Hank McGregor, 47, duly swept home on Saturday for an incredible 14th Berg River Canoe Marathon win, maintaining his solid 10-minute lead as he paddled to the finish of the four-day event in Velddrif with teammate Siseko Ntondini on his wave.<\/p>\n
Second place, a mere 24 seconds ahead of Ntondini, went to 53-year-old Robbie Herreveld \u2013 making the combined ages of the two top paddlers an amazing 100 years.<\/p>\n
McGregor and his Euro Steel teammate, 32-year-old Ntondini, had broken away midway through the 57 kilometre stage and worked together, but Herreveld \u2013 a six-times previous winner \u2013 managed to keep them in sight to the finish and just hang on for second overall, the same position he finished in 2024.<\/p>\n
KZN paddler Jenna Nisbett, second on the day, won the woman\u2019s race by six minutes from East London\u2019s Nix Birkett, who won the first and final stages.<\/p>\n
Header Image: Hank McGregor and tammate Siseko Ntondini cross the line for McGregor’s 14th Berg River Marathon title on Saturday. credit: John Hishin<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIt was a magic day,\u201d said McGregor afterwards. \u201cThere was quite a strong headwind in the last five kilometres and the incoming tide didn\u2019t help, but we had a great day. It was great paddling with my teammate Siseko.\u201d<\/p>\n It was McGregor\u2019s 14th win in 17 starts \u2013 he first win coming 25 years ago in 2000 \u2013 but he said afterwards he would still have a think about returning: \u201cI say that every year though \u2026 anyway, now is the time for some good red wine\u201d.<\/p>\n Veteran Herreveld said: \u201cI got worked over today. They dropped me on the portage \u2013 old men can\u2019t run \u2013 and I tried to catch them all the way, but couldn\u2019t quite get there.\u201d<\/p>\n Ntondini said he was very grateful to McGregor for \u201clooking after me\u201d and paid tribute to Herreveld\u2019s toughness. \u201cHe really hung in there.\u201d<\/p>\n Nisbett said she was \u201cabsolutely exhausted\u201d and the event \u2013 often in bitter cold driving rain \u2013 had been particularly tough this year. She also said the wind on the final stage had been trying, \u201cbut what would the Berg be without the wind\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really happy to win, but to me every finisher of this race is a winner.\u201d<\/p>\n Birkett had pulled ahead about 35km into the stage after some \u201cargy bargy\u201d with a group of men paddlers. \u201cI hung on but Jenna fell off the group. I\u2019m so stoked with second.\u201d<\/p>\n It was Nisbett\u2019s third win in the prestigious event, which she described as \u201cincredibly well-organised \u2026 congratulations to the orgsanisers and the sponsors\u201d.<\/p>\n Behind the elite racers there were a number of remarkable achievements, none more impressive that “Oom Jannie” Malherbe finishing his 52 Berg River Canoe Marathon. The three-time race winner in 1963, 64 and 65 now holds the remarkable record of finishing 52 out of 63 races that have taken place.<\/p>\n Two other notable finishers were Lisa Scott, who completed her 15th marathon and tops the list of women’s finishers, and Carel Botha who completed a remarkable month of endurance sporting activity by finishing the Comrades Marathon, Freedom Challenge (non-stop mountain bike race from Pietermaritzburg to Paarl) and Berg River Canoe Marathon within a month.<\/p>\n LEADING RESULTS Women
\n(under overall position, name, overall time (day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4)
\nMen
\n1 Hank McGregor 16:02:04 (4:14:44, 2:04:14, 5:18:44, 4:24:21)
\n2 Robert Herreveld 16:12:57 (4:20:25, 2:08:05, 5:18:45, 4:25:41)
\n3 Siseko Ntondini 16:13:21 (4:20:27, 2:08:35, 5:19:55, 4:24:22)
\n4 Dyllan Farrell 16:31:49 (4:29:42, 2:08:06, 5:24:25, 4:29:35)
\n5 Anders Hart 16:33:15 (4:22:13, 2:12:54, 5:24:25, 4:33:42)
\n6 Paul Marais 16:40:27 (4:25:09, 2:10:45, 5:24:24, 4:40:07)
\n7 Heinrich Schloms 16:50:51 (4:27:48, 2:10:42, 5:28:36, 4:43:43)
\n8 Msawenkosi Mtolo 16:55:28 (4:32:37, 2:19:35, 5:28:37, 4:34:38)
\n9 Thabani Msia 16:59:36 (4:36:57, 2:17:55, 5:28:09, 4:36:34)
\n10 Siyanda Gwamanda 17:09:21 (4:39:55, 2:17:26, 5:31:50, 4:40:08)<\/p>\n
\n1 Jenna Nisbet 17:33:49 (4:40:02, 2:17:24, 5:46:40, 4:49:40)
\n2 Nix Birkett 17:39:44 (4:39:54, 2:25:23, 5:46:37, 4:47:48)
\n3 Neriyah Dill 17:45:29 (4:46:15, 2:23:12, 5:46:40, 4:45:29)
\n4 Stephanie von der Heyde 18:57:11 (4:49:31, 2:52:37, 6:10:26, 5:04:35)
\n5 Bianca Beavitt 19:10:21 (5:01:36, 2:29:38, 6:11:05, 5:28:01)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"