Yukon River Quest
Dave Reid's Notes
Some of you may be aware that I am participating in a paddling race up in the Yukon at the end of this month. I have been asked by a few people how they can track my progress during the race. So, the purpose of this note is to provide you with some basic info about the race itself, and how you can monitor my whereabouts, should you so desire.
The Race. The name of the race is call the “Yukon River Quest (YRQ),” or sometimes referred to as the Race to the Midnight Sun. It is the longest annual paddling race in the world. It starts in Whitehorse, and finishes in Dawson City….a mere 715 kms!! This year, there are 94 boats (teams) that have entered, from 14 countries (Canada, USA, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Ivory Coast, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, Switzerland, and the UK). There are various paddling categories - solo kayak (K1), tandem kayak (K2), solo canoe (C1), tandem canoe (C2), Voyageur canoe, and stand-up paddle board (SUP). I have entered the solo kayak (K1) category. In this category there are 17 of us.
Times. The race will commence at 1200 hours on Wednesday 29 June in Whitehorse. Along the 715 km route there are two mandatory stops. The first one is at Carmacks for 7 hours. The second stop is at Coffee Creek for 3 hours. Other than that, you can paddle as long as you can stay awake!! The race must be completed in 84 hours or less. The winners usually finish the race just under 50 hours. My goal is to finish between 60 to 70 hours, …God willing!!! That should put me in Dawson City sometime around 1000 to 2000 hours on Saturday 2 July.
Links. I have provided two links below for tracking purposes (or use buttons below):
Well, that’s about it. I am looking forward to the adventure…. despite potential crappy weather, cold nights, mega blisters, fatigue, hallucinations, mosquitos, bears, two sets of rapids, and whatever else Mother Nature decides to throw into the mix……it should be the most fun I’ve had in a long time!!!! Wish me luck
Dave
Some of you may be aware that I am participating in a paddling race up in the Yukon at the end of this month. I have been asked by a few people how they can track my progress during the race. So, the purpose of this note is to provide you with some basic info about the race itself, and how you can monitor my whereabouts, should you so desire.
The Race. The name of the race is call the “Yukon River Quest (YRQ),” or sometimes referred to as the Race to the Midnight Sun. It is the longest annual paddling race in the world. It starts in Whitehorse, and finishes in Dawson City….a mere 715 kms!! This year, there are 94 boats (teams) that have entered, from 14 countries (Canada, USA, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Ivory Coast, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, Switzerland, and the UK). There are various paddling categories - solo kayak (K1), tandem kayak (K2), solo canoe (C1), tandem canoe (C2), Voyageur canoe, and stand-up paddle board (SUP). I have entered the solo kayak (K1) category. In this category there are 17 of us.
Times. The race will commence at 1200 hours on Wednesday 29 June in Whitehorse. Along the 715 km route there are two mandatory stops. The first one is at Carmacks for 7 hours. The second stop is at Coffee Creek for 3 hours. Other than that, you can paddle as long as you can stay awake!! The race must be completed in 84 hours or less. The winners usually finish the race just under 50 hours. My goal is to finish between 60 to 70 hours, …God willing!!! That should put me in Dawson City sometime around 1000 to 2000 hours on Saturday 2 July.
Links. I have provided two links below for tracking purposes (or use buttons below):
- The web site for the race is yukonriverquest.com At this site, there is a tab labelled “Race Tracker.” Click on this tab, and then click “2016 Results” on the drop-down window. Again, there are more tabs. Click on the “Solo” tab, and then click on the “Men’s Solo Kayak” tab. Scroll down the list of names and you will find me under the team/boat name of “Sko.” As of today, my race number is 33, but that could change by race day. You can also see where I am on the map by clicking on the “Map” tab….just scroll down until you see “33 Sko,” and then click on the little boat icon.
- The second option to monitor my progress is to click on my SPOT link. SPOT is a locator beacon device that we all must have on our boats. SPOT sends my location as a waypoint every 30 minutes. The link for my SPOT is http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0QtM8QUctDVlm6RonjMA2dVWAvOl6yZ68 (please note that this is a different link than the one I have provided to some of you already). To make it easy, just copy the link and save it to your browser favorites/bookmark. The link will take you to the SPOT tracking app. I will be required to turn off my SPOT twice during the race…once at Carmacks (7 hours) and again at Coffee Creek (three hours), so during these rest periods you will not see any activity.
Well, that’s about it. I am looking forward to the adventure…. despite potential crappy weather, cold nights, mega blisters, fatigue, hallucinations, mosquitos, bears, two sets of rapids, and whatever else Mother Nature decides to throw into the mix……it should be the most fun I’ve had in a long time!!!! Wish me luck
Dave
Yukon River quest WebsiteAt this site, there is a tab labelled “Race Tracker.” Click on this tab, and then click “2016 Results” on the drop-down window. Again, there are more tabs. Click on the “Solo” tab, and then click on the “Men’s Solo Kayak” tab. Scroll down the list of names and you will find me under the team/boat name of “Sko.”
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spot LocatorSPOT sends my location as a waypoint every 30 minutes once the race has started. The races commences 1200 hours on Wednesday 29 June Yukon Time
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