IF ever there was an award for heart, then surely it would be given to brothers Jody and Duane Taylor.

The duo completed their milestone 20th Dusi Canoe Marathon last weekend, but it was the manner in which they finished that inspired others.

The Durban North paddlers wrapped their boat on a rock on the morning of Day 3 at the Tops Needle rapid, which led to their canoe splitting into three pieces.

For most competitors, that would’ve signaled the end of the race, however, the brothers each grabbed a piece of the split canoe and ran 45km to the finish line at Blue Lagoon.

Dusi rules state you have to finish with a part of a boat for an official finish to count.

In many ways, their story epitomises the spirit of the race as Jody explains how the incident unfolded.

“We knew the ruling. We couldn’t just run without anything, and we wanted to take the canoe we started the race with and get to the finish line. Tops Needle rapid is a notorious rapid, but we had had a fairly good two days of paddling, and on that day, we shot the rapid like we’d done before, and it didn’t pay off. We’ve done 20 Dusis, and we’ve never lost a boat so this was quite surreal.

“When the boat wrapped around the rock, it was also trapped underwater. I don’t know how I found the strength to lift the boat off of the rock, but I did, but my brother and I knew the damage was severe. At no point did we think our race was done. We just both looked at each other and said, ‘We’ve got a long day ahead of us’. It was never a case of ‘let’s call it quits’,” he said.

His brother, Duane, echoed Jody’s thoughts.

“Our dad was always a massive believer in if you start something, you must finish it. Jody and I knew we had to finish it. We actually came third to last on the final day, and we finished 143 overall despite us running 45km on the final day. You always picture the worst-case scenario, but until it happens, you can’t say how to approach it. We operated by instinct on the day. I think the biggest challenge was getting the canoe out of the water as the force of the water just kept it underwater. Jody did a great job in freeing the canoe so we could finish the race. We also had wonderful support from our families and fellow paddlers who just kept us energised. It was quite emotional crossing the finish line, but there is a sense of unfinished business for both of us,” he said.

Jody added that he could attest to that feeling.

“I’m definitely coming back next year. These are the types of challenges that make me hungrier. I feel like the Dusi has one up on me and that I need to go back and get a good result. My brother and I probably owe it to each other to finish another Dusi together,” he said.

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