Training is lengthy - and frequently grim. You have to train throughout winter in wet suits and with a torch attached to your head. And then there's the art of getting in and out of the kayak. If you’ve not practiced this skill enough by the time you start the DW, then you’ll have 77 opportunities to do so. At various sections along the course, such as locks or if the canal is frozen over (as was the case in the year I did it), portage comes into play and you have to carry the boat on land until you’re safely allowed to get back in the river. This is, I promise, harder than it sounds, especially when you’ve already been paddling for 16 hours or so and Westminster seems a very long way ahead.