22 May 2006

Martin Dreyer, multiple winner of South Africa's Dusi canoe marathon, took the Land Rover G4 Challenge in a tightly contested final on Saturday. Crossing four countries in 28 days, the G4 Challenge is billed as the world's toughest adventure race.

"This is one of the happiest moments of my life. I cannot believe I have won," Dreyer said at the finish on the Argentina/Bolivia border.

"Normally the events I do are a few days. This has been a month of build-up."

Dreyer is best known for his string of victories in South Africa's Dusi canoe marathon, a three-day stage race. He has won the canoeing/running race six times in both the individual and doubles categories.

Global challenge
The G4 Challenge, last held in 2003, is a test of physical abilities, mental toughness and driving skills.

Seventeen adventure athletes from around the world qualified to take part in the Challenge, held across Thailand, Laos, Brazil and Bolivia.

The top four scorers qualified for the Challenge final, a concentrated version of the mix of physical, mental and driving tasks that made up the Challenge.

Dreyer had a 40-point lead, worth 40 seconds, going into the handicapped final.

Final test
"The final was tough," Dreyer said. "But the toughest part was the mental tasks. I so thought I had lost it."

After sliding down a zip line, navigating a maze, kayaking, mountain biking, driving and completing a memory task, Dreyer found that he was leading in the final sprint towards the prize, a brand new Range Rover parked in the middle of the river bed.

"Then the next thing I knew I was slapping the bonnet. I never thought I would win the Land Rover G4 Challenge."

The 37-year-old had been struggling with a leg injury through the final days of the race, but showed no signs of this in beating his closest competitor, Belgian Kris Janssens.

"I pictured myself crossing the winning line as a way to psyche myself up, but to really think I would win before today would have been arrogant," Dreyer said.

SouthAfrica.info reporter

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	Martin Dreyer celebrates after winning the 2006 Land Rover G4 Challenge, billed as the world's toughest adventure race (Photo: Land Rover G4 Challenge)

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