麻豆社区

DAWSON CITY 鈥� Shaun Thrower and Steve King led the 2014 Yukon River Quest from start to finish en route to winning the 16th annual race.

The British kayak duo 鈥� known as 鈥楾wo Numbnuts' 鈥� crossed the finish line in Dawson City Friday night at 7:30. Their official time of 45 hours, 30 minutes and 32 seconds was about six hours off the course record, set in 2008 by the voyageur crew known as 鈥楾eam Kissynew.'

Thrower, 53, is a four-time race veteran while the 41-year-old King was a race rookie coming off a win at the World Quadrathon Championship in May.

The swim, kayak, cycle and run 麻豆社区said winning the marathon paddling race was very satisfying.

"I've had a great year this year, and this has topped it off,鈥� King said. "This was the ultimate aim. I had a plan coming into this year for a couple of races, but this was the ultimate one to go for.鈥�

King said he and Thrower were prepared for the gruelling odyssey from Whitehorse to Dawson City.

"When you've done other long races, you know how to deal with it,鈥� he said, adding that he hopes to return to the race again in the future.

Thrower said winning the race was always a goal for him, since he first completed the River Quest in 2006.

"It's a great thing for me,鈥� Thrower told the Star. "Me and Steve have paddled strong before and we've won other races. It's big for me.鈥�

Thrower said he may hang up his River Quest hat for good following his big win, which earned both he and King $726.

"I think I've probably done it now,鈥� he said. "I may come back, but I very much doubt it. I wanted to win the race. We've come here and done that, and I think most of my work here is done and we'll move onto other races.鈥�

Thrower said the race went to plan, with nothing save low water levels hampering their time.

Race runner-up Dave Hutchison pushed the duo from Herefordshire, U.K., from start to finish, entering the Klondike only 55 minutes behind them.

"He kept us clean,鈥� said Thrower. "We could have eased up a lot more, but we didn't.鈥�

Hutchison failed to catch the two-man team after bearing down on them near the end of Lake Laberge.

The 53-year-old said he spent much of the race alone, and a grizzly bear on the riverbank provided one of his few conversations during the odyssey.

"I paddled over to it and said hi,鈥� Hutchison chuckled. "The challenge (of travelling alone) is you don't really know where you stand.

"I was trying to close in on the K2 boat the whole time. But as long as I didn't see anyone behind me, I was happy.鈥�

The Whitehorse voyageur canoe group 鈥楾eam Ts'alvit' finished third overall, reaching Dawson just before 10:45 p.m. Friday with an overall time of 48:43:26.

The team, whose name stems from the Gwich'in translation for Arctic loon, consisted of Jim and Pam Boyde, Pauline Frost-Hanberg, Monique Levesque, Kim Outridge, Jake Paleczny and Karen Mann.

Captain Jim Boyde said he was "very, very proud鈥� of his group.

"We certainly placed as best that we could,鈥� the 71-year-old said. "It's very difficult to train for the difficulties of this race, and it's almost impossible to train for the conditions. But we paddled very well together, especially in the last stretch.鈥�

By MARCEL VANDER WIER

Star Sports Editor