The Yukon River Quest is the world's longest annual canoe and kayak race.

It follows the Yukon River from Whitehorse to Dawson City over a distance of 740 kilometres. The race starts at the end of June to take advantage of the long summer days near the Arctic Circle, and this year took place from June 30 to July 4. The river goes through an elevation drop of about 1,000 feet between Whitehorse and Dawson City, and the gradient is fairly constant over the distance so there are only two sets of rapids to contend with on the course.

The race was first held in 1998 to commemorate the centennial of the Klondike Gold Rush and its original intention was to raise funds for the annual Yukon Quest dogsled race that goes from Whitehorse to Fairbanks, but the race has since grown into a significant event in its own right.

This year there were 82 boats entered, comprising a total of 185 people including myself and Steve Britten, members of the Hollyburn Sailing Club. We do the bulk of our kayaking from Ambleside and started training for the quest in October 2009, steadily increasing our training to paddles of 80 km on the weekends and 20 km sessions every second day before work.

True to the weather forecast, race day dawned with rain, a stiff breeze and temperature below 10 C. The first section of the race comprised about 30 km of river paddling from Whitehorse, followed by the dreaded 49-km long Lake Laberge, which is prone to strong winds and subsequently waves. While a problem for some competitors, even causing some of them to take an unwanted swim in the frigid waters, Britten and I were used to the choppy conditions having trained many times in rough seas off West Vancouver.

We continued on, blisters starting to form, and eventually entered the 30-Mile Canyon, which was much more sheltered from the wind. At midnight it was still light, but it continued to get darker until about 2 a.m., at which time it was light enough to see the river banks but too dark to make out much detail. The first compulsory rest stop of seven hours was reached after 24 hours of paddling.

We continued on in the days that followed and managed to make up a few positions in various stretches, helping to boost our morale. Over the last 100 km of the course, the river widened considerably, with many sand bars and islands. It became quite tricky to navigate, and several times what appeared to be the fastest-flowing channel became a quiet backwater, requiring unassisted paddling for many kilometres.

At around 2:30 a.m. we rounded a bend and saw the Moosehide landslide that was the prominent landmark indicating the finish of the race. The sight was invigorating and inspired us to a strong finish, coming in at 53:04. We were 13th out of 82 starters.

Due to the challenging weather conditions, the drop-out rate of other racers was higher than usual, with only 55 teams finishing this year.

For more information on the race, visit www.yukonriverquest.com.