Innovative additions for Berg Marathon
27 May 2008
The 47th edition of the Isuzu Berg River Canoe Marathon gets under way in Paarl on 9 July, amidst a sweeping wave of innovations that promise to propel the famous four-day ultra-marathon into a new era.
While the format for the 240 kilometre race to the Cape West Coast remains the same, the event has been given a substantial boost by some major innovations and the significant attraction of guaranteed water from the recently completed Berg River Dam outside Paarl.
In response to the evolution of professional elite athletes and their involvement across many different disciplines and adventure racing, the Isuzu Berg River Canoe Marathon will for the first time include a lucrative competition for professional three-paddler teams, vying for a first prize of R60 000.
Fair contest
The race committee has ensured that the new tier of the race is a fair contest by insisting that paddlers that have featured in the top three in the last three editions of the race may not paddle together.
"The athletes and their teams have branding requirements to get exposure for their sponsors, and this format is designed to provide that," said Andre Collins, the head of the race organising committee, himself a veteran of 38 of Berg River Canoe Marathons.
"It will also open the door for international teams to take on the best local teams in this race," he reckoned.
While three results will count for the team event, a fourth paddler may be nominated as a member of the team before the start of the race.
The race committee has also agreed to run team competitions in the veterans and masters classes if there is sufficient demand from the older paddlers, who are famously competitive.
Prize money
The "bridge prizes" that were successfully introduced last year will be retained to add further needle to what promises to be a very competitive race amongst the elite men and women.
They serve as hotspots, with R1 000 up for grabs for the winners. There are a total of nine hotspots along the route.
The winner of the men's race will pocket R25 000, with R10 000 on offer for second place and R5 000 for third.
A formula is used to determine the amount of money the leading lady receives. If she finishes within 10% of the leading man's time, she will receive equal prize money. If her time is within 11%, it becomes 90% of the men's money. The formula continues in that vein.
Relay section
To make the race more accessible to paddlers who are perhaps intimidated by the demands of four successive days of tough paddling spanning 240 kilometres, the race has also introduced an innovative relay section that will allow teams of three paddlers to cover each day in three roughly equal legs.
"This will open up the race to a whole new level of paddler who is eager to share in the unique experience of the Isuzu Berg, but having to cover only about 20km each day," said Collins.
"This is designed to appeal to the older paddlers, who may have done the Isuzu Berg in the past, as well as the younger paddlers and the women who want to do this race."
Berg River Dame
The completion of the massive Berg River Dam outside Franschhoek has also helped move the race into a new era.
"It will make such a difference to be assured of water every year," said Collins. "This will remove the threat of a low river level for the race, which has been an issue in recent years.
"It also means that paddlers will now be able to take advantage of releases prior to the race in order to get to know the river at close to racing levels," he added.
"Unexpected dangerous flood levels can now also be prevented by controlled flows from the dam."
The Isuzu Berg River Canoe Marathon starts in Paarl on Wednesday, 9 July 2008, and ends at Velddrif on Saturday, 12 July 2008. The race will be preceded by a seeding time trial on Tuesday, 8 July.
Source: Canoeing South Africa
