A race through the Yukon

Ted Lowe’s training secret could boost the esteem spouses have for partners consumed with the adventurous ambition

The Spokane kayaker and his tandem teammate, Bob Rust of Sandpoint, prepared for years to enter the world’s longest annual canoe and kayak race – the 460-mile Yukon River Quest from Whitehorse to Dawson City.

They trained occasionally on Lake Pend Oreille, launched separate marathon paddling adventures and tested their team efficiency this spring by paddling 53 miles from Bayview to Priest River in 10 1/2 hours.

But Lowe said the one exercise that clearly improved his prospects, both at home and on the water, was landscaping his yard.

“It’s a great way to toughen your hands and tone your upper body,” he said. “Another experienced kayak racer told me it’s the best thing you can do.”

With his yard looking great and a freshly seeded relationship with his family, Lowe, 57, joined Rust, 62, for race through the midnight sun.

“Bob had asked me to be his partner and I quickly accepted,” Lowe recalled, noting wryly that “I probably should have thought about it.”

A record field of 67 teams launched in a LeMans start on June 29 for the seventh annual Yukon race, a summertime take-off on the region’s famous Yukon Quest dogsled race. Overseas entries from Austria, Australia and the United Kingdom joined the larger contingent of teams from Canadian and the U.S.

For the first time, the number of kayaks in the race exceeded the number of canoes, with 24 solo kayaks, 14 tandem kayaks, 26 canoes and three voyageur canoes. Eleven women’s teams participated along with nine mixed teams. They competed partly for $15,000 in prize money, but mostly to test their mettle against a tough field of serious paddlers.

The winners were two men in a tandem kayak finishing in 42 hours and 51 minutes. The top canoe team finished in 43:10 and the top solo kayaker finished in 45:22.

Rust and Lowe finished in 51 hours, 43 minutes.

“We did OK for old guys,” Lowe said noting they finished 11th overall and third among male kayak teams.

“Everyone else was about 20 years younger,” Rust said.

While Rust and Lowe suffered the disadvantage of being gainfully employed, they met other racers who were outstanding for a reason.

“One guy had already paddled around Vancouver island solo,” Lowe said. “After the Yukon River Quest, his partner was driving him to Skagway so he could paddle to Port Hardy. Then his partner was going to Jasper to paddle down the Athabasca River and then head out the McKenzie to the Beaufort Sea – solo!”

“There was quite a variety of boats, including a homemade one that weighs only 20-some pounds compared to ours that weighs 90 pounds before we put the gear in it,” Rust said. “Ultimately, though, the boat is not what makes the difference.”

“Bottom line is the paddling, learning how to efficiently spear the water with each stroke, and figuring how to maintain speed, day and night,” Lowe said.

Rust is a family physician and Lowe is mining, health and safety researcher for the Center of Disease Control in Spokane. Even though he is a specialist in geographic information systems, navigating the sprawling Yukon River was a constant challenge, he said.

They got out of their 22-foot kayak only three times during the race, including the seven-hour mandatory rest stop and another time to mitigate a navigation error down an impassible channel. Lowe had to get out of the boat and line it upstream while Rust stayed aboard and poled.

“The current can be deceiving,” Lowe said. “The fastest boats had scouted and mapped the channels for the fastest current, which really moves at about 8 mph. But there are so many channels, people get lost out there.”

Each boat was required to carry an orange signaling flag, first aid kit and six flares.

Like river angels, Rust’s wife, Marian, and family friend Brian Jokela of Deer Park appeared at several river checkpoints to refresh the paddlers with food, clothing and encouragement.

Both men said there’s no way they could overrate the importance of having a support team for such a long endurance test.

The scariest part of the course isn’t necessarily the several sets of rapids, but rather the 30-mile crossing of Lake Leberge, which can take 5 to 9 hours depending on conditions, which can instantly range from mild to terrifying.

“A storm came through while we were on the lake,” Lowe said. “It missed the leaders, but it hit some paddlers hard with a downpour and wind.

“I actually think that compared with other paddlers we were at our best on the lake in the headwinds because we’ve trained a lot on the Arrow Lakes and Pend Oreille and we’re used to the big water and wave action.”

Rust and Lowe treated river water for drinking and avoided the endurance nutrition gels between meals in favor of munching on apples, oranges and chicken chunks.”

“That real food sounded pretty good to a couple of canoeists toward the end of the race,” Lowe said. “We traded them some of it for their chocolate-covered coffee beans to help us stay awake.”

The glow of the midnight sun dipping below the horizon was stunning, Rust said, but both men said the pace of going so hard virtually non-stop for more than two days left little time for wildlife appreciation.

“We didn’t see much, some beavers, a moose swimming the river, not much more although some other paddlers saw a grizzly and two cubs,” Lowe said.

Indeed some paddlers at the end of the race were looking so dazed they probably weren’t seeing anything – or they were hallucinating and seeing some really incredible wildlife, he said.

One of the canoeists was being scrutinized at the finish line check station for not having his first aid kit aboard until he showed the officials his hands.

“He’d used all the bandages on his hands,” Lowe said. “He apparently didn’t do enough landscaping before the race.”