KZN paddling double in Benoni
World marathon champion, Hank McGregor, entrenched his status as the continent's premier paddler by mastering the icy Highveld weather and a large and very powerful field as he claimed his eighth South African Marathon K1 title as he outsprinted Jasper Mocké and under-23 world champion, Andy Birkett, to win a tightly contested affair and then teamed up with Mocké to add the K2 title on Sunday.
“It is tough racing at altitude for us coastal guys,” the Kayak Centre/Team Jeep paddler mentioned. “You can’t just go out like a bull in a china shop and you need to conserve your energy and keep the heart-rate down so I am really happy with my performance this weekend.”
The triple world marathon champion was up against a tough field and explained that he knew his tactics were going to have to be spot-on in order to beat a star-studded field of paddlers and with that win he has secured his place in the South African team for the World Marathon Champs in Oklahoma City in September.
“It was a really high quality field and so I knew that tactically I had to be on point and I think I managed to outsmart the others which gave me the edge. I felt really comfortable throughout the race and it was a case of everyone gunning for positions with World Champs places up for grabs!” a satisfied McGregor added.
The Durban-based McGregor had only recently returned from the gruelling Maui Jim Molokai Surfski Challenge in Hawaii and so felt that he was a little underdone in terms of his marathon preparation.
“I have been doing a lot of surfski training recently and so marathon hasn’t been the main focus for me but with the Worlds in September I will be focusing a lot more on marathon paddling and portaging as well,” McGregor explained.
McGregor paired up with fellow surfski ace and Dusi Canoe Marathon partner, Jasper Mocké, in the K2 event which they won with the Van der Walt brothers Grant and Brandon coming a close second. That win meant that McGregor has now won five K2 SA Marathon titles and he feels that the impressive performances by South African paddlers on the international stage have led to a great interest in marathon paddling.
“We have got a strong history of bringing home World titles and medals from marathon events and I think that this helps to get people interested. Not only the youth are getting involved but the masters have also become more involved,” he said.
The 2014 edition of the SA Marathon Champs was one of the largest in the history of the event with hundreds of paddlers braving the single digit degrees to show their worth against the best paddlers in the country with dreams of being on the plane to Oklahoma in September. The large subscription to the event was something that McGregor was quite overwhelmed by: “When you look back at the SA Champs last year I was so taken aback by the numbers that we saw out there this year! It was so great to see so many people getting involved in such a well-run event and it was not just the senior categories but there were a number of junior paddlers that were involved and that is exciting to see with a World Marathon Champs here in 2017."
The women’s K1 title was won by Olympic bronze medallist, Bridgitte Hartley, who powered her way to the win on the back of a solid Sprint World Cup campaign in Europe. She dominated proceedings with a mammoth four-minute gap between her and runner-up Nikki Russell.
SUMMARY OF RESULTS – South African Marathon Championships
K1
Men
1. Hank McGregor (KZN) 2:17.28
2. Jasper Mocké (WP) 2:17.29
3. Andy Birkett (KZN) 2:17.29
Women
1. Bridgitte Hartley (KZN) 2:11.44
2. Nikki Russell (KZN) 2:15.25
3. Hayley Arthur (KZN) 2:21.16
(File Photo:Gallo Images)
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