Maiden Dusi title for O’Donoghue

LAURA O’Donoghue broke her Marathon duck as she claimed an emphatic win in the elite women’s race where she dominated from start to finish and finished ahead of U18 Cana Peek and Mt Edgecombe Jenna Ward.

Having built up a healthy 30 minute lead going into the final day it was a matter of maintenance and consistency for O’Donoghue through the final day and that was what she produced despite feeling flat throughout the final stage of the three-day epic.

“I’m proud of my result. I really have trained hard over the past few months, I wanted to do well and make this race count.

“The legs were really tired this morning and I think I also got a bit complacent towards the end and made a few mistakes, which was a bit disappointing, but it doesn’t really matter in the end, I’m here now and I’m really happy,” she said.

The mother of two tasted victory for the first time on Saturday but was not tempted into returning to defend or even compete for her crown and with her children growing up the amount of time she has spent away from them has been hard.

“This is the proudest moment of my career. It has been a whole year of build-up, a lot of sacrifice for the whole family and Natal Canoe Club have really helped me achieve my dreams and I’m really excited to have finally done it,” she added. A breath of fresh air in the women’s race in 2015 was Cana Peek.

The Epworth school girl went into the race with a relaxed mindset and managed to surprise herself with her impressive second place finish ahead of a charging Mt Edgecombe resident Jenna Ward.

Ward closed the gap on Peek following the Burma Road portage and at the Silver Pipe Line Ward was only seconds in arrears however the plucky Peek managed to hold off the more fancied paddler on the flat water into the finish at Blue Lagoon.

Results: Women
1. Laura O’Donoghue 2:50.46 9:40.21
2. Cana Peek (U18) 2:49.11 10:10.48
3. Jenna Ward (U23) 2:49.09 10:15.02
4. Jordan Peek (U23) 2:52.27 10:21.04