The 460-mile
(740 kilometers) paddling marathon is
held on the Yukon River from Whitehorse
to Dawson City in Canada's Yukon Territory.
The race begins with a Le Mans style
start in the vicinity of First and Main
in downtown Whitehorse at 12:30 p.m.
on Wednesday, June 23.
As many
as 53 teams actually signed up by the
May 26 deadline, but there have been
two pre-race scratches to date. The
2004 field eclipses the previous record
of 36 teams in 2002.
Returning
to the race is record holder Steve Landick
of Michigan, along with experienced
paddlers and novices from seven different
nations. Six teams hail from England,
one from Scotland, 18 from the USA,
22 from Canada, one from Canada/USA
joint, one from Austria, one from Australia,
and one from Germany. The BBC will be
following one team for its "Challenge"
reality TV series.
Nearly
$15,000 (Cdn.) in prize money will be
up for grabs. Under a new prize structure,
the top 10 teams overall will receive
prize money, and cash bonuses also will
be awarded in several categories. The
first place team will receive $3,000
plus entry in the 2005 race to defend
their title. Boats are divided into
these classes: tandem canoe and kayak,
voyager canoe, and solo kayak, and there
are bonuses for top mixed, women49s,
and senior entries as well.
The race
record in elapsed time on the river
is 44 hours, nine minutes, but most
teams average between 55 and 70 hours.
This does not include 10 hours of layovers
at Carmacks (7 hours) and a new Kirkman
Creek checkpoint (3 hours), which has
been added at the request of racers
this year for extra rest time before
the final stretch. The first teams are
expected to arrive in Dawson during
the late afternoon or early evening
of Friday, June 25.
The Yukon
River Quest grew out of the gold rush
centennial Dyea to Dawson races and
has increased in popularity each year,
from 16 teams in 1999 to more than 30
teams in each of the last two years.
The 51 teams exceeded expectations of
organizers who had hoped to reach the
40 mark. Abut 20 teams signed up in
the last month.
More
information about teams can be found
on the race Web site, www.yukonriverquest.com.
Race
results will be posted on the Web at
least twice daily during the event with
updates from checkpoints at Lower Laberge,
Carmacks, Fort Seklirk, Kirkman Creek
and the finish line in Dawson. "Voice
of the River" updates also can be heard
throughout the race on Yukon radio stations.
The race cannot happen without the assistance
of Whitehorse E.M.O. and the Canadian
Rangers from several Yukon communities
who assist the race safety crews.
Official
sponsors include: The Whitehorse Star,
Acuvue Contact Lenses, Up North Adventures-Wenonah
Canoe, PR Services-yukoninfo.com, Integraphics,
City of Whitehorse, Norcan Leasing,
Summit Fuels, Haywire Industries, and
Terra Nova.
Many
other sponsors assist and are listed
on the website, including several Yukon
and Alaska businesses who sponsor bibs
worn by the racers.
The race
is organized by the Yukon River Marathon
Paddling Association, based in Whitehorse.
