History of the Yukon River Quest

How it all began...
Dyea to Dawson Centennial Race to the Klondike, 1997-98

The world’s longest annual canoe and kayak race had its birth in the Dyea to Dawson Centennial Race to the Klondike.

In 1997 and 1998, up to 50 two-person teams hiked over the 33-mile Chilkoot Trail from Dyea, Alaska to Lake Bennett, and then got in their canoes and paddled 100 miles of headwater lakes to the beginning of the Yukon River in Whitehorse, where they continued on for another 460 miles to Dawson City.

The event was a tremendous success, drawing adventure athletes from around the world, but the best teams were always the best paddlers. The 1997 event was won by the Fairbanks, Alaska team of Jim Lokken and Art Ward, and the 1998 event was won by the international team of Solomon Carriere of Cumberland House, Sask. and Steve Landick of Marquette, Mich.

The event was held only during those Klondike Gold Rush centennial years because its length made it a two-week event and difficult logistically to manage year after year, but there was tremendous interest among racers in continuing part of the event.

Dyea to Dawson organizers Jeff Brady and Buckwheat Donahue of Skagway, Alaska turned over their race notes to John Firth of Whitehorse, a participant in both races, and he solicited help from the Yukon Quest International dog sled race organization to promote a new summer event.

1999 - Inaugural Yukon River Quest
Carriere-Lokken win first event.

Firth solicited the help of a core group of volunteers who had helped with the Dyea to Dawson events, and the first Yukon River Quest began with a running LeMans-style start at noon on June 9th, 1999.

Sixteen teams of two ran to their canoes on the shore near Rotary Park in Whitehorse and started the 460 mile journey to Dawson.

Aside from an eight hour layover at Minto, teams carried on nonstop to Dawson.

First in at a time of 56 hours, nine minutes was the elite pair of Solomon Carriere and Jim Lokken, a combined team of Dyea to Dawson winners. Mark Bayard and John Roberts of British Columbia and Alberta were three hours behind, and the Yukon team of Mike Onesi and Jason Murphy took third.

The first women’s team was Laura Cabott and Danusia Kanachowski of Whitehorse in 71 hours, 20 minutes, and the top mixed team was Roger Hanberg of Dawson City and Pauline Frost of Old Crow in 75 hours, 56 minutes. There were four scratches and the last team in was Jeff and Dorothy

Brady, in 106 hours, prompting race officials to set time limits for future races.

2000 - Year Two
Carriere breaks own record with Solie.

The event moved to the last week in June to take advantage of more daylight, more water in the river, and to give teachers a chance to enter after school let out. It also was expanded to include kayaks, and three of them entered along with 14 canoes. A two-hour layover was added at Carmacks, and the Minto layover was reduced to six hours.

Carriere returned to break his own record, this time with a different Fairbanks paddler, Daniel Solie. They finished in 53 hours, 35 minutes, an hour ahead of the Wenatchee, Wash. team of Tom Feil and Jeff Mettler. Solo kayaker Yannick Bedard, 18, of Dawson City was the first Yukoner to reach the finish in 61 hours, 15 minutes, a full day faster than the next solo kayak. Heather Birchard and Tara Waddle were the top women’s team at a time of 82 hours, 13 minutes, and the fastest mixed team was Bob Vincent and Gwyn Hayman of London, Ont. in a time of 60 hours, 57 minutes, Alaskans Greg and Jane Tibbetts were the first double kayak in a time of 79 hours, 40 minutes.

Several Wenonah Jensen 181 canoes were purchased for the Yukon River Quest and sold by the Yukon Quest International as a fund-raiser. This guaranteed a fleet of fast recreation canoes for visitors to use in future races.

2001 - Year Three
Landick returns to set new record

For the third straight year, records were broken, this year by two teams. Steve Landick and Mark Churchill of Michigan, using the same Landick-designed canoe that won the 1998 Dyea to Dawson race, won the River Quest in a total time of 52 hours, nine minutes (elapsed time 44:09). Not far behind were Feil and Mettler in 53:08 (45:08 elapsed). Protests were filed about the Landick canoe, because of its odd bend in the middle, and the Washington canoe, which had a hydration system.

The race marshals concluded that for this race, the boats would be allowed and both records would stand, but that rules would be tightened up for future races to allow no modifications to any stock canoes or kayaks.

In third place, setting a mixed record, was the Manitoba team of Clifford Grieves and Leslie Baker in 57:52. Veteran Yukon canoeist Yvonne Harris and Sue DeForest of Whitehorse were the top women’s canoe team at 71:16.

Michael Rodinger led an Austrian contingent and won the solo kayak race in a record 60:30. The fastest tandem kayak team in 68:31 was Travis Holmes and Christopher Read of Alberta. Linda Bourassa of Whitehorse was the top woman solo kayaker in 85:40.

Twenty-four teams entered the race, including the first voyageur team, Paddlers Abreast, a team of Yukon breast cancer survivors, which finished in just under 86 hours.

2002 - Year Four
“The Old Guys” lead the way

A record 36 teams entered the event, and for the first half of the race, it appeared that a tandem kayak would win for the first time. But a broken rudder at the Minto checkpoint slowed down the team of Brandon Nelson and John Weed of Lotus, Calif. They were passed by “The Old Guys”, Bob Vincent of Dorchester, Ont. and Bob Bradford of Lapeer, Mich., two veteran marathon paddlers in their 60s. The image of these two paddling into the midnight sunset near Minto has been a fixture on race posters and brochures, and they won the event in 55:22. Nelson and Weed set the tandem kayak record in 56:23 (48:23 elapsed), and in third place was the Yukon canoe team of Marcus Waterreus and Jonathan Kerr in 60:13, followed 30 seconds later by Yukoners Tim Hodsgon and Paul Pageau. In fifth was the top mixed team of Hank Timm of Tok, Alaska and Colleen Raney of Whitehorse in 60:59.

Other records were broken. The women’s canoe record was blitzed by Yvonne Harris and Pat McKenna, finishing in 67:14 (59:15 elapsed), and Whitehorse’s Ingrid Wilcox set the women’s solo kayak record in 72:29 (64:29 elapsed). Top male solo kayaker was Rick Amschler of Spruce Grove, Alberta in 65:40. A fun group of Voyageurs from Quesnel, B.C., “Cariboo to the Klondike”, challenged the “Paddlers Abreast” but finished just a minute behind the Yukon women, who broke their previous record in 79:26. The field also included England’s Debra Veal, who won international acclaim for rowing solo across the Atlantic Ocean, and a BBC documentary team followed her and teammate Bruce Parry of London in the Yukon River Quest.

After the 2002 race, the event was taken over from the sled dog organization by a group of Yukon and Alaska paddlers, who formed the Yukon River Marathon Paddlers Association.

2003 - Year Five
Vincent couple wins River Quest

Setting a new mixed record was the winning team of Mike and Fiona Vincent in 55 hours, two minutes (47:02 elapsed). Mike is the son of Bob Vincent, and his wife Fiona had competed with him on a winning Texas Water Safari team in 2002. The Regina, Sask. couple came north in 2003 and kept it in the family.

Tied for second place in 56:54 were new solo kayak record holder Jerome Truran, and the canoe team of Ken Stanick and Dave Ross, all of N. Vancouver, B.C. The Yukon-Ontario team of Tim Hodgson and Paul Pageau took fourth, followed by the “Maine Yahoos to the Yukon,” setting a rowdy voyageur record in 64:13 (56:13 elapsed).

A mixed tandem kayak record of 65:01 (57:01 elapsed) also was set by Jeff Raymond and Katja Rademacher of Vancouver. Ingrid Wilcox was the top female solo kayaker again in 76:09. Jessica Reynolds and David Nash won the red lantern with a time of 93:36

Thirty-three teams competed in the event, which featured the largest international field yet with participants from England, Austria, Germany, Scotland, the Guernsey Channel Islands, and Guam. Because of limited facilities in Minto for the growing race, the race’s mid-river checkpoint was moved to the Coal Mine Campground at Carmacks.

2004 - Year Six
Record field of 51 sees new checkpoints, prize structure, 30º temps, high water, and forest fires as Landick-Barton, others break six records

Many racers had requested a second rest stop later in the race, so for the 2004 event, the Carmacks layover was reduced to seven hours, and a three-hour layover was added at Kirkman Creek. With the race now going to 10 hours of layovers, all official times in the future will be based on elapsed time on the river, and the records have been changed to reflect this.

Speaking of records, six category records were broken in the 2004 event, which saw a huge increase in the number of participants and a new prize structure. A record 51 teams started on a hot 30º C day in downtown Whitehorse with a TV crew from the BBC filming high overhead from a helicopter. An English team entered as part of the BBC Challenge reality TV show, but it was Team Michigan that set the pace. Two-time winner Steve Landick returned with Bruce Barton as partner and led from start to finish. They were on pace to set a new overall record, but were slowed down by smoky conditions for the last third of the race. The hot, dry summer resulted in the costliest fire season ever in the Yukon, and our racers passed several fires along the river. Instead of t-shirts this year, the race gave Buffs to racers, and they came in handy for both cooling off and protecting faces from smoke. The river was high and Landick’s and Barton’s winning time of 44:27 still set the stock canoe record. The best photo finish came a few hours later as the Yukon-Manitoba team of Tim Hodgson and Chris Gerwing dueled with solo kayaker Steve Mooney of Whitehorse. The canoe won bragging rights by five seconds, but Mooney shattered the men’s solo kayak record with his time of 47:58. In fourth was the Yukon team of Francis Roy and Jean-Francois Latour in 48:54, followed by another solo kayaker, Joe Bishop of Whitehorse in 49:26. The BBC mixed kayak team of Jason Merron and Charmian Gradwell came in eighth overall in a record time of 51:13. All women’s records were shattered: Ingrid Wilcox broke her own women’s solo kayak record in 56:46, Yvonne Harris and Pat McKenna broke their women’s canoe record in 57:22, and Amy Byers and Denise Kimball broke the women’s tandem kayak record in 67:04.

The new prize structure, modified after other North American marathon paddling races, awarded a top prize of $3,000 plus entry in the 2005 race. The rest of the top 10, regardless of boat class, also won money, and bonus money was awarded to the top three in several categories. All total, there was a potential payout of about $15,000.

Once again the Paddlers Abreast voyageur team raised money for breast cancer research, and their RCMP counterparts raised money to battle diabetes, getting a rousing welcome and $1,000 check from the Tr’ondek Hwech’in First Nation of Dawson City. Teams from England and Scotland also raised money for children’s charities in their homelands. Finally, not content with completing the longest paddling race in the world, the Australian team of Terry Bolland and Edgar Vaneer continued on to the Bering Sea.

2005 – Year Seven
Records shattered as two kayaks share spotlight
The YRMPA announced a new partnership with Kanoe People/Clipper Canoes which enabled the purchase of seven Clipper Jensens to replace the aging Wenonah rental fleet. The 2005 event saw more high water from an early snowmelt. A record field of 66 teams started the race on a cool, drizzly afternoon. Fifty teams finished and eight records were broken. Less then two minutes separated the three leading teams after 20 straight hours of paddling as they arrived into Carmacks. Two tandem kayak teams paddled by Yukoners Stephen Mooney and Greg McHale and American marathon racers Chris Swan and Sean Brennan of California and New Jersey worked hard to stay ahead of a canoe paddled by defending YRQ champion Steve Landick of Michigan and Texas Water Safari multi-champ Fred Mynar of Texas. As they approached the finish line, the two kayaks rafted together for a winning time of by 42 hours and 51 minutes, shattering the course record. Landick also broke his own open canoe record in 43:10, and there were new records set for solo kayak by David Kelly in 45:22, women’s canoe by Tunde Fulop and Danielle Boisvert in 55:18, Mixed Tandem Kayak by Heather and Brandon Nelson in 45:22, Women's Tandem Kayak by Danise Kimball / Amy Byers in 59:31, and Voyageur Canoe by RCMP Scarlet Fever in 55:50. After the race, the YRMPA board decided to change the prize structure to reward all classes and divisions equally, as a way of promoting more competition within classes.

2006 – Year Eight
Course record shattered again by kayak ‘super team’ – voyageurs getting popular, faster
Heavy rains at the start made for cool temperatures but a fast river, and the elite teams took advantage of it. First overall with a new course record of 40:37:05 was the tandem kayak “super team” of David Kelly and Brandon Nelson from California and Washington. The voyageur class continued to grow. As a continuation of its partnership with Kanoe People/Clipper, the YRMPA jointly purchased a new Clipper Langley Voyageur Canoe to be reserved for rental by teams coming in from outside the Yukon. During the first year, it was paddled by the False Creek Women of Vancouver, British Columbia. Five other voyageur teams entered the 2006 race, including the Yukon’s Paddlers Abreast team, which was being filmed for the National Film Board production, “River of Life”, and Kissynew from Saskatchewan which shattered the old dragon boat record and finished second overall in 42:56:13. The men’s and women’s solo kayak records also were broken by Carter Johnson and Heather Nelson respectively, and Yukoner Pauline Frost-Hanberg and Viki Cirkvencic broke the women’s canoe record (see records page). Veteran Steve Landick and Gregg Nelson of Michigan took the men’s canoe division, and Veronica Wisniewski and Edoh Amiran of Washington won in mixed canoe. Seventy-three teams started the event, thanks in part to a dozen entries from Great Britain, including two kayak teams from the British Army finished strong behind Kelly and Nelson. Racers were able to benefit from a new travel deal reached by the YRMPA with Yukon carrier Air North. However, the rainy and cool conditions kept safety boats busy early in the race, as 13 teams scratched before even reaching Carmacks. After the race, officials decided to add more items to the mandatory gear list for 2007, so teams are better prepared if they have to stop for a while and warm up. The YRMPA board also opened up the canoe division to allow standard class canoes, as well as solo canoes for 2007.

2007 – Year Nine
The race will take place June 27 - July 1, 2007 starting in Whitehorse and ending in Dawson City.

– Compiled by Jeff Brady