Robyn Kime smashed the first day record and blitzed her nearest challengers on the opening day of The Unlimited Dusi Canoe Marathon, contested between the Natal Canoe Club at Camps Drift and Dusi Bridge, over a distance of 42 kilometers. She will take a lead of close to 14 minutes over Abby Adie into day two.

Conditions were hot, almost cloudless, but thanks to an early start, the leading ladies were able to push a good pace, with Jen Theron leading from Camps Drift.

“We were racing together, keeping a fairly comfortable pace up until Campbell's Portage,” Kime said. “At the portage, I took out first and ran hard up the hill and didn't see anyone else for the rest of the day. From there, it was a hard grind in the hot weather and pushing hard.”

Kime opened up a good gap on Adie at Campbell’s, but being out in front comes with its own challenges, as Kime explained afterwards. “When you're out on your own, you've just got to settle into your own pace. You've got to keep reminding yourself that you don't know where anyone else is and you're not going to see anyone. You don't get any information. From the top of Campbell's to Guinea Fowl really, you don't see your seconds at all. You don't know anything, if you're ahead.”

At the Fingerneck Portage, Kime received a split for the first time. “They told me it was nine minutes. I really couldn't believe it. I kept pushing to extend my lead to as big as I could make it.”

The river level was low, but the pace was torrid and Kime admitted that she considered her chances of breaking the record en route to the finish. Ultimately, she bettered the old mark by three minutes.

“After Cabbage Tree, I knew in my mind what the record was and had a look at it. It was actually Abbey Ulansky's (neé Miedema) record. But she set it a few years ago. She also had a swim at the Ernie Pierce Weir then. I took about two minutes [our of her time] just from that swim. The other minute is probably the faster boats these days so I don't know if I am better than her yet,” she said.

Kime had in the past made an unhealthy habit of taking a swim at Ernie Pierce Weir. Not doing that this time around made for a much easier stage, she said.

“When I've swum at Ernie Pierce [in the past], then the next 10 kilometres up until the Campbell's Portage have been a flat-out sprint to make up time. It's a big plus to be able to settle into a more comfortable pace and to have a little bit more energy for the hills.”

For second placed Abby Adie, the portages were a tiring experience. “I battled with the hills and the running,” she said. “It felt like I went backwards more than forwards.

“The paddling was good. I had one horrible swim at the Maze, which wasted quite a bit of time. It went nicely on the water, just the running killed me. I just didn't have it in my legs.”

Epworth pupil Bianca Haw, competing in the under-18 section, joined Kime and Adie, former Epworth girls, in the top three. “I surprised myself the most I think,” she smiled afterwards. “It's great to be sitting next to my heroes. Hopefully I can keep it up tomorrow and the next day.”

Looking ahead to day two, Kime admitted that even with a 14-minute advantage, the race is far from won.

“Tomorrow we are going to have big water, which means things can go wrong, and if things go wrong they can go very badly wrong,” she reckoned. “On the Dusi, anything can happen. Nothing is completely comfortable.

“You want to have as big a gap as possible on day one, so if you do have a swim or two on day two, you still have enough in the bank. I'm going to have to keep pushing very hard. These girls behind me are very strong on the water and I believe Bianca Haw has been blitzing the hills, so I had better watch out.”

Haw said she was looking forward to day two because she has put in the kind of work that should benefit her on waters that are expected to be considerably higher after good rainfall in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands.

She said: “I've been practicing a lot down big water on the Umkomaas [River], so I am looking forward to it. Hopefully we don't hit any rocks and hopefully I stay in the boat. I've been swimming a lot lately. Hopefully with my new boat I'm not going to be swimming so much anymore though.”

Abby Adie, too, said she welcomed the next two days when a greater premium would be placed on paddling than on stage one.

“Tomorrow definitely favours me more. I knew today was going to be hard, but I didn't realise how hard. But the next two days favour me,” she said.

“I like the big water and definitely more paddling. I'm not the runner I thought I was. So I'm looking forward to the next two stages. I want to go carefully because it is going to be full.”

Hilary Pitchford reached Dusi Bridge in fourth place, having lost over 20 minutes to race leader Kime, while Jen Theron ended in fifth place.

The second stage of The Unlimited Dusi starts on Friday 15th of February at Dusi Bridget, and ends at Msinsi Resort on Nagle dam. The race ends at Blue Lagoon in Durban on 16 February 2013.