The world's toughest canoe race
26 June 2008
"There is something about this race that drags you back," Hank McGregor says about the Isuzu Berg River Canoe Marathon. "It is the toughest canoeing race in the world. There is no doubt about that. Just finishing this race is an achievement."
A four-time champion, with three of his victories coming in succession, McGregor has confirmed that he will be back to defend his Isuzu Berg title in July.
The 30-year-old has confessed that the race has an irresistible attraction for him, and has vowed to return and be on the starting line when the first stage gets under way in Paarl on 9 July.
'In my blood'
"The Isuzu Berg is pretty much in my blood," reckons McGregor. "With the new team competition this year, and the hype around the new Berg dam eliminating the possibility of a low race, I will definitely be back to defend my title."
McGregor became only the fifth person to notch up a hat-trick of wins in the 240-kilometre race since it began in 1962 when he systematically dismantled the challenges of the other elite paddlers to win last year's event by a seven-minute margin from second placed Len Jenkins, and Cape stalwart Graeme Solomon, who finished in third.
"I grew up in the Cape, and from (when I was) a youngster all I wanted to do was win the Berg," said McGregor.
"I admire Robbie Herreveld and his total dominance of the Berg in the nineties – he won it six times in succession – and it would be a dream come true to get close to that."
Knowledge, tenacity, strength
McGregor's knowledge of the course, together with his bulldog-like tenacity and strength, has made him the man to beat in the race since the turn of the new millennium.
He proved that he has once again built up a formidable training base with his gritty performance in the recent 55-kilometre Epic Molokai Challenge, where he finished second for the second year running.
"I have only done the race twice, and finished second both times. It is not great to come second twice and I will be back to try and win, for sure," said McGregor of his dogged three-and-a-half-hour pursuit of the Tahitian champion Lewis Laughlan.
It is not often that McGregor is beaten in an open contest. His much publicised mantra of "first is first and second is nothing" has spurred him to win virtually every major canoeing and surf ski title available to him, including the junior and senior world marathon championships and the first Durban Surf Ski World Cup.
First victory
His first victory in the Isuzu Berg came in 2000 as a 22-year-old. It followed his victory in the junior event on his debut in the race. After that first title, he claimed back-to-back wins that started with victories in desperately difficult low water conditions in 2005 and 2006.
He is enthusiastic about the new professional team race element that has been introduced to the Isuzu Berg this year. "The team race in the past was always based on provincial lines, which was tough on those paddlers who are not from the Cape," says McGregor.
"The new team format could end up making the Isuzu Berg like the Tour de France cycle race," he added.
However he admitted that he was wrestling with the rule that prevents any paddlers that have finished in the top-three in the last three editions of the race from paddling together.
"That has thrown a bit of a spanner in the works for me. It means I can't put together the team that I would have liked, so I will have to do some shopping around…"
Respect for traditions
McGregor has a deep rooted respect for the race's traditions, and has been happy to dig in his heels to oppose moves to make the race shorter or easier.
"This should be the one race that every paddler aspires to finish," he says. "There are no short cuts, and nowhere to hide.
"Every year at the prize-giving, I sit in the hall at Velddrif and I cheer like everyone else as the guy who came last goes up onto stage to get his medal. Just finishing this race should be a paddler’s ultimate achievement."
The Isuzu Berg River Canoe marathon starts in Paarl on Wednesday, 9 July, and ends at Velddrif on Saturday, 12 July. The race will be preceded by a seeding time trial on Tuesday, 8 July.
Source: Isuzu Berg River Canoe Marathon
