The Yukon River Quest

Each year in the height of summer, a surreal challenge unfolds on the third-longest river in North America. The Yukon River Quest is an annual ultra-marathon paddling race across SUP and various other disciplines, taking place in Canada’s Yukon Territory. Teams from around the globe come to challenge themselves in this self-supported, non-stop paddling odyssey through some of Canada’s pristine and untouched wilderness.

- Chris Couve

Bart de Zwart won the 2019 Yukon River Quest, completing the 444 mile expedition race from Whitehorse to Dawson City in a winning time of 56 hours 47 minutes and 47 seconds. This is Bart’s account of this year’s epic. “After some intensive training in the past 2 months, with plentiful hours on the water and many early mornings, I felt well prepared when I travelled to Whitehorse, Canada.

Although I felt confident in my preparation, I was not without concern about the weather as it showed a northerly wind brewing for the first day which can make for a treacherous paddle across the lake.

My support member, Kalin Palet, helped by holding my board steady – the new All Star 14 x 24.5 with all the obligatory gear – on the river’s edge as the race begins with a 400 meter run to the board. I had an excellent start, of the 125 teams I was the first on the water. I knew that multi-person canoes would soon fly by but my intent was to have some distance on the SUP racers in the first few hundred meters with whom I was competing. This sounds weird for a 715 km race but once I have a gap I often won’t lose that until the finish – it’s a mental thing – so starts are important even in a race like this. But you will always be chased.