Salt Rock’s McGregor earns 14th gold medal in 2021 Dusi Marathon

Hank McGregor and a number of Dolphin Coast Paddlers Club members flew the flag of the North Coast high in the 2021 MyLife Dusi Canoe Marathon last weekend.

McGregor, a Salt Rock resident, raced his 15th Dusi and finished 2nd in a time of 08:24:52 to claim his 14th gold medal.

“It was a great race all in all. Water levels on day 1 and 2 were not quite as high as we expected to be but it turned out to be quite forgiving,” he said.

Andy Birkett took 1st place in the men’s race in his record-breaking 8th consecutive Dusi and it was a common 1-2 finish with him and McGregor battling consistently over the past decade.

“Honestly I am happy with my result, I came into it hoping for a top 10, maybe a top 5, but to grab second behind Andy was a nice way to finish,” said McGregor.

Christie Mackenzie won first place in the women’s event in a time of 09:42:16.

A number of paddlers from the Dolphin Coast Paddlers Club took on the Dusi this year.

Notably, Jarryd Walker finished 4th in the U18 race and 42nd overall while Dominic Furby finished 2nd in the U16 race and 140th overall.

Lee Furby and Barry Painting finished 77th, Bruce Brauteseth 165th, Greg Cacket and Charles Ferrow 189th, James and Robert Crichton 197th and Gareth Wright and Bruce Mackenzie 311th.

Other notable achievements in this years Dusi were for Lyle Wheeler who became the first person to complete 50 Dusis and 80-year-old Hugh Raw who became the oldest finisher.

A full list of the results can be found at dusi.co.za/results.