Record numbers contest Mini Marathon

In sunshine and optimal tide and wind conditions, vessels ranging from dragon boats to stand-up paddleboarders set off in two starts for the 26km paddle down the Wilson, Maria and Hastings rivers.

One hour and 45 minutes later, the Shoalhaven Rowing Club’s men’s double skull duo of Chris Turner and Dean Watts claimed overall honours from Port Macquarie’s Gary Henderson in 1:51.13.

Third place went to Nepean Rowing Club’s men’s quad – James Robertson, Keith McCulloch, Steve Parker and Peter Hood, who registered 1:52.50.

Kevin Newell (1:53:57), Luke Morris and Tony Hallinan (1:54:03) rounded out the top five.

Spectators were once again entertained at the finish line by the Blue Note Ensemble Jazz Band.

Overall results:

Shoalhaven Rowing Club (Chris Turner, Dean Watts) 1:45:00 1; Gary Henderson 1:51:13 2; Nepean Rowing Club (James Robertson, Keith McCulloch, Steve Parker, Peter Hood) 1:52:50 3; Kevin Newell 1:53:57 4; Luke Morris 1:54:03 5; Tony Hallinan 1:54:03 5; David Halverson 1:58:56 6; Newcastle/Lake Macquarie Outrigger Canoe (Nathan Evans, Luke Evans) 1:58:58 7; NLMOCC 1:59:36 8; Graham Dork 2:05:41 9; Shoalhaven Rowing Club (Simone Jones, Mary Ambrose) 2:08:06 10; Just Paddlers (Nathan Brown, John McIntosh) 2:08:11 11; Lakes 2:10:39 12; Central Coast Rowing Club (Andrew McMurray, Gavin Shelley, Kim Gianne, Noel Riley (cox), Todd Kitson) 2:10:44 13; Craig Graham 2:11:28 14; Nepean Rowing Club (Libby Robertson, Tina de Vries) 2:11:29 15; (Steve Hutchings, Pat Borger, Rod Osborn) 2:13:08 16; NLMOCC 2:13:09 17; (Marty Pleninger, Trent Seale) 2:14:25 18; Shaun Dursbridge 2:14:42 19; Gilbert Olzomer 2:15:00 20; (Bruce Snelling, Terry Hanlon) 2:15:15 21; Paula Stone 2:15:22 22; Central Coast Rowing Club (Jodie Mackay, Lyn Cooper) 2:15:50 23; Joseph Dalgleish 2:16:42 24; Coffs Coast Dragon Boat Club 2:17:33 25; Rodney Thompson 2:17.37 26; Lauren Grant 2:17:42 27; Manning River Dragon Boats (Alison Byram, Yvonne Towers, Jennifer Schubert, Janet Muir, Sue Cook, Anne Williams, Sue Calvin, Brenda Thomson, Alan Pursch, Helen Pursch, Debra Ashwell, Sandra Freeman, Gaye McDonald, Trish Paff, Sally Crawford, Marilyn Ayoub, Garry Masters, Ruth Coleman, Kerrie Curtis, Ted Towers) 2:18:14 28; E. van Reece 2:20:00 29; Central Coast Rowing Club (Greg Smith, Trudi Nugent) 02:20:06 30; Murray Thompson 2:21:15 31; Peter Smith 2:21:20 32; n/a 2:21:31 33; (Tony Lower, Andrew Wilson) 2:21:40 34; Doug Batt 2:22:14 35; Ray Beeton 2:22:32 36; Kevin Owens 2:22:37 37; David Thompson 2:22:53 38; NLMOCC 2:25:12 39; Flamin Dragons (David Pees, Kerrie Barry, Shirley Charnock, Marion McKay, Susan Popowski, Anne-Marie Cecil, Tony Bourke, Shirley Thring, Marree Sandy, Julie Best, Leonie Murphy, Robyn Munson, Lynda Leslie, Sue Cornwell, Kris Tyson, Chris Parkin, Annie Walsh, Sandra Eadie, Sandy Woolhouse) 2:26:43 40; (Deb Gardner, Aimee Gardner) 2:26:52 41; (Jen Law, Bill Lancashire) 2:33:30 42; Rob Oakeshott 2:35:26 43; (John Colquhoun, Pat Colquhoun) 2:35:31 44; Robert McGregor 2:35:37 45; Mike Birrell 2:39:31 46; Melinda Rogan 2:39:58 47; (Geoff Russell, Angela Russell) 2:41:48 48; Central Coast Rowing Club (Karen Morris, Julie Tyson, Dianne Miller, Hugh Kitson (cox), Dana Burnley) 2:42:44 49; Central Coast Rowing Club (Carol Isaacs, Leone Norman) 2:44:51 50; (Dawn Davies, Jon McConaghy) 2:45:43 51; Robyn Birrell 2:48:12 52; Damien McAnarney 2:51:29 53; Michelle Lister 2:53:05 54; (Steve Cutmore, Peter Merhulik) 2:54:45 55; Newcastle Rowing Club (Alecia Greig, Frances O'Keefe, Carol Parker, Sally Watson) 2:58:07 56; Matt Worley 3:01:28 57; Loris Hendy 3:01:31 58; (Cathy Barton, Debbie Linton) 3:03:27 59; Wayne Wilmen 3:08:14 60; Andrew Piers 3:13:22 61; Rob Witt 3:14:09 62; John Sentence 3:14:12 63; Jim Wallace 3:18:07 64; Danny Blain 3:18:19 65; (Bob Smith, Anne Smith) 3:20:01 66; Lyn Sentence 3:21:01 67; Robert Simpson 3:23:59 68; (Tony Meath, Rhiannon Meath) 3:24:15 69; Will Hagon 3:26:36 70; (Chris Browning, David Reid) 3:46:08 71; (Jason Sharpe, James Bushby) 72; (Max Hugen, Kalya Hugen) 3:48:38 73; Todd Hamilton 3:50:19 74; (Roy Brassington, Jane Raiwe) 75, (Jared McGowen, Daniel Wright) 4:23:43 76