World’s Longest Canoe Race Underway
22 Jul
The first running of the longest canoe race ever contested got underway on Monday.
Nineteen teams of canoeists and kayakers — including one six-paddler voyageur canoe team — are working their way down 1,000 miles of Yukon River. From its start in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, the first annual Yukon 1000 Canoe and Kayak Race will race to its finish in Alaska, at the point where the Dalton Highway and the Alaska Pipeline intersect the river.
The race sounds as much like 19 separate 1,000-mile expeditions as a paddling contest. In fact, race organizers characterize their event uniquely.
“This race is held in the same spirit of the 20th century explorer prizes: the first to fly the English Channel, the first to fly the Atlantic. No one expected the Daily Mail or Raymond Orteig (who offered the prizes) to provide any safety cover,” the Yukon 1000 web site says. “We provide the frame work of the race, we provide monitoring and presentation of the progress of teams, and that is where our responsibilities end. Each team should think of itself as being on a self sufficient expedition.”
As of Wednesday morning, the tandem kayak team of Darren Crocker and Earl Hewett led the race. The leading tandem canoeists, Ardie Olson and Rod Price, are in 4th place overall, less than five miles behind.
You can follow the progress of the competition — which is expected to take between seven and twelve days — HERE, as the race collects the location of each team via Spot technology.
You can meet some of the teams participating in the race HERE and HERE.
