FEEDBACK : JCC VAAL MARATHON 11 / 12 NOVEMBER 2017
SA K3 CHAMPIONSHIPS
Photos: Facebook: CLICK HERE
Results will be posted on the GCU Website shortly – www.gcu.co.za;
Thank you to our Sponsors for their support – registration giveaways etc – ABB, Diesel Electric, Schneider Electric and ARB Electrical – MUCH appreciated…..
The annual Vaal Canoe Marathon hosted by Johannesburg Canoe Club – the first and original canoe club in Gauteng, has always been used to award the GCU K2 Champion paddlers while this year it was host to the SA K3 Championships and thanks to fantastic water level, the race was highly enjoyable especially as we remember previous very bony, or very flooded years, while the weather could not have been kinder! This year’s Vaal Canoe Marathon took place on 11 and 12 November 2017.
The hosting venues ie Cote de Val (Pont de Val) and Smilin’ Thru provided superb start and finish convenience together with refreshments / meals available for paddlers or seconds and their support and willingness to assist and accommodate made the event extremely enjoyable for the paddlers and their seconds and families…..a wonderful weekend along the Vaal River!!
There was some fierce and close competition on the river over the two days and more than 30kms per day adding to the general excitement of a good strong field, although not a very large field with some 60 paddlers finishing both days – a number only did Day 1.
Day 1 also provided the usual 10km excitement of Kloppers, Shute and Visgat as the race started at the Vaal Dam Wall, finishing at Three Rivers where the Klip runs into the Vaal, some 36 km later, followed by a lot of flat water and slog, ensuring those paddlers training for the upcoming Dusi could build on stamina and endurance. The first fun 10km spoils the paddlers for the long boring flat for the next 26kms as we have all experienced……with the resistant sluggish shallow water of the only river that flows UPHILL! The Letaba Weir was the only relief for the long flat stretch – something fun to do!
For many Day 2 which launched at the Cote de Val, just below the Barrage, was a more pleasant enjoyable day with good water flow and beautiful scenery although still long and hard work for 34kms. The paddlers were much more cheerful arriving at the finish, at Smilin’ Thru en route to Parys. The second day on the Vaal offers the paddlers Benoude Boude for a bit of fun and there are a few who got boat cracks / nose breaks on that rocky treacherous little bony shallow rapid, however it was Goosebay Weir that provided the day’s adrenalin rush – no swimmers – thanks to excellent marshalling from Klippies van der Merwe!!!
For those who completed either one or both days for the first time, the 30+kms on the Vaal will never feel quite as long and tiring in future – its a mindset! Certainly there are those regulars who simply NEED that challenge, that pushing of one’s body to the next level, that need to FEEL the pain and ache in every muscle!
There was only ONE lady team who finished the tough hard slog of a race which was a huge deterrent for many Gauteng paddlers despite the good training provided – and the ladies did very well to hold their own finishing as 13th K2, while being the first Grand Masters (ie over 60 years), finishing in a time of 6:58 – Cally Henderson and Minnie Kretzchmar (Dabs). Well done to these not easily deterred hard working paddling ladies!! They MAY be the only Grand Master LADIES team to ever finish the Vaal ….certainly Cally Henderson also was the ONLY Grand Master lady to ever finish the Lowveld Crocodile river earlier this year….and both ladies achieved medals / podiums at the ICF World Marathon Championships in Pietermaritzburg a couple of months ago – we can all look up to these dames, and hope to be that competitive and tough when we’ve turned 60 !!
The winning boat across the finish line, was a K2 after some jockeying for position over the two days, with Richard Fly and Pierre van der Merwe – Centurion Club Members respected for their dedication to long hard tough flat water paddles……. in a time of 5 hours 21 minutes. Pierre van der Merwe in fact, was the winner of the Vaal Canoe marathon some 30 years ago already in another K2 – history does repeat itself and it was rewarding to see this awesome paddler back on the water.
Kelvin Byres and Mark Garden (Dabs) were the second finishers as first Veteran combination in 5 hours 24, followed by another Centurion partnership, the first Sub Masters (Theo Smit and Wally Fisher) in 5 hours 27 minutes.
The winning K3 was a Mixed Double from Watuni Club in Vanderbijlpark, in a time of 5 hours 32 minutes with Kobus and Caroline Filmalter with Andre Zandbergh. The second K3 finishers were from Pretoria club / Academy of Canoe Development, with Gerrie Moolman, Willie Endres and Jonathan Jooste in 5 hours 34 minutes.
The 3rd K2 finishers were Douglas Jewson and Gavin Payne (Dabs/ERK) in 5 hours 34.
The 3rd K3 finishers were Claude Nish, Hercules Sandenbergh (Dabs) in 5 hours 58.
Raymond Rorich and Michael Kirkby (CEN) were the 4th K2 and 1st Sub Veteran combination in 5 46.
Richard Cele (VIC) was the first K1 finisher and prize winner in 5:46 while Grant Conlon and Anton Nel were the first Master finishers (VIC) in 6 hours 13 minutes.
Peter Chissano (JCC) was the Under 23 winner of the day in 6:35 as the 3rd K1 finisher.
Mike Howard, last finisher partnered with Bertie Baard (ERK/FLO) finished his 36th Vaal Marathon event……in 8:15, while being over 75 years of age….. respect guys….not many of you will still be able to drag yourselves through that slog at that age! Or find partners willing ! He is still hoping to make it to his 40th finish….. !
There were also novices on the river doing their first or second ever river race and they certainly took strain at the distance (one always does the first time one makes it past 30km) and some did not come back for Day 2, however Calvin Fisher DID although swearing at the end of Day 1 to never again do the Vaal!!! And he finished Day 2 much more cheerful, stronger, fitter, and almost a real paddler now! There were others who also successfully completed their first 2 day marathon ever including Kerry Fynn (they missed the turnoff to the Klip on Day 1, carrying on to the Riviera Hotel in Vereeniging before realising they were lost….lost on a river – and there are a number of paddlers who have been lost in the islands / channels or tributaries along the Vaal in the past!) but with his partner Andrew Flavell, he also finished cheerfully on both days! Fitness / training helps !!! Well done to ALL who took on the Vaal for the first time…..and to all who finished both days!
Well done then to JCC for organisation, marshalling, arrangements and a super great training opportunity worth a mention as one of the Gauteng annual traditions!!
Jennie Dallas
for GCU PR
082 857 857 1
