Locals train for toughest race

The 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, the Dusi.

The Dusi takes place from 13 to 15 February.

While the Dusi is a three-day and 120km event, the Klip River race took place over two days, covering a distance of 34km per day on the river from Buksies Resort near the Lido Hotel, eventually finishing near the confluence of the Vaal River, in Three Rivers. It 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 it back into the river to continue the race, in true Dusi tradition.

Belloord, a West Rand-based labour consultancy sponsored superb prize money while 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.

Daryn Koertzen and Gareth Gee, both residents of Krugersdorp, teamed up to take on the K2 challenge of the Belloord Jeep Klip River race, finishing in five hours and 40 minutes as the 15th double.

The two are childhood friends, having grown up in Ladysmith and always have enjoyed playing in the wild white waters; including extreme kayaking and their partnership seems to have been very successful.

Daryn runs a manufacturing industrial company in Krugersdorp, while Gareth has a plumbing business on the West Rand.