The Dusi Canoe Marathon in numbers
1 – number of finishers in the inaugural edition of Dusi Canoe Marathon in 1951 (late Dr Ian Player)
2 – number of rivers the Dusi Canoe Marathon route includes (Msundusi & Mngeni River)
3 – number of Dusi Canoe Marathons race founder Dr Ian Player won (1951/52, 1953 & 1954)
4 – number of pre-race favourites to clinch the men’s title (Andy Birkett, Sbonelo Khwela, Lance Kime & Thulani Mbanjwa)
5 – the number of Dusi Canoe Marathons women’s K1 & K2 defending champ Robyn Kime has won in a row
6 – days taken by Dusi founder Ian Player to complete the first Dusi
7 – number of members of the Dusi Canoe Marathon’s ‘Super Dusi Rat’ club for paddlers who have finished 40 or more Dusis should Nigel Briggs be successful in 2015
8 – number of K3 entries in 2015
9 – most Dusi Canoe Marathons won by a female competitor (Abbey Ulansky)
9 – number of Stand Up Paddleboarders taking part in this year’s Dusi
10 – the number of finishes a paddlers must achieve to receive a permanent number
12 – minimum weight in kilograms of a single kayak
12 – number of portages (only 3 are compulsory)
13 – number of paddlers, should they compete in & complete the 2015 Dusi Canoe Marathon, set to join the ’30 or more’ club in 2015
15 – most Dusi Canoe Marathons won by a male competitor (late ‘Dusi King’ Graeme Pope-Ellis)
15 – minimum age of a Dusi competitor
17 – the age in years of Nokukhanya Shange, who seeks to become the youngest ever black female to finish a K1 Dusi Canoe Marathon
20 – number of finishes require to qualify as a King Dusi Rat
41 – number of paddlers who have completed 30 or more Dusi Canoe Marathons
46 – most number of Dusi Canoe Marathons completed by any individual (late ‘Dusi King’ Graeme Pope-Ellis)
64 – edition of the Dusi Canoe Marathon to be staged in 2015
119,62 – exact distance in kilometres of the race using current conventional route
241 – The number of paddlers who have completed 20 or more Dusi Marathons
1275 – number of paddlers with a permanent Dusi Canoe Marathon number
1981 – year of the first Dusi to allow female competitors
2013 – year in which Lance Kime set the men’s K1 race record (8:00.29) East Coast Breakfast
2014 – year race founder Dr Ian Player passed away
2015 – year of the return of the ‘tea & doughnuts’ tradition at the end of each stage
12902 – number of paddlers who have finished at least one Dusi Canoe Marathon
23 150 – the average number of paddle strokes required to complete the Dusi Canoe Marathon
381 712.61 – record amount of money in rands raised through the Dr Ian Player Memorial Charity Batch in 2015
The 64th edition of the Dusi Canoe Marathon takes place from Camps Drift in Pietermaritzburg to Blue Lagoon in Durban from Thursday 19 to Saturday 21 February 2015.
(Photo: Supplied)