The second GCU Marathon event was run on Saturday on what was a beautiful sunny-summer-like morning at VLC. Ruoxi Hao (U12) won the 3.6km Guppy K1 race while Asher William Wilson (U10) was second. First girl home was Aara Mariam. First home in the 10km dash were the U14’s David Miller and Kyle Armdorf, beating Gunther Grune and Richard Cook into second place, while the first ladies home were Renschi and Pippa who beat the U18 and 14 girls, Jana and Chrisian. In the main K2 race of 20,5km with 6 laps and 5 portages, Wayne and Brad beat the U18 and U16 pairing of Bruno and Keegan, while the sub-masters Rob and MJ were third. Young Luke and young Amy (U23’s) were the first Mixed Double and 6th overall. In the ladies, Caitlyn Odell and Helen Jansen Van Vuuren took the win ahead of Jessica and Elandrie, while Sarah and Alexis were third. Interestingly, the Great Grand Master and Grandpa Graham was back competing; many years ago he was one of Dabs’ greatest paddlers ever; welcome back Monty. Well done to Nkosi who was busy portaging when he was called on, to assist another paddler for medical attention at finish line; plus three weeks ago he had to stitch up Delport who cut his hand at Emmarentia; ngiyabonga Nkosi. Well-done to the 38 who represented Dabs, and well done to Rob Crichton for organizing the series. Centurion Canoe Club will be hosting the 3rd event in the series which is a K1 race on 4 May at Rietvlei Dam.
Further afield, the 50th edition of the Waterland Marathon in Amsterdam was raced in what looked to be a kak, cold and wet conditions. The course did however look a whole lot more interesting than VLC – check it out here: https://amsterdamcanoemarathon.com/challenging-elements-in-50th-edition-of-amsterdam-waterland-marathon/ Some of the world’s biggest names in marathon paddling (including the likes of Candy, Ramalho , Knudsen and Boros) were there competing – James Russel won, Clint came 12th while Matt Fenn was 11th.
Back home, the Dabulamanzi Awards evening was held at Franks, a new burger spot in Linden which has never seen so many Black Ties and Evening Gowns. Our club members showed that they can get tidy and shiny, although Jonno (the chef) was in shorts. Following a fine starter, 39 awards went out to over 50 people; perhaps the highlight being the donning of Green Jackets; National Colours for Canoeing. Well done boys! Dinner was served and then the dancing started. Staying respectful to the event, the guys were far more well behaved than at last weekend’s shindig, and all kept their shirts on. Well done and thank you to Elandrie and her team for pulling off a fantastic evening that was enjoyed by all who supported.
On Sunday morning a memorial service was held to celebrate the amazing life of John Oliver. Giles did a splendid job in opening and closing the proceeding, first with the song ‘Some Say’ and then with ‘I did it my way’ – for which he had to apologise to both Mr Sinatra and Mr Simpkins. Well played Giles. Thank you John.
Next up; it’s the Solar Safe Mixed Doubles Time Trial this Thursday, and looking further ahead, book off the evening of Friday 17 May, when Dabs will be hosting a Short Course Night Race to celebrate the completion of the new portage. Bring friends and family; this promises great spectator value. Thanks and well-done to Brad Fisher and Dave Hamilton-Brown who have driven this project with their tireless passion for our sport.
Go Dabs!