The starting horn sounded at 9 a.m. Pacific Time this morning in downtown Whitehorse. John Firth, who paddled in both the 1997 and 1998 Dyea to Dawson centennial races, was the one who let it rip, and sent 200 paddlers jogging across Rotary Park and down to their boats, where they scrambled to push off the gravel bar and into the current.
(Image credit – Peta Nolan – thanks Peta!)
The big news before the start was last night’s decision to end this year’s race in Carmacks. The call was made by the YRMPA board after receiving guidance from the Yukon’s Emergency Measures Organization and Wildland Fire Management: crews and resources are pouring into Dawson City to fight the fires, which since last week have resulted in multi-day evacuation alerts for both West Dawson and the eastern Klondike Valley. Of course, many racers were disappointed to be covering 300 kilometres rather than the planned 715. But the mood as they set out was focused and optimistic – they still had anywhere from 24 to 36 hours of nonstop paddling in front of them, and in a wilderness race, sometimes the wilderness resets the rules.
It was perfect weather for a paddle, sunny with some broken cloud and a light tailwind. Crowds lined the bank and cheered as the teams pushed off and disappeared downriver. With this year’s low water, no one was quite certain how quickly the racers would arrive at Lake Laberge.
The racers were in luck: Laberge was glassy as the afternoon began. The first teams passed checkpoint #1 at Policeman’s Point and emerged from the river onto the lake just a few minutes before noon, with the lead often appearing to change (although our trackers can be deceptive) between a pack of boats that included #24 Estonian Vikings (in a tandem kayak), #37 Green Machine (a British voyageur squad), #17 Belgian Bear (a solo kayaker), #107 Mike and Steve (in a tandem canoe), and #103 Rage Against the Current (another C2). That group, along with #85 Paddling for Est (in a K2), continued to jockey with one another throughout most of Laberge’s long 50 kilometres of flat water. Eventually the gaps between them grew: as the end of the lake neared, #37 Green Machine was able to extend their lead, while about a kilometre behind them, #24 Estonian Vikings worked to hold off challenges from #85 Paddling for Est and #107 Mike and Steve. If anyone’s counting, that’s two Estonian teams that spent a chunk of the afternoon vying for our top three positions!
In the end, #37 Green Machine was the first boat to reach the Lower Laberge checkpoint and put the lake behind them.
The rest of the racers will follow them off the lake and onto the famously beautiful Thirty Mile stretch of the Yukon River, where they’ll watch the sun set and then rise again soon thereafter. Beyond Lake Laberge, more than 200 kilometres of river remain in front of them. They have until 9 p.m. Thursday evening, 36 hours after the starting horn blew, to reach Carmacks in order to be counted as an official finisher.
Main image credit – Eva Holland