The Fish River Canoe Marathon is a two-day event taking place every October on South Africa's Fish River in the Eastern Cape Province over a distance of some 81km, from Grassridge Dam southward to Cradock. The two other notable South African canoe marathons are the Dusi Canoe Marathon and the Berg River Canoe Marathon. [1]
The Fish River marathon first took place in 1982 with 77 competitors. It was the brainchild of Cape paddler Dave Alexander and a local Department of Water Affairs engineer, KO Bang.[2] By 2000 competitor numbers had grown to a record 1564, placing the race among the world's five biggest canoe marathons. [3] The K-3, developed in South Africa, is a recent addition to the canoe sprint kayak class which previously consisted of the K1, K2 and K4. The K3 is particularly well suited to the Fish River with a relatively rock-free river bed and easily negotiable weirs. Demonstrating this in 2009, Matt Bouman, Herman Chalupsky and Andrew Birkett paddled their K3 to a 5h 9m finish, coming in just outside the top 10 overall. [4] The 2011 overall winners were Hank McGregor/Grant van der Walt with a time of 4:40.38 for the 2-day event.[5]
| Year | Class | Winner | Time | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | K2 | McGregor/ Van Der Walt | 4:40:38 | South Africa |
| 2010 | K2 | McGregor/ Van Der Walt | 4:43:26 | South Africa |
| 2009 | K1S | Len Jenkins | 4:51:16 | South Africa |
| 2008 | K2 | Lucas Mthalane | 5:55:59 | South Africa |
| 2007 | K1 | Len Jenkins | 4:57:39 | South Africa |
| 2006 | K1 | Scott Johnson | 5:43:15 | South Africa |
| 2005 | K1 | Len Jenkins | 4:59:27 | South Africa |
| 2004 | K1 | Maynard Scott | 5:27:34 | South Africa |
| 2003 | K1 | Len Jenkins | 5:04:31 | South Africa |
| 2002 | K2 | Willis Russell | 5:17:28 | South Africa |
| 2001 | K1 | Len Jenkins | 5:00:22 | South Africa |
| 2000 | K1 | Eben Mocke | 5:47:03 | South Africa |