麻豆社区

Adventure racing requires a certain type of individual.

In addition to being physically prepared, the athletes require the mental endurance to push past their limitations and perform outside their comfort zone.

For Mike Tribes, local adventure racer and organizer of the Yukon Adventure Challenge, that state of mind is a comfortable place.

"I enjoy adventure racing and I want people to have a chance to do it here in the Yukon,鈥� said the experienced racer who has competed across Western Canada.

"It also gives me a chance to see who is out there and what caliber of adventure racers are around when I'm looking for teammates.鈥�

This past weekend 10 teams competed in the Yukon Advenutre Challenge, including 14 women and eight men.

This year's route consisted of 80-kilometres of paddling, trekking and mountain biking.

The 22 participants gathered at Swan Haven shortly after 7 a.m. on Saturday morning.

The first test was paddling down the Yukon River to Golden Horn. There, they pulled their boats onto the east side of the shore and began their trek to the top of Grey Mountain, climbing over 1,300 feet in elevation through thick brush.

Tribes said the teams ranged from two to four and a half hours to reach the peak.

At the top of the mountain, racers jumped onto their mountain bikes and raced down Grey Mountain Road, reaching the Mangusun ski and bike trails, following the routes to Long Lake Road.

When they reached the Yukon River, they were back in the water, loading their bikes into canoes and paddling across.

After reaching shore, they cycled the remaining distance to the Hotsprings, finishing the route on zip line provide by Equinox Rox.

Leading the way was the team "They who shall not be named,鈥� a duo of Mike Martin and Justin Wallace.

Martin and Wallace flew through the course, reaching some checkpoints before Tribes even had a chance to get them set-up.

They completed the course at 2:30 p.m., more than two hours ahead of the second place team, Gone for a year, composed of Jean-Francois Roldan and Daniel Girouard.

"They were strong in all the displcines and they beat all my time estimates,鈥� Tribes said of Wallace and Martin.

The duo also had experience on their side, Martin has raced alongside Tribes in past adventure races and Wallace set a new course record this past winter in the Yukon Arctic Ultra.

Wallace pulled a 50-lb sled across the frozen Yukon River for 160-km, completing the course in 21 hours and 41 minutes.

In a tie for third the female duo of Doreen Bruneau and Shannon Wyers, racing under the name of the Cagney and Racey, arrived at the finish alongside Runs with Scissors, Cory Bruneau and Tom Wyers.

Nine of the 10 teams reached the finish, with the final two crossing the finish line just three minutes before the 12-hour cutoff.

"They were all strong teams and willing to push themselves,鈥� said Tribes.

"To race for 12 hours takes fair bit of strength endurance and mental discipline. It's a long time to be out there and they were all willing to do that.

"There was one team who didn't finish but they just ran out of time. They'll be more prepared next year.鈥�

It was the tenth anniversary of the race and the third year that Tribes had organized the event.

He'll be putting his own physical and mental endurance to the test next month when he competes in the Raid the North Extreme Race in B.C.'s West Kootenay region.

The six-day, four-person team event, travels over 500-km of wilderness in mountain biking, trekking, paddling and fixed rope events.

Tribes, who has been training for the event, said he's beginning to feel prepared.

"We're a pretty strong team and I've been training consistently but I have a litle ways to go yet. I fele like I could go out there and do it now but I'd like to do it with a bit more dignity and post a better time than I could right now.鈥�

Tribes said he stays motivated on the course by taking it one checkpoint at a time.

"I keep my focus on the next checkpoint and not the end,鈥� he said.

"It's a compressed outdoor experience. You can paddle, bike, and trek for 150-km in a day and a half and see a lot of terrain and lot of country-side. That alone is quite exciting but I also like the competition and trying to get to the next checkpoint ahead of the everyone else.

"It's a big adventure. I enjoy that aspect of it.鈥�