A TOUGH challenge awaits the country’s top canoeists as they attempt the non-stop 110km Husqvarna Canoe marathon on February 25. The top competitors in the field of more than twenty paddlers are recent Dusi Canoe marathon winners Mark Perrow and Martin Dreyer. Perrow and Dreyer, who last year claimed victory in the race when he paddled to victory with Gavin Tarr, are among the favourites to win the race this year. The murderous event sees canoeists start in Pietermaritzburg and end at Blue Lagoon in Durban, and barring catastrophe, the winners should reach the finishing line in under eight-and-a-half hours.