chippington , Charlotte Henshaw and Laura Sugar were also recognised alongside Alan Laws in the Queen ' s New Year ' s honours list , for their services to Canoeing .
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Canoe Focus Early Spring 2022