DAWSON CITY, YUKON (July 3, 2019) – Canoe Kayak Canada marathon paddlers Ivan English and Mike Vincent finished first overall paddling a C2 in the world’s longest annual paddling race – the Yukon River Quest, beating several six person voyageur canoes. The race began at 12pm on Wednesday June 26th, and finished by 9pm on Saturday June 30th.
This iconic race is a 715km marathon paddle from Whitehorse to Dawson City, Yukon, with participants stopping only for two mandatory rests which total 10 hours. There were a record 117 teams who started the race this year representing 13 countries. The race is open to solo canoes, kayaks and SUPs, tandem canoes and kayaks, as well as four person canoes and six person voyageur canoes.
The Saskatchewan duo whose team name was ‘#wepaddletogether’ finished five hours before the second C2 crew reached the finish, despite several environmental challenges including low water levels, strong headwinds and forest fire smoke.
English and Vincent had raced together before, but never in the River Quest. “He’s probably one of the best paddlers I’ve ever met,” said English about partner Vincent. “He knows how to manage all the situations.” Vincent even designed and made the C2 that was paddled in the quest.
View the complete race results here.
Next year’s Yukon River Quest is being held from June 25th to June 29th 2020. Registration opens on November 1st 2019. For more information visit the race website here.
Visit Canoe Kayak Canada’s website to get more information and make sure to follow @PlanetCanoe and @CanoeKayakCAN for more live updates.
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About Canoe Kayak Canada
Canoe Kayak Canada (CKC) is the national governing body for competitive paddling in Canada, one of Canada’s top performing summer sports with a total of 24 Olympic medals, and a leader in the Paralympic movement. Canoe Kayak Canada is a member-based organization that includes an intricate network of clubs as well as provincial, territorial and divisional paddling associations. Elite National Team athletes proudly represent Canada at various competitions around the globe – most notably the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Pan American Games, ICF World Cups as well as Junior, Under 23 and Senior World Championships. Follow Canoe Kayak Canada on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
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Laurel MacAdam
Communications Intern
Colleen Coderre
Communications Lead