Canoeists paddle to victory
Buttrick was the winning Great Grand master, oldest category in the race at over 65 years
The Gauteng Marathon Championships canoe race took place at Homestead Dam in Benoni on Saturday and Sunday.
Hosted by Ekurhuleni Kayak Canoe Club, the event provided the trials for selection of the Gauteng team for the SA Marathon Championships, a national inter-provincial event which will take place at the same venue on the weekend of June 7 and 8.
Saturday saw the K1 paddlers pit their strength, fitness and endurance against each other in single canoes, which also included the guppy paddlers between six and 12 years of age, while Sunday was the doubles championships (K2).
Vince Buttrick of Kempton Park competed in the Great Grand Master age category. He was one of the top finishers in both the K1 and K2 disciplines.
He is in peak condition as he trains for the SA event, as well as the World Marathons. He also plans to participate in the four-day 240km Berg River race in the Western Cape in July.
Buttrick was the winning great grand master, the oldest category in the race at over 65 years, finishing the 22km single race in one hour 41 minutes.
On Sunday in the K2 discipline he partnered with Rodney Carpenter from Benoni to win the grand master age category (60 years) as well.
Mike Howard, a semi-retired farmer who lives on a plot in the Kempton Park area, also traditionally participates in all the long tough marathon races and finished the race in two hours three minutes in a single canoe.
He doubled up with John Rowan from Bedfordview to race the doubles event on Sunday, finishing as the winning great grand master age category (over 65).
