100 Km/24 hours: this challenge was born on 22nd June 2006 when 23 boats started from Voru and 18 of those arrived to the Lake Pihkva/Pskovskoe.
13 years later, on 19th April 2019, 1074 boats participated to the 14th edition of Võhandu Maraton and 968 earned the medal: a WRF representative team paddled for 19 hours on a R4 Time Trial raft.
The marathon's venue is beautiful: totally sorrounded by nature.
After leaving Lake Tamula in Võru, the riverbanks are low, but they rise gradually until after some hours of canoeing the river enters a primeval valley. The steep and forested riverbanks of the primeval valley are interspersed with adjoining valleys and numerous sandstone outcrops. There are many springs and caves in the sandstone cliffs and adjoining valleys. In the last part of the marathon the riverbanks are low again.
There are great views from the river of wild forests, meadows and sandstone outcrops that our ancestors used to call walls.
Seven water mills have been built on the river, only ruins are left of some of them - passing the dams of these water mills should get your adrenaline going.
The President of the Estonian Canoe Federation and member of the Estonian Olympic Committee, Mr. Martin Ilumets, received the WRF team with the event manager Hillar Irves (member of the Estonian Canoe Federation): the President Ilumets declared that Estonian Canoe Federation, as new WRF Member, is ready to cooperate with World Rafting Federation in order to develop rafting in Estonia and Europe.
https://www.vohandumaraton.ee/en/
