FLCC paddlers prepare for the mighty Dusi
Hardus and Shelley participated in the preparation race
The world’s toughest endurance canoe marathon event, the FNB Dusi River Race is scheduled to take place in mid-February as usual from Pietermaritzburg to Durban. The race spans over 120km and takes place over three days – 14, 15 and 16 February.
Hardus Theunissen, a longstanding member of the Florida Lake Canoe Club (FLCC) partnered up with Shelley Robertson to complete the Dusi training race hosted by FLCC in December, to finish off the 2018 canoeing season.
They finished the training race in three hours 13 minutes, completing a distance on the river of some 32km, with a couple of sections where participants had to take their boats out of the water and run (or walk) while carrying it for a few kilometres as part of their training. They also came second in the mixed doubles category.
The Dusi started as a tradition in 1951, post World War II, and was organised by Dr Ian Player – brother to the famous Gary Player.
Sitting around a campfire in Italy in the midst of a terrible war, tired and homesick, he promised himself he would organise this event when he made it back home – and he did. The race with world-wide recognition still continues today.
At the time there were no dams from which water could be released, and the canoes they used were made from wood and canvas, weighing 32 kilograms. The few participants who were actually able to transport their boats from Durban to Pietermaritzburg and finish the event some days later, had to get out and carry their boats on numerous occasions for long distances in the Valley of 1000 Hills, hence the tradition remains. The FNB Dusi River Race still has compulsory portages for those sections although many of them are navigable today, thanks to the water releases from dams.
According to Jennie Dallas, the Gauteng Union Public Relations Officer, the training race is an annual event organised by Bertie Baard, and was once again an excellent opportunity for everyone to prepare and train for participation in the upcoming Dusi Marathon.
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