| First ever SUP journey to link Bath and London |
| Tuesday, 08 June 2010 13:19 |
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British Adventurers Dave Cornthwaite and Sarah Outen have successfully completed their Blue Bath2London challenge, becoming the first to Stand Up Paddle (SUP) between Bath and London. They completed their journey across England arriving at Tower Bridge today, 8th June, to coincide with World Oceans Day. The duo who between them have set world records by rowing or paddling across oceans and continents, paired up for the week-long endurance challenge, Stand Up Paddling the 150 mile long route navigating 114 locks on the way. Cornthwaite, who once skateboarded across Australia and also paddled the length of The Murray River, Australia’s longest river, and Outen, who rowed solo across the Indian Ocean last year, measured their trip in Blue Miles, which are miles travelled on or beside the water. The dynamic duo are both Ambassadors of The Blue Mile - Race for the Environment, the UK’s newest mass-participation event which encourages participants to swim, paddle or walk for our seas. They were planning for 100’s of paddlers to join them for sections of the trip aiming to amass a total of 1000 Blue Miles before they reached their finish line at Tower Bridge. Speaking from London at the end of the challenge, Cornthwaite said “Between us, Sarah and I have crossed oceans and travelled along some of the world’s longest rivers, so to experience a Blue environment much closer to home and to share that with so many other paddlers, cyclists and walkers has been a privilege. Wherever we are our seas, lakes and rivers are all interconnected, and after 150 miles to arrive at Tower Bridge on World Ocean’s Day is the icing on the cake.” Outen added “My favourite bits of the planet are the blue bits – the oceans, the rivers, the lakes – so it is great to be ending our journey on World Ocean’s day. We are a maritime nation with thousands of miles of coastline here and overseas territories, so for us to land in London today is a little reminder to Westminster that we need to protect the wonderful wildlife and qualities of our shores and seas right around the world. Water and life are so intrinsically connected that now, more than ever, we need to protect it and all the services and habitat it provides and the wildlife living there. Our journey has shown how important water is to people – for food, for transport, for enjoyment, for fitness, for homes – it has been wonderful to see this and to be able to encourage more folks out onto the water with us to clock up some blue miles. “
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