The Ekurhuleni Kayak Club based at Homestead Dam in Benoni hosted the Gauteng Canoe Union Marathon Championships recently.
The K1 (single discipline) raced on the Saturday and this included juniors from the schools league aged from u-8 to 18 years old, as well as members of the senior and masters sections.
The misty frosty morning of the Saturday changed to a wonderfully sunny warm Highveld winter’s day on the Sunday for the K2 (doubles) event.
The championships serve as trials for the team selection for Gauteng to represent the province at the South African Marathon Championships.
The SA Marathon Championships are due to take place from June 15 to 17 in St Francis Bay.
Here, the team for South Africa is selected to represent the country at the World Marathon Championships in Portugal later this year.
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Helen Jansen van Vuuren, a member of the Germiston-based Victoria Lake Canoe Club and who attends Afrikaanse Hoërskool Germiston, was the first u-14 girl to finish her 13.9km race.
The race included portages where she had to take the boat out of the water and run a short distance in accordance with the International Canoe Federation marathon expectations.
She finished in one hour and 24 minutes.
On day two, Jansen van Vuuren doubled up with Sisanda Mthabela from Florida Lake and they were both crowned the u-14 K2 champions.
The youngster is thrilled to be heading to St Francis Bay to race in both the K1 and K2 events.
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