Midrand canoeists ready for Dusi
MIDRAND - Canoeist will kick off the new year with serious training for the six weeks left before the world's toughest endurance canoeing event, the Dusi, in mid-February.
The final race of the Belloord series – a Dusi training event and hosted by the Florida Lake Canoe Club – took place on the Klip River from Daleside to Meyerton on 8 December.
Ian Faller and Gregor Wolter from Midrand, who are also members of the Centurion Canoe Club, are strong contenders in their age group for the upcoming Dusi event. They won the veteran age category in the 35km race which included three running portages, finishing 16th in a time of 2 hours and 38 minutes.
The series of races sponsored by Belloord, a West Rand based labour consultancy, has ensured regular races on the river with good attendance attracted by giveaways on entry, spot prizes, as well as cash for winners of age categories, overall winners, and lucky draws for all participants.
The series included a couple of compulsory races, which enabled qualifiers to be in the final draw where six boats could be won, together with canoeing equipment such as life-jackets, paddles, water-drinking systems and spraydecks, making it the most viable value for money training opportunity for canoeists for the year.
The final race in December was a superb Dusi training event with portages where paddlers got out of the river and ran with their boats, and was extremely competitive. It was also seen as a great opportunity to suss out the competition for the Dusi and iron out wrinkles in partnerships, with the 2014 Dusi being a doubles event.
