Jenna Ward jets in to defend Drak title

ENTRIES for the 2019 edition of the N3TC Drak Challenge canoe marathon in the Southern Drakensberg on 19 and 20 January have started to arrive with defending women’s champ Jenna Ward confirming she will race back from the northern hemisphere to try and retain her title.

Ward will return from holidaying in Thailand the week of the race and will be hoping to use a combination of her knowledge of the river and her solid base from a successful 2018 to stand her in good stead.

“I really love the Drak and love the fact that you have no idea what the conditions are going to be like until to you get there on race day. I have had a solid 2018, and the holiday is going to be more like a training camp than a holiday, so I should get back in pretty good shape,” said Jenna, who won last year’s race in an exciting tussle with Robyn Owen on a testing low river.

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Her first Drak was somewhat accidental as she was thrown into a kayak as a 14 year-old schoolgirl. “I think I swam six times on the first day! I like to tell every novice who is scared of rivers that we were all there at some stage and you have to start somewhere. We were newbies once,” she said.

The 2019 N3TC Drak Challenge, in partnership with FNB, starts at Castleburn on Saturday, 19 January with a 26km stage to Sinister Pool, just above the Swartberg Road bridge. The second stage on Sunday, 20 January is 36km long, finishing at Early Mist Farm close to Coleford resort.

Visit: www.drak.co.za.

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