BELLOORD Jeep Two-Day Klip river race provided excellent training for the Gauteng Dusi paddlers, with only two weeks left before they start converging on Pietermaritzburg for the world’s toughest endurance race, as well as seeding for the start batches!
Countdown to the Dusi: The club is ready for the world’s toughest endurance event, which takes place February 13, 14 and 15.
While Dusi is a three-day and 120km-event, the Two-Day Klip race took place over two days, January 25 and 26, covering distance on the river of 34kms per day from Buksies Resort near the Lido hotel in the South, finishing eventually near the confluence of the Vaal River, in Three Rivers, and also covered approximately 10km of portaging, where paddlers had to climb out of the river with high banks and haul their boats out, running with them for distances of up to 5km at various stages, before being able to put back into the river to continue the race, in true Dusi tradition.
Belloord sponsored superb prize money, while the Jeep vehicles and crews were all over the river and portages, assisting with refreshments, transporting broken boats, directing runners on the routes and supporting the Dusi trainees.
Roland Smith, born and bred in the Southern areas of Johannesburg, partnered with Germiston’s Thomas Ngidi, originally from the Dusi valley, to jostle for the first place finish position during the weekend’s tough grueling Dusi training race, finishing in second place in 4:57 minutes, only 30 seconds behind the leaders.
