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Cathy Reid remembers the first Marsh Mash canoe races

'I can't believe it's been 40 years'
2019-12-08CathyReid
Cathy Reid, with the hand-made trophy she won in the first Marsh Mash, back in 1979. Miriam King/Bradford Today

Cathy Reid still has the trophy she won in the very first Marsh Mash Canoe Race, held back in 1979.

The hand-made trophy identifies her as the winner of the Ladies Doubles marathon canoe category.

Reid paddled the full route around the Holland Marsh with her sister Libby – just out of hospital, after a devastating accident in the fall of 1978 that put her in traction in the Newmarket hospital for three months.

They weren’t sure if Libby was up to the race, “but we did it,” said Reid, admitting that at times the paddling “felt endless.”

Reid has the trophy, the paddle that she used, but she doesn’t have the canoe, a 1901 Peterborough cedar strip canoe, that her mother got “second-hand for her sixteenth birthday.”

The canoe was sold years ago, but Reid was prepared to bring the paddle and award to this year’s annual Marsh Mash Canoe and Kayak races – as an inspiration, and a connection to the past.

Course conditions have changed over the past four decades. When Reid took the challenge, the weeds were so thick in some parts of the canal system that competitors had to “mash” them down to get through – hence the name of the marathon canoe race.

Due to water conditions, and then a multi-year program of canal reconstruction, the race routes were altered, and shortened; participants were asked to paddle laps, for the maximum 18 km and 24 km canoe and kayak races.

This year would have been the first time in over a decade that the entire Canal system has been free of obstructions. Organizers were considering reinstating the original route for the longest of the marathons: a full 26 to 27 km circuit, ringing the Holland Marsh polder.

That’s the route Reid paddled, to win her trophy.

Unfortunately, with the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 still spreading, and the number of COVID-19 cases on the rise, the decision has been made not to hold the 42nd annual Marsh Mash on May 9, as originally scheduled.

“I have cancelled the May 9th date, but hope to run the race at a later time this year,” said Iain Craig, organizer, when contacted. “So I guess we can say it is postponed for the time being.”

Craig noted that OMCKRA, the Ontario Marathon Canoe and Kayak Racing Association, has cancelled all May races. The Marsh Mash is an OMCKRA-sanctioned race.

He still has hopes of rescheduling later in the year – staging the start and finish at the usual location, the church at 5 Sideroad and Canal Road. The former Westside Community Church has changed hands, and is now Sovereign Grace Church, but Craig was hopeful that an agreement could be reached to rent the facility for the races later in the year.

Reid, who lives in Gilford but retains her connections to Bradford as a member of local garden clubs and the BWG Local History Association, was disappointed to hear of the postponement, but promised to come out – with her trophy – whenever racing takes place.

“I’ll be there, no problem,” she said. “I can’t believe it’s been 40 years.”


Miriam King

About the Author: Miriam King

Miriam King is a journalist and photographer with Bradford Today, covering news and events in Bradford West Gwillimbury and Innisfil.
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