Wagga Bidgee Canoe Club

13/06/2026

Wagga Bidgee Marathon June 2026 - The River

13/06/2026

Wagga Bidgee Marathon June 2026 - The Paddlers

13/06/2026

Wagga Bidgee Marathon June 2026 - Paddling

13/06/2026

Wagga Bidgee Marathon June 2026 - The Starts

13/06/2026

13/06/2026

Wagga Bidgee Marathon June 2026 - Setup and Briefing

12/06/2026

Quick reminder for those travelling to Wagga Wagga for tomorrow’s marathon race. When you arrive you need to go to Wiaradjujri Reserve….do not go to Wagga Beach!

When you get to the end of the main street (Fitzmaurice Street), you will need to turn left at the t-intersection, and then almost immediately, do a right turn onto Narrung Street. Follow this down to the entry to Wiradjuri Reserve.

Safe travels and see you tomorrow!! WBCC

24/05/2026

As promised, here's some photos of the course for the race on 13th June. The first 12 were taken today to give everyone a good idea of the conditions, the remainder we from a couple of weeks back taken at similar levels form the boat. Enjoy!

One question we keep hearing pop up is: Is it the Oura race? Why isn't it from Oura? Or similar....

Short answer: We can't! No way, not possible.

Long answer:

We are part of the MIA (Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area). If you look at the river heights around mid-feb, you will see the taps get turned off. Once the water users in the MIA no longer need the water, the taps at the dams get turned off severely. The only way we get additional water over the winter period is for flood mitigation (letting it go before we have too much of the stuff), environmental flows, or rain in the catchment that can't be caught and stored by the dams.

Now you know why Wagga always asks for an early Feb race!

Without decent water, there are simply too many gravel races, snags and sand bars to enable a race from Oura. There are many new and potentially dangerous hazards at such low water levels.

There's a slight chance you could get from Braehour to Wagga in winter water levels, but it's not going to be pretty, and damage to boats, rudders and paddles would be a major concern. Join us for the Sunday 14th Eunony to Wagga Beach social paddle to get a feel for this. As it's not a race and we'll guide you through, it's not going to be as bad as if we let 50-100 paddlers loose from Oura!!

Now, even if we did magic up some water for the June race, it's still not viable. The water is cold and the days are cold. This isn't a problem for people racing, it's a problem for people swimming or having some sort of difficulty. With a lap race, we can supervise the area and attend to this in good time. Over a 26km course it would be impossible. You can't sit in the shade or in the river to warm up like you might do to cool down on a hot day.

That's why we have chosen a patch of water about 2.5 km downstream of Wagga Beach. We'll put in at Wiradjuri Reserve and race a 2.5 km stretch of beautiful water down to the Gobba Bridge.

One final thing to note: we love running the Bidgee Bash (Oura to Wagga) race, just as much as everyone loves to race it. It will be back as our standard format next year if Wagga secures a round in the PaddleNSW - Marathon series for 2027.

24/05/2026

IMPORTANT UPDATE!!!!!!

Hi folks, a couple of important updates/corrections for the race on the 13th of June. It is a lap race and it will be staring at Wiradjuri Reserve, as short drive from Wagga Wagga's CBD. Below is a short description of the course by the people who are currently paddling and setting the course for the race:

Bidgee Bash June 2026 Course Description

The section of the Murrumbidgee river that we are running the Wagga PNSW Marathon Round from this year, will be new to many paddlers. It is a beautiful section of water to paddle when river levels low in the middle of winter due to below average rainfall and low dam levels (Burrinjuck and Blowering). The 2.5km section of river downstream of the Wagga Beach, between the Wiradjuri Reserve Boat Ramp and the Gobbogombalin (Gobba) Bridge is a real treat to paddle at lower water levels. There is minimal current, great water, some lovely deeper sections, good river width and a couple of fun gravel races which have several lines to pick from. By your second or third lap, you will have worked out the best lines and the spots to make your move!

Like all races, we'll book the pub for a post-race catch up and we'll also be getting the trailer out for those that are adventurous enough to join us for a Eunony Bridge to Wagga Beach paddle on the Sunday morning. It's a 40-50 minute paddle and we're looking at 8 or 9am at Wagga beach to load the trailer - details to be advised.

There will be another post showing the features of the course, photos taken recently, and we'll discuss why we have chosen this and why we can't do Oura or similar at this time of year. Look out for that one. 😁