Paddlers take to canoeing marathon in the Vaal Dam
The first and original canoe club in Gauteng, Johannesburg Canoe Club, hosted the two-day Vaal Marathon on June 30 and July 1, for the 69th running of the Vaal Marathon.
Due to the recent drought and being winter where water conservation is necessary, no water release was provided, and paddlers found themselves stuck on flat rocks from time to time, however, there were still a few tricky rapids and huge waves in some sections adding to the excitement of the Vaal River Marathon.
The first race to set the two-day marathon in motion was from the dam wall, and finished 36km later in Three Rivers, on the Klip River.
On day two, the race started below the Barrage, at Cote de Val, and finished at Smilin Thru just before Parys, a distance of 34km.
Also read: Springsite Tommy Booth finishes in top 100 at Dusi
The river was low, shallow, sluggish and resistant so it was very hard work and tiring, which is excellent for training and improving stamina and endurance for the long-distance races coming up on the canoeing calendar.
The river races start in April and beginners learn canoeing through the winter months when the water is slow and manageable and from October through to March, the rains make the rivers pump so everybody best knows what they doing to enjoy the mighty wave trains and huge rapids.
Tommy Booth from Springs, a member of the ERK Kayak Club based at Homestead Dam in Benoni, partnered with Pieter Engelbrecht to take on the endurance challenge of the sluggish Vaal River, the only river that is said to flow uphill.
Also read: Springsite Tommy Booth is ready for the Dusi
They finished the 70km event in 6 hours 52 minutes as the First Sub Veteran age category finishers and as second Double (K2) overall.
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