November 8, 2010. More than 600 paddlers took part in The Unlimited Ozzie Gladwin Canoe Marathon, held at Albert Falls Dam.
See the picture gallery below
The Unlimited Ozzie is the first Dusi qualifier of the season and paddlers were treated to cool and overcast conditions.
Len Jenkins, Ant Stott and Michael Mbanjwa fought it out on the dam section with Jenkins earning himself R1 000 at The Unlimited hotspot and a further R600 at the Natal Canoe Club hotspot. Jenkins took the race by the scruff of the neck over the 6km portage and was half a minute ahead of the chasing pack at the start of the river section. He paddled powerfully and increased his lead to more than five minutes to finish first in a credible 1:54.49, earning himself the R10 000 on offer for first place.
Stott and Mbanjwa raced together until the first weir when Stott rolled his boat costing him two minutes while he emptied his boat. Mbanjwa kept second place for a few kilometres, but Stott came back powerfully to take second place with Mbanjwa ending up in third place overall.
The ladies race was won by Abby Adie who dominated from start to finish winning in a time of 2:17.20, with Hillary Pitchford in second place and Donna Winter in third.
The guppy race for children under 12 years old was very well attended with nearly 40 boats on the water for the event.
Eight development paddlers from Martin Dreyer’s Change a Life Academy finished in the top 25 canoeists, a good sign for The Unlimited Dusi Canoe Marathon scheduled to take place in February next year.
Full results are available on the website www.theunlimitedozziegladwin.co.za
For furthercontact Ray de Vries. E-mail: ray@raydevries.co.za
Website: www.raydevries.co.za