SEVEN-TIME Hansa Fish River Canoe Marathon champion, Hank McGregor, has a plan to make up for his lack of K1 river racing time, and the veteran says he is race fit and raring to go at this year\u2019s edition of the race that gets underway from Grassridge Dam on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McGregor\u2019s racing calendar has been jam-packed throughout the year and with a K2 FNB Dusi title to his name, and a K2 Marathon World Championships gold medal, as well as a plethora of surfski crowns, his K1 has been gathering dust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe last time I raced a K1 in a river was the Drak Challenge!\u201d the king of marathon paddling said. \u201cI have not done a lot of river training but that will make the racing this weekend exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have done a lot of other racing this year so it\u2019s a case of I\u2019ll either have it or I won\u2019t but I know what to expect at the Fish and I am looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McGregor will go head-to-head with good friend, Euro Steel teammate and K2 partner Andy Birkett for a shot at the 2018 title. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Birkett is yet to win a K1 Fish crown, and McGregor believes that they will leave it all on the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThings have changed a lot since we last had a Fish K1 dice in 2016. Andy is great guy and full of talent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are going to have such a good time dicing it out over the two days and I am sure that the better paddler is going to come out on top.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Fish is not a short race with days of 48km and 36km respectively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite this, the fast-flowing nature of the river and the intensity of the rapids make the race exciting and a slip-up can cost valuable time and ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is always a fast race and it\u2019s about making sure that you are in touch at the end of the first day. You never want too much time to catch up on day two because then you expend energy that you will need for the final push to the finish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhoever makes the least mistakes is going to be the one in control because, although you can make up time, it can be really difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe race is so unique in that you have a sprint across the dam, a hard portage and then you have to hold on through the rapids to the finish of day one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDay two is a race to Cradock Weir and then the short, sharp sprint to the line,\u201d McGregor analysed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite Birkett potentially being his biggest threat, McGregor knows that there are other paddlers that can upset the apple cart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEvery year there are names mentioned and in the past it has been Len Jenkins and Greg Louw but they aren\u2019t going to be there this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cStu Maclaren and Jasper Mock\u00e9 have been paddling well and are familiar with the river so they will be tough competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI always feel it comes down to who can handle day one the best. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you don\u2019t expend too much energy on day one and avoid trouble you will have a chance on Saturday,\u201d McGregor explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More information can be found at www.fishmarathon.org.za<\/span>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" SEVEN-TIME Hansa Fish River Canoe Marathon champion, Hank McGregor, has a plan to make up for his lack of K1 river racing time, and the veteran says he is race fit and raring to go at this year\u2019s edition of the race that gets underway from Grassridge<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":51110,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":"","_yoast_wpseo_content_score":"","_yoast_wpseo_inclusive_language_score":"","_yoast_wpseo_is_cornerstone":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image-id":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image-id":"","newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","_crsspst_to_novanewscoza":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozabloemnewsexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozacityvision":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozadistrictmailhelderberg":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaeikestadnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozahermanustimes":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakougaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozamthathaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozanoordkaapbulletin":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapaarlpost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeoplespost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaswartlandgazette":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozatygerburger":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaudexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavistanews":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavrystaatkroon":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweskusnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweslander":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaworcesterstandard":false,"_EventAllDay":"","_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":"","_EventShowMapLink":"","_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":"","_EventVenueID":"","_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":"","_VenueShowMapLink":"","_application":"","_batch_id":"","_company_name":"","_company_tagline":"","_company_twitter":"","_company_video":"","_company_website":"","_custom_id":"cea186c7-afea-4b0c-93d3-61b3fc66c215","_EventDuration":"","_EventOrigin":"","_EventTimezoneAbbr":"","_featured":"","_filled":"","_job_expires":"","_job_location":"","_media_credit":"","_media_credit_url":"","_menu_item_menu_item_parent":"","_menu_item_object":"","_menu_item_object_id":"","_menu_item_target":"","_menu_item_type":"","_menu_item_url":"","_menu_item_xfn":"","_navis_media_can_distribute":"","_navis_media_credit_org":"","_OrganizerOrigin":"","_provider":"","_pum_built_in":"","_pum_default_theme":"","_pum_form_conversion_count":"","_remote_id":"","_remote_name":"","_remote_position":"","_report_frequency":"","_report_reference_dates":"","_send_attempts":"","_site_id":"","_sitemap_exclude":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","_sitemap_priority":"","_source_url":"","_subscription_period":"","_subscription_period_interval":"","_subscription_price":"","_tec_slr_enabled":"","_tec_slr_layout":"","_template_type":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_tribe_aggregator_allow_multiple_organizers":"","_tribe_aggregator_content_type":"","_tribe_aggregator_file":"","_tribe_aggregator_finalized":"","_tribe_aggregator_hash":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_id":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_interactive":"","_tribe_aggregator_origin":"","_tribe_aggregator_post_status":"","_tribe_aggregator_preview":"","_tribe_aggregator_source_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_type":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_hide_attendees_list":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":"","_tribe_ticket_version":"","_type":"","_VenueOrigin":"","_wp_attachment_context":"","_wp_attachment_image_alt":"","_wp_font_face_file":"","_wp_old_date":"","_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":"","_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":"","_yoast_wpseo_focuskw_text_input":"","_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_block-catalog":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_job_listing_type":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_nova_retailer":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_publication":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_tribe_events_cat":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-duration":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-rating":"","_menu_item_classes":[],"_tribe_modified_fields":[],"_wp_attachment_backup_sizes":[],"_wp_suggested_p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