To move swiftly, to move as swiftly as is humanly possible. Then, to move some more.

Such is kayaker Carter Johnson's philosophy of what it means to be truly alive.

"As a modern civilization we've kind of weaned out the need to survive in life; it just doesn't exist anymore. People are born to move, through millions of years of evolution, so for me it's kind of coming up with ways to really see what we can do to challenge ourselves. It's just for fun. You keep yourself moving, see what you can do, and it's almost addictive.”

That addiction has led the 35-year-old Californian to the greatest heights.

Johnson and fellow Californian Robyn Benincasa each broke the Guinness World Record on the Yukon River last week for the farthest distance paddled in a canoe/kayak in 24 hours on moving water.

Johnson paddled 450.6 kilometres (280 miles) to beat the previous men's record of 434 km (269.7 miles) set by U.S. paddler Andrew Corra on the Yukon last year.

Benincasa, meanwhile, paddled 371.8 km (231 miles) of the Yukon River, smashing the past women's record set by Katherine Pfefferkorn, who paddled 309.2 km (192.1 miles) on the Missouri River last year.

Johnson, who was recently named to the U.S. Marathon Canoe and Kayak team, said the most shocking part of Benincasa's record is that she's preparing to go into surgery in August for her fourth hip replacement.

"When we were rigging her boat, she couldn't even sit in it – we had to lower her into her boat, and she would just grimace – but her heart and her attitude and her spirit, you could tell, was just going to easily trump any hardship that she might be going through,” Carter said.

"She didn't only beat the women's record, she beat it by 40 miles. That's a loud statement for someone that is getting ready to go through surgery.”

The two left from Lower Laberge, the north end of Lake Laberge.

Johnson made it to Kirkman Creek and Benincasa made it roughly three hours past Minto in the 24-hour span.

Making the record official in the Guinness books takes a massive amount of paperwork, GPS tracks and witnesses, Johnson said.

Both Johnson and Benincasa have experience with the process from breaking another world record.

Johnson broke the record for the greatest distance canoed or kayaked on flat water

in 24 hours by paddling 241.95 km (150.34 miles) of Lake Merced, Calif., in 2006.

Benincasa broke the female 24-hour flat water kayaking record by paddling 195.3 km (121.4 miles) of Lake San Antonio, Calif, in 2010.

"They really make sure it's not just a bunch of monkeys out there just goofing around, which is good, I guess,” Carter laughed.

"I'm sure it'll be broken. Maybe it's already broken this year, I don't know. Maybe next year.”

But for those who want to try, the Yukon River is where to do it, he added.

Johnson has been riding that river since he first entered the Yukon River Quest tandem kayak class with partner Sally Mason in 2005.

The pair finished with a time of 50 hours, 57 minutes – a far cry from where Johnson would end up in his River Quest career.

In 2010, Johnson broke the River Quest solo kayak record with a time of 42:49.

He set his sights on the world record this year rather than enter in the River Quest.

Instead, he cheered on his friends along all the checkpoints and at the finish line in Dawson City.

For Johnson, the River Quest is more challenging than the world record.

But it's the world record that gets most of the praise.

"I hate to say it, but the reality is the 24-hour record is just the first leg of the River Quest, and in the Quest you get back in the boat and do it three more times.”

It's the Yukon River and the people involved with the River Quest that keep him coming back, despite the pain of paddling such long distances.

"When you're out there it hurts, and it's long, but the minute you pull in – everyone

I've ever talked to agrees – it just goes away, the pain is gone, but the memories, the trip home and crashing home for unknown hours, I'm never going to forget that,” Johnson said.

"These are things that you carry in your pocket with you; high times in your life and low times in your life, you just start giggling out of nowhere. It just makes life more rich for me. You bank the experiences as you go and cash them in when you need the laugh later in life.”