麻豆社区

DAWSON鈥圕ITY 鈥� Perhaps one of the biggest gaffes regarding the Yukon River Quest would be to underestimate its difficulty.

Hungarian teammates Dr. Krist贸f Sz谩m and Dr. Istv谩n M眉nch came next to last in this year鈥檚 race, earning them the Red Stove Award at yesterday鈥檚 awards banquet.

After receiving the trophies 鈥� a stove cut in half 鈥� before the crowd, the two 40-year olds gracefully took their feet out of their mouths and talked to the Star about how wrong they had been about the race.

Coming to the Yukon to do the River Quest was an alternative sightseeing venture.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 like to visit a country as a normal tourist,鈥� Sz谩m said.

While on a train to Berlin last year, a man who told Sz谩m about his own adventures on the Yukon River, inspiring Sz谩m to go there and see it with his own eyes.

He then stumbled across the race online and decided that would be the way he and his friend M眉nch would explore the North.

Both men are athletic and play a lot of sports, M眉nch being a water polo player in Hungary.

But they had no prior paddling experience.

鈥淚 saw the pictures from the last racers, and I said: 鈥極h, come on. If 60- and 70-year-old people can do it, then we can.鈥�

鈥淚t will be hard, but it will be fine.鈥�

They quickly discovered that there is something to be said about having experience in a canoe before tackling 715 kilometres of river.

鈥淭echnique is important as well as experience. Power is not always enough,鈥� Sz谩m explained.

The men persevered until the end, finishing the race in 70 hours and 39 minutes.

Although it was a tough haul, the men were somewhat open-minded to the idea of trying the race again.

鈥淟et鈥檚 wait and see,鈥� Sz谩m wavered. 鈥淚f we are lucky, we might be able to finish one place past the red lantern.鈥�

M眉nch was more enthusiastic, adding that if they did it again, they would reassemble the stove pieces 鈥渢o symbolize the theme of the race and their friendship.鈥�

The last place finishers were tandem kayakers Laura Maclean and Lisa Brougham, from B.C.

Both teams were recognized at the awards banquet for completing the race, despite the difficulties they encountered along the way.