THERE was plenty of drama at the three-day 2019 FNB Dusi canoe marathon which finished at Blue Lagoon in Durban on Saturday.
In the women’s race, a tight end sprint saw Christie Mackenzie win her first Dusi crown from a valiant Tamika Haw.
The race was always going to be a tight tussle with neither Mackenzie nor Haw giving an inch.
The pair continued to match each other stroke for stroke right to the line.
There was another end sprint in the ladies race to decide third and fourth places.
Under 18 paddler Amy Peckett proved she is a force to be reckoned with when she managed to catch Jenna Ward and narrowly beat the marathon world championship medallist.
In the men’s race Andy Birkett fought illness to claim his ninth Dusi title, beating Sbonelo Khwela by two minutes.
Khwela was the overnight leader after day one, but was reeled in by Birkett who overtook him on the second day.
Personal battle
Olympic medallist Terence Parkin added the Dusi as part of his epic
1 120km journey from Johannesburg.
He included road cycling, mountain biking, eight Midmar Miles and a two-day run from Midmar Dam to Albert Falls Dam before starting the Dusi at Camps Drift.
The two-week adventure is an awareness and fund-raising project for the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation, and included visits to schools for deaf learners and special needs children along the way.
On the final leg back to Pietermaritzburg, Parkin twisted his left ankle while running with his partner Sipho Qoko.
He was whisked away for medical treatment and awoke on race day in agony and the ankle badly swollen, but the deaf Olympian was not going to be deterred.
He packed a set of crutches in the back of his double canoe and he tackled the Dusi with his paddling partner, Mark Mulder.
The pair finished in 16:46:21.51 and were placed 418th in the men’s race.
Overall results
Men – 1 Andy Birkett (8:09:48); 2 Sbonelo Khwela (8:11:55); 3 Thulani Mbanjwa (8:29:07)
Women – 1 Christie Mackenzie (10:00:11); 2 Tamika Haw (10:00 12); 3 Amy Peckett (10:28:07)
