50 Miler on the Dusi River gets tougher

Serge van Hee of Weltevreden Park represented his club well as one of the Gauteng paddlers who streamed to the Dusi Valley on the weekend of 6 and 7 December.

He was the first paddler from Florida Lake Canoe Club to finish his race. “I didn’t do quite as well as I had expected to,” said van Heen. “But it was still great to compete.”

He finished his race in four hours and 45 minutes and came in as the 97th K1, which is in the top 100 positions.

The ’50 Miler’ race was also an opportunity for paddlers to prepare for the Dusi. The 50 Miler Lettie Pants Race, which consists of two days, offers superb preparation for the challenging endurance event scheduled for mid February.

Van Heen said the 80km river was tougher than usual with low rainfall during the past year, but it was still enjoyable nonetheless. Paddlers were forced to carry boats out of the river and run (or walk) up steep hills and down slippery slopes as parts of the river were not suitably negotiable due to low water levels, with little water from the local dams which were not full enough to enable releases.

He said this made for an excellent training and preparation weekend for the endurance challenge of the Dusi River race, which maintains its 1964 traditions of such portages in line with the first races hosted on the river, before the advent of dams. He concluded by saying he is looking forward to the world’s toughest endurance race –the Dusi next year.