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Kindred spirit leads paddlers to the finish line

Kindred spirit leads paddlers to the finish line

The annual Unlimited Dusi canoe marathon, from Pietermaritzburg to Durban, recently took place from 16 to 18 February. Initiated in 1950 by Ian Player, and now in its 62nd year, this marathon is synonymous with KwaZulu-Natal and falls on every paddler’s calendar. Durban University of Technology Sports Management lecturer, Gregory Glossop completed his fifth race this year, with third-time participant and sister, Lauren Glossop, in fourteen and a half hours.

On how the siblings prepared for the marathon Greg said: “As it is hard to co-ordinate two busy schedules, training never went as well as we would have liked it to. We did, however, do most of the preparation races held on various sections of the Dusi and Umgeni rivers to get to know each section well, as well as working on our fitness.”

The canoeing bug first bit Greg in 2007 and since his debut Dusi marathon in 2008, racing in the Dusi has become second nature to him. He said paddling along the Valley of a 1000 Hills invokes the same feelings of awe and enchantment.
“Highlights this year were most definitely completing the race with my sister as well as completing my fifth Dusi,” he said.

But, the race wasn’t without challenges- they fell off the boat once on the first day and a few more times on the second- but luckily there wasn’t any damage done to the canoe over the three days.

Also racing this year were TV and radio personalities Liezel van der Westhuizen, Sias du Plessis and Bonang Matheba. The celebrities teamed up with Dusi participants forming the Ginger Army and participated mainly to raise awareness for the official marathon charity, The Unlimited Child.

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