London Kayakathon Operations ( Blog assignment 3)

2010 saw the inaugural London Kayakathon take place, a 26.2 mile sea kayaking event on the river Thames on the same day as the London marathon. The second event will take place on 17 April 2011 and see’s the event doubling the number of participants from 50 to 100 and aims to raise £20’000 for a variety of charities as well as act as a frame work for future Kayakathons.

The Thames is a heavily controlled stretch of water.  The harbour Master, Port of London Authority, River police, RNLI, Launching sites and BCU all need to be satisfied that the event is well organised and safe. This means that in order to get approval to hold the event a comprehensive risk assessment is essential. For the 2011 event, the original risk assessment has had to be enhanced using feedback from the leaders and officials involved in the 2010 event. 

Another extremely important element pertaining to the smooth running and safety of the event is the Rules and Regulations document. All participants are required to read and adhere to this document and hand in a signed consent form at registration on the day of the event before a detailed briefing is given regarding the Kayakathon.

The meeting place for the Kayakaton is Shadwell Basin Outdoor Activity Centre. This venue is used as it has the facilities to accommodate the participants including toilet and wash facilities, electricity and catering facilities. Parking has been arranged for up to 10 transit vans with trailers within the centre’s grounds and there is ample street parking around the venue. There are storage facilities for the participant’s kayaks and equipment as well as space for people coming from outside London to camp over on the night before the event. This will also be the venue for a social get together and barbeque for the participants the night before the Kayakathon. A portion of the administration fee will cover the cost of the food and beverages and people staying the night are asked to leave a donation for the centre.

Registration for the event opens at 08h30 on the morning of 17 April 2011 and will consist of two manned tables in order to register the 100 participants before the event briefing at 10h00. The day follows a strict plan to ensure the participants are ready to start underneath Tower Bridge at 11h30. This has been arranged with the BBC in order to receive media coverage in the hope that the publicity may help in the expansion of the event in future years. Communication plays an important role in keeping the participants safe on the water and in their groups, therefore all of the marshals will be using VHF radios to keep in contact with the safety boats and megaphones to communicate with the participants. The Marshals will be wearing Blue bibs in order to make them distinguishable from the other participants who will be wearing yellow with their race numbers pinned high up on their bibs.