THERE were emotional scenes on the banks of the Murray River yesterday when the Mayes family guided the first canoe across the line on day two of the Murray Marathon.
The Mayes, paddling the only K4 (four-seater) craft in the race, are racing in memory of Ian Mayes, a respected Ballarat obstetrician who lost his battle with cancer earlier this year.
Ian Mayes’s son Richard, one of four siblings in the team, said Ian had always wanted his family to contest the marathon together since he first participated in 2000.
“We all crewed for him over the years and 10 years ago he said he would love to take a K4 canoe down the river and went out and bought one,” he said.
“Unfortunately we never got to complete it with him so when he died we decided to do it this year in his memory.”
The open section winner in stage two yesterday was Tony Hystek (Lidscombe, NSW) in six hours, seven minutes and 37 seconds from Nick Poltock (Don, Tasmania) 6.12.50 and team Double Dragon 6.20.44.
Yesterday’s journey from Tocumwal to Picnic Point was the longest of the five-day event.
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