Yukon Adventure Challenge
Going North to the Yukon Adventure Challenge
Chris Koch / 05.07.2008
That\'s the distance to drive from Kamloops to Whitehorse for a 1-day race - The Yukon Adventure Challenge.
Lay that horizontal on the good old Canadian map and I\'d be in Ontario (just). Heading south, I\'d be in Las Vegas.
There are a helluva lot of races within that driving distance, so why in this era of carbon taxes and high gas prices am I driving north?
I\'m not sure. I think it was when my girlfriend Heather said she hadn\'t been to Whitehorse. I\'ve been there twice (once to race). I\'ve driven far north in our province numerous times, so it is not really a new place to go race. But it is a beautiful place to go race.
I spent the first 10 years of adventure racing trying to escape my work life. I see that now -obsessively updating online reporting and leaderboards to live through the sweat and blood of others at races I couldn\'t get away to. My racing porn. If it wasn\'t that, it was checking out the calendars and race sites to find what was going to be happening next? Where was I going?
Now, for the last few years, my work has become somewhat of a passion as I own my business (be careful what you wish for). I\'m not racing for a gold. I\'m not racing for racing sakes anymore. Pavement looks the same in every country, so I\'m looking for wilderness. I\'m racing for the moment. The place. My friends.
The McHales are putting on a race in a beautiful spot on the planet. To get there involves a good old fashioned road trip on my part. Seems a good enough reason.
SleepMonsters
