Benonian takes home gold in virtual Berg River race

Participants could take part in a the gold, silver or bronze challenge

July 31, 2020

Jemma Buys 1 minute read

Wayne Taylor smiles at the end of his 240km / four-day Ultra Paddle Challenge, wich replaced the Berg River Canoe Race, that takes place annually in Western Cape. He is seen with Chris Rowe, another veteran long-distance racer from the area, before lockdown.

Rynfield resident Wayne Taylor, a river paddler with many years of experience on rivers such as Berg, did the four-day gold medal challenge at Homestead Dam, finishing on July 27.

The 2020 Berg River Ultra Marathon Canoe Race could not take place this July due to the lockdown regulations but in it’s place, the organisers created a chance for paddlers to get into the spirit of the Berg, set a paddling goal and contribute to Canoeing South Africa’s food relief programme for less privileged members.

Usually, the four-day, 240km race is through the Western Cape’s winter freezing winds, flooding water and torrential rain but this year the paddlers have taken on the challenge to train at local dams (with the weather playing along with freezing gale force winds anyway in the Cape).

The virtual race included a gold category, training 240km, which started on July 8 with set distances over four days, or alternatively participants could take on the silver challenge of 240km during the period of July 8 to 31, or the bronze challenge, which was 50km over the same period.

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