Dusi Canoe Marathon To Kick Off At Camps Drift In February

The Dusi Canoe Marathon returns to its traditional start line at Camps Drift in Pietermaritzburg in February next year.

The roughly 120 km, three-day race from Pietermaritzburg to Durban is one of the premier canoe marathons in the country.

KwaZulu-Natal Canoe Club chairperson Doug Gow says this comes after the previous two races started from Bishopstowe Hall. This was at the time, due to concerns over E-coli levels in the Umsunduzi River.

Gow says organisers will work with the Umsunduzi municipality to lower E. coli levels in the coming months. He says if needs be, they can still fall back on a Bishopstowe start on the 20th of February.

"And its not cast in stone. Well have to assess the water quality. Well have to, the paddlers interests come first. Its caused a lot of controversy which is in one way really great because it stirred up feelings that normally dont get stirred up at this time of the year. And its created a lot of awareness around the race and the river itself, which is a great thing."