FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
UPDATED: June 23, 2006

Record field of 75 teams set to race in 2006 Yukon River Quest

WHITEHORSE, YUKON – A record field of 75 teams with 167 paddlers representing five countries are registered to start the eighth annual Yukon River Quest Canoe and Kayak Race on Wednesday, June 28.

The 740-kilometer (460-mile) wilderness adventure paddling marathon is held on the Yukon River from Whitehorse to Dawson City in Canada's Yukon Territory. It is the longest annual canoe and kayak race in the world.

The registration period closed on May 26, but most solo and tandem slots filled back in February. The race has a limit of 70 solo and tandem teams and allows voyageur team entries above that limit.

This year a record six voyageur teams are entered, along with 28 tandem canoes, 23 solo kayaks, and 18 tandem kayaks. Winning teams in various classes receive $1,500 under a new prize structure adopted for this year. Total purse is over $20,000.

Ninety-nine paddlers from Canada represent the largest national contingent, followed by the United States with 44, Great Britain with 21, two from Austria, and one from Australia.

The Yukon leads the Canada representation with 31 paddlers, followed by 26 from British Columbia, 14 from Ontario, 11 from Alberta, 10 from Saskatchewan, four from Northwest Territories, two from Newfoundland, and one from Manitoba.

Paddlers from the USA are represented by 15 from Alaska, six each from Washington and Texas, four from New York, three from Michigan, two each from California and Hawaii, and one each from Iowa, Georgia, Wisconsin, Florida, Maine, and Illinois.

The large contingent from the United Kingdom this year is largely due to a BBC broadcast of the 2004 event that aired a year ago. Included among the 12 all-UK teams are three tandem kayak teams from the British Army, which held its own competition among soldiers this spring to fill the spots.

Biographies of all teams and other race information is available online at the race website: www.yukonriverquest.com.

After a LeMans-style start in downtown Whitehorse, teams paddle round-the-clock under the midnight sun, stopping for just two mandatory rests at Carmacks/Coal Mine Campground (7 hours) and Kirkman Creek (3 hours). It is a grueling wilderness adventure race that tests the stamina of both professional and recreational paddlers from around the globe.

In 2005 a total of 66 teams from six different countries started the event, while 50 finished. Eight category records were broken, including the new course record of 42:51:55. With lower water levels anticipated this year, it will take a monumental effort to break that record, but there are some world-class paddlers in the field that will give it their best shot.

Past class winners in this year’s race include Steve Mooney, Ingrid Wilcox and Tunde Fulop of Whitehorse, Brandon and Heather Nelson of Washington, David Kelly of California, Steve Landick of Michigan, and the Paddlers Abreast and RCMP Scarlet Fever voyageur teams from the Yukon.

Veteran River Questers Larry Seethaler of Anchorage and Heinz Rodinger of Austria are back with many others for another shot. For most paddlers, the biggest prize is just finishing the event in world famous Dawson City, site of the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897-98. The race officially ends at 8:30 a.m. on July 2, followed by an awards banquet from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Diamond Tooth Gerties.

Race results will be updated and posted on the race website throughout the event.

This years’ race is drawing media attention from Canoe and Kayak magazine, whose editor is coming up for the event, as well as Adventure Kayak magazine, which will be following two KayakForCare teams that are raising money for hospices and early cancer detection awareness.

In addition, the Paddlers Abreast team of Yukon breast cancer survivors will be filmed for the upcoming National Film Board production, “The River of Life” by Whitehorse director Werner Walcher.

The event would not be possible without the assistance of nearly 100 volunteers and sponsors. Major sponsors are the Whitehorse Star, Canadian Rangers, and Whitehorse EMO. Other logo level sponsors are Air North, Kanoe People/Clipper Canoes, PR Services/yukoninfo.com, Northland Beverages/Aquafina, Integraphics, and Cranberry Bistro/Bold Rush.

Businesses may sponsor individual team bibs by downloading a bib form off the website or contacting the race email address: info@yukonriverquest.com

Volunteers are welcome for Whitehorse, Carmacks and Dawson City. To sign up, e-mail the address above.

The race is organized by the Yukon River Marathon Paddling Association, based in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Jeff Brady, YRMPA president., info@yukonriverquest.com