Dusi legend Birkett prepping for another title charge
Making training more exciting and less mundane part of his strategy
After a memorable 2022 that saw him win twice internationally and three of the major national river marathon titles, East London’s Dusi legend Andy Birkett will return to Kwazulu-natal’s premier event
the Dusi Canoe Marathon in 2023, February 16-18.
Birkett racked up a 12th Dusi title with apprentice David Evans in 2022 to see his record improve to 12 wins in 13 years, with just the K1 in 2013 the only race he hasn’t won since 2010, which highlights his dominance of this gruelling challenge.
The Euro Steel star has finished 18 Dusi Canoe Marathons and has arguably perfected the preparation and execution of a race plan. However, he doesn’t go into each race with the same routine as the last.
“I wouldn’t say I follow the same plan every year, because I can’t remember what I did last year,” Birkett said with a laugh.
“I would say though that my goal and emphasis now is to not get injured.
“I saw in the first few years when I tried to tick the boxes of what to do in my Dusi build-up, I would force it a bit too much and get injured and be forced to take more time off.
“Then you get to race day in a worse shape than if you had just backed off a bit and listened to your body.”
With years of Dusi preparation under his belt, Birkett is still trying to find new ways to make training more exciting and less mundane in the leadup to the race.
“One thing I have done is I’ve tried to change things up and make training more enjoyable and not just try to tick boxes.
“I really enjoy the paddle/run sessions we do over the weekends and just getting creative with those and making sure it’s not just doing the same thing every weekend.
“Even during the week, I try to mix things up and I think I’ll try different things this year that I didn’t do last year.
“We’ve got the lagoon here in East London and I also try to spend as much time as I can on my ski in the ocean.
“In terms of running, we always find new trails to run and explore and I just try to use what I have at my disposal and not force the plan.”
Birkett, who will be in Kwazulu-natal this weekend at Midmar where he will share his insights with paddlers on how he prepares for the Dusi, feels even an event like this helps in diversifying his preparation.
“Getting a group of people together to train always helps and this Midmar Mini also helps because I remember in KZN we always used to have tripping sessions on the river, and with a crew of people it’ sa lot of fun.
“Down in East London I’m training with Matt Fenn, my wife Nikki, and Josh Fenn, so it’s nice having the group there to work with.”
Entries for the Dusi 2023 open soon and updated information will be available at www.dusi.co.za.