The MyLife Dusi river race moved to March
The MyLife Dusi Marathon Marathon Marathon will officially take place this year from March 18 to 20.
The Johannesburg Canoe Club based at Wemmerpan hosted its 2021 JCC Two-Day Klip River Race on February 27 and 28.
A member of the Ekurhuleni Kayak Club based at Homestead Dam, Franz Lottering, finished the race in five hours 11 minutes as the first Sub Grand Master paddler.
The first and top finisher was Sowetan Siseko Ntondini holding on to his seeding as top Gauteng paddler, and the first lady finisher was Soweto-based junior u-18 Tinyiko Mahwayi.
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The race began in the Midvaal area from above Daleside, through Henley on Klip, to finish in Meyerton.
Two days of 33km each, including a few portages, which provided the opportunity for paddlers to use the race for qualifying points for A-Grade river status, as well as seeding for start batching at the upcoming Dusi Marathon, which will take place from March 18 to 20.
With hail and rainstorms in the Alberton and Henley area on February 26, the river was in full flood, with participants paddling over low-level bridges.
“While some of the rapids flattened out with no rocks insight and easier to manoeuvre than usual, others were very challenging with powerful waves tossing the boats up in the air, which resulted in a few broken boats,” explained Jennie Dallas, Gauteng Canoe Union PRO.
“A very challenging, exciting river race, perhaps on par with what can be expected from a full Dusi Marathon, since Inanda Dam is full.”
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The MyLife Dusi Marathon was delayed by a month due to Covid-19 restrictions.
The Dusi Marathon is a three-day endurance event involving paddling and carrying the boat while running up The Valley of a 1000 Hills through the winding valleys of KwaZulu-Natal.
This river race on the Umsindisi was first run by a group of ex-army men in the ’60s led by Ian Player (Gary Player’s brother) and a group of comrades and has been hosted annually since.
The Dusi Marathon was founded in 1951 and covers roughly 120km between the cities of Pietermaritzburg and Durban.
It is the biggest canoeing event on the African continent, and one of the world’s most popular river marathons, attracting between 900 and 1 600 paddlers each year.
The local Heineken factory generously donated cases of zero per cent alcohol and some promotional corporate gifts as prizes.
