DAWSON CITY – Dawson was sweltering under a heat advisory warning from last Friday through Sunday as the 2019 Yukon River Quest wrapped up.

On top of that, water levels were low along the route, and organizers indicated that this made for a slower than usual race.

The Tandem Canoe team from Saskatchewan, #wepaddletogether, stroked to the finish line and on down to the municipal docks at about 7 p.m. Friday.

Mike Vincent (Regina) and Ivan English (Saskatoon) had an official arrival time of 18:59:10 for a total race time of time of 44 hours and 59 minutes.

This gave them the hat trick of being 1st Overall, 1st Tandem Canoe, and 1st Men’s Tandem Canoe.

The race has a lot of different categories for recognition, as their standing indicates. Tandem Canoe certificates and prizes were awarded to Men’s Women’s, and Mixed categories.

The same was true of the Voyageur class, from which came Whitehorse’s Yukon Wide Adventures team of Thomas de Jager, Spencer Edelman, Stephen Mooney, Jason Biensch, Gus Oliveira and Pat McLellan.

They were 2nd Overall, 1st Voyageur and 1st Men’s Voyageur with a paddling time of 45:09:40.

Third place overall went to the Whitehorse and Ontario Four Person Canoe (or C4) Alpha Super Awesome Strokes of Genius Wolf Squadron.

This was made up of Mike De Abreu, Jake Paleczney, Tom Phillips and Robert Spinks. There were also 1st C4 and 1st Men’s C4. They totalled 45:20:50.

Fourth Place Overall was won by Hatchet Lake Voyagers, the Wollaston Lake, Saskatchewan, crew of Robbie Denechezhe, Joseph Dzeylion, Jay Dzeylion, James Sha Oulle, Nap Kkaikka and Solomon Joseyounen.

They were also 2nd Voyageur and 2nd Men’s Voyageur with a time of 45:42:40

Heave Paddlesports, a men’s  Voyageur crew from various places in the United Kingdom, was 5th Overall with a time of 46:21:05.

The team of Richard Parrott, Dave Fryer, Pete Kruszelnicki Mike Thornton, Thor Harley and Claude Bailey were also 3rd Voyageur and 3rd Men’s Voyageur.

These first five finishers all arrived within an hour of each other. After that, the next five stretched out a bit.

Coming from a bit farther away, The Kiwis - a mixed Tandem Kayak team from New Zealand, came in 6th Overall. Ian Huntsman and Wendy Riach were also the 1st Tandem Kayak and 1st Mixed Tandem Kayak, with a time of 46:59:55.

An older man, two young women and someone else crewed a mixed four-person Canoe to 7th Place Overall.

The team of Hugh Fisher, Heather Hellevang, Sydney van Loon, and George McLeod, hailing from Pemberton and Kamloops in B.C. and Whitehorse had a time of 47:23:05, and were 2nd C4, as well as 1st Mixed C.4

Team C4Daze, a men’s four-person Canoe team, came 8th Overall in a time of 47:49:12.

The U.S. team of Deb Brax (OH), Dave Dahl (MN), Dan Mecklenburg (OH), and Stephen Miller (MA) were also 3rd C4 and 2nd Men’s C4.

The Golden Lake Crew, paddling a mixed Tandem Canoe, ranked 9th overall in a time of 49:58:15. Jennifer Courville and Sebastien Courville, from Golden Lake, Ont., were also 2nd Tandem Canoe and 1st Mixed Tandem Canoe.

Number 10 was the first solo canoe entry, Cedar Strip Chip. It was made special by the fact that Chip McKay, from Vernon, B.C., built his own canoe. He had a time of 50:28:54, was the 1st Solo,1st Solo Canoe and 1st Men’s Solo Canoe.

The banquet was served to 400 peo ple in the Robert Service School gym on Sunday.

After that, awards were handed out in all the categories and classes, with general classifications including Tandem Canoe, Tandem Kayak, Solo, Voyageur, C4 and SUP (Stand Up Paddle).

The River Quest began last Wednesday afternoon at Rotary Peace Park in Whitehorse.