A Kelowna company sponsored two individuals in the world’s longest kayak/canoe race.
On June 28, Luke Shier, son of Mission Group’s president Randall Shier, and his teammate Cameron Archer, along with 95 other teams, participated in the race of a lifetime – the Yukon River Quest.
The five-day race is the world’s longest annual canoe and kayak race. It took place this year from June 28 to July 2 from Whitehorse to Dawson City, Yukon.
Paddlers from around the world participated in a wide variety of water crafts, from tandem canoes, like that used by Shier and Archer, to solo canoes, stand-up paddle boards, solo kayaks, tandem kayaks and voyagers with up to eight people.
The race was not without challenges for the duo.
Shier and Archer said the race caused them to see stars and lose vision at times, while other contestants had hallucinations mistaking floating logs for drowning kayakers. Beyond exhaustion, participants needed to watch for dehydration and hypothermia brought on by very hot and very cold weather, according to a Mission Group release.
Sponsored by Mission Group, Shier and Archer finished with 53:46:04, placing 34th overall, 11th in the tandem canoe and 4th in men’s tandem canoe.