Kentish Express Ashford & District
Fundraisers smash trio of dragon-boat race records
The stars were out for Sunday’s triple record-breaking KM Dragon Boat Race, which pulled in a staggering £100,000 for good causes.
Forty-three teams – the biggest number to date – pitted their paddles to raise the bumper amount of cash for 25 charities, including this paper’s charity of the year, Guide Dogs, Abigail’s Footsteps, the British Legion, Hi Kent, Pembroke House, Share A Star, Breast Cancer Kent, Prostate Cancer Support, SSAFA, the Children’s Trust, Medway Youth Trust, Martha Trust, Age UK Thanet, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Demelza, Help for Heroes, Kent Search and Rescue, Clic Sargent, SNAAP and Joshua Network Trust.
Spectators included Birds of a Feather actress Linda Robson, who supported the Stacey Mowle Appeal, and Rachael Burford of the World Cup winning England women’s rugby team, who was cheering on the Oliver Fisher Special Care Baby Trust teams.
Race records were smashed, with Blatch and Green storming to the top spot for the fourth year in a row. The team also achieved their fastest time ever of 48.81 seconds while raising funds for Cancer Research UK.
Second place went to Abigail’s Cousins, with a time of 53.02 seconds. Team Sedley came third in 53.66 seconds, and fourth-place team Kent Search and Rescue completed the course in 55.57 seconds.
Robert Gurr of Kent Reliance congratulated the teams and presented the trophies and medals.
The annual event was staged at Mote Park, Maidstone and organised by the KM Group’s charity department.
Teams of 11 battled to complete the 250m course in the fastest time, with one crew member beating a drum to set the pace.
Simon Dolby, chief executive of the KM Charity Team, said: “The KM Dragon Boat Race gets bigger and better every year.
“Once again, we’ve smashed records for competitors and fundraising – and now for fastest ever race time too.”
For the full list of results, visit www.kmcharitychallenge.co.uk