CAPE TOWN - With the 2020 Berg River Canoe Marathon cancelled along with other sporting events due to the Covid-19 lockdown regulations, the race organisers have arranged a ground-breaking virtual race called the ""Ultra Paddle".
"Ultra Paddle" that will allow canoeists around the world to be part of a show of solidarity, and share in the enthusiasm for the 59-year-old classic event while raising money to support Canoeing South Africa’s food relief programme.
The four day, 240km race from Paarl to the Cape West Coast town of Velddrif, which was to have started on 8 July, always attracts a core of paddlers keen to test themselves against the river, weather and sheer distance of the race that has made it one of the toughest of it’s kind in the world.
The virtual race aims to make the multi-day epic accessible to a far wider audience than normal, by asking paddlers to cover the 240km before the end of July, allowing athletes to take on the challenge in more manageable distances.
* More information can be found at www.berg.org.za