Dusi 2009, this was a tough one

Day 1- Mbanjwa dominates

After 12km of paddling Shaun Ruby and I had opened up a 1 minute lead over Michael Mbanjwa and the chasing pack. Shaun took the conventional route and I opted to paddle a for another 1.5km and take the Pine tree portage. When the paths converged a few km later Mbanjwa was about 40sec ahead of me and Shaun about a minute behind me. When we put back into the river after the 35min portage Mbanjwa had opened to 2min on me. Over the gruelling Guinea fowl portage he had opened up a 5min gap over me. Back on the water a slowly reeled him in and with 30min of paddling remaining I was 2min 45sec behind. The final 12min run over the nasty little Cabbage tree portage is never easy. When I put in on the other side my body started to cramp terribly. The last 20min of paddling was an absolute nightmare for me, everything had just totally cramped up and I could barely move. It seemed like forever but I finally crossed the line after dropping back to 4min and 22sec behind Mbanjwa. Ruby had done very well to come in 3^rd a further 7min back. Mike Arthur came in 4^th with Piers Cruickshank 5^th.

For Day 1 results click here.

Day 2- My dream day
If you had asked me what my thoughts were on the morning of day 2 they would have come out in a bit of a jumble. With the elapsed time start the nearly 4 and a half minutes that I had to wait after Mbanjwa had already started seemed like an eternity. I knew that I would be pretty strong on the water and with the slightly lower river level this year I might have a slight chance of catching up. Unfortunately I had to do quite a bit more than merely just catch up though. If I wanted any possibility of arriving at the finish in Durban on day 3 I would need something special. With only 19cumecs promised for the day 3 water release I would have no option but to run over the heart shattering Burma Road portage. To do that and win the race I would need at least a 4min cushion over Mbanjwa at the start of the climb. Basically that would mean that for day 2 I would need to be at least 8 and a half min faster than Mbanjwa for day 2, a ridiculously scary thought!As I started my slog down the river on day 2 it did not take me long to find a great rhythm. Every time I got a time split from someone on the river bank I noticed that I was starting to take small chunks out of Mbanjwa’s lead. Just before the half way mark the gap was down to 1min 15sec, I was in with a chance.

Without me knowing Mbanjwa had stopped at the top of Ngumeni portage to change his rudder blade. Running down the other side of the hill he was in sight and he put back into the water about a minute ahead of me. For the next 12km the river is made up of lots of tight turns and technical sections. Now was the time to make my move. At Hippo rocks Mbanjwa was fumbling in the right hand channel which did not have enough water for him to make it through. I chose the more risky left hand channel and made it through cleanly. At the bottom of the rapid I looked up to my right to see Mbanjwa clambering over the dry rocks. I was now in the lead and could not believe my luck. I put in a hard surge in an attempt to break contact as well as get out of sight. With the river being so low and me being slightly lighter than Mbanjwa I would be using slightly less energy than Mbanjwa to keep my boat on the plane.

I gave it my everything in a seemingly impossible effort to open up the 4min lead I would require to get to Durban 1^st on day 3.

My body was feeling potent and my boat was just slicing through the water.

Arriving at the end of day 2 as the new leader was an amazing feeling. The clock was ticking as we waited to see what the new time gap was. It crept up to a mind blowing 13min as a shattered and dejected Mbanjwa crossed the line. Ruby still in 3^rd, Cruickshank in 4^th with Arthur and Birkette in 5^th and 6^th.

Day 3- Hanging in there
A 13 minute lead meant that I would not need to take any major risks on the final day. With the Burma road portage lurking ahead I tried to hold back slightly to try and conserve all the energy I could in order to make it over the silly little mountain. By t he take out I had opened my lead to 15min but 35min later when I was climbing back on to the water Mbanjwa with another phenomenal run had closed me down to 7 and a half minutes! With just over an hour of paddling to the finish I had over taken the water release. My boat was scraping over shallow rock that I had never even seen before. The channels through the reeds were often so narrow that you could not even see the water. On 4 occasions the reeds blocked up and I had to fight my way through using my hands. The final 30min of paddling is on the tidal waters of Blue lagoon and it was a pleasure to be paddling in deep water again.

I crossed the line in 8hours and 38 minutes, a full 35min off my record form 2 years ago, this year was a tough one.

Mbanjwa dropped back 13min behind when he crossed the line in 2^nd place. A smiling Rubenstein crossed the line satisfied with his 3^rd place after being off the river for the past 7 years. Cruickshank took 4^th and Andrew Birkette snuck past Mike Arthur for 5^th place.

To download the full results click here.

2009 Bring on the big one! It’s Dusi time!

My training over this past month has gone really well. It was a huge relief to push the swimming pool aside and swap it for some good time on the legs. The week after 50-Miler I spent in the Drakensberg doing some tough running and hiking to improve on my leg strength. As always it is tough to train hard through the Christmas and New Year period when everyone else is having such a good time. Nick Stubbs proved to be an awesome training partner and together we were able to push out some good mileage on some amazing rivers. The Dusi usually had good water in it which allowed us to spend good time on the race course. A few paddles on the pumping Umzimkulu near Port Shepstone sharpened our big water skills as well as providing some much needed adrenalin! The fast flowing Karkloof River also was one of the chosen venues for some interval sessions.

 

The Big race starts at 6am on Thursday and at the moment my body is feeling pretty strong after these past few days of tapering. I just have to hope to hit a good peak and hold it for the 3 days of the race. This year will be a tough one to defend my Dusi K1 title. I am expecting extremely tough challenges from both Mike Mbanjwa and Shaun Rubenstein. Mbanjwa was the K2 winner along with Dreyer last year and is hungry for his first K1 victory. His running is at a ridiculously high level and he should more than likely be leading after day one, it’s just a matter of by how far… Rubenstein’s paddling and running are both at high level and his past few months spent training with Dusi King and 15 time race winner Graeme Pope-Ellie will stand him in good stead for a shot at the win.

 

4^th and 5^th place will be hotly contested between Mike Arthur, Nick Stubbs, Deon Bruss, Piers Cruickshank and Andrew Birkette.