Dusi Canoe Marathon commences

The Dusi Canoe Marathon started on 22 December 1951, when eight individuals arranged to canoe from Alexandra Park in Pietermaritzburg to Durban.These eight individuals were Ian Player, Denis Vorster, Miles Brokensha, Fred Schmidt, Ernie Pearce, Basil Halford, John Naudé, and Willie Potgieter. The men had to make their way through the Umsindusi, the Valley of a Thousand Hills and the Umgeni. Ian Player was the only one out of the eight people, who reached the final destination in 6 days, 8 hours and 15 minutes. He went on to publish a book about the development of the Dusi Canoe Marathon in 1964, titled Men, Rivers and Canoes. The Dusi Canoe Marathon is one of the most iconic canoe races in the world, attracting between 1 600 and 2 000 paddlers each year.