What may have started as a joke soon turned to reality for a pair of Whitehorse boys embarking on their first Yukon River Quest.

This winter Ian Weir and Lee Hawkings were following the Arctic Ultra race, cross-country skiing and scheming up summer adventures of their own. The River Quest was floated as a possibility – both 24-year-olds have experience paddling whitewater, but have never tackled a race as long before.

“We thought it’d be fun to do something epic like that,” said Hawkings.

They were soon signed up and the preparations began.

Hawkings, a Whitehorse native, met Weir in Ontario on the Canadian Interuniversity Sports (CIS) cross-country skiing circuit. Hawkings was at Carleton University, while Weir was at U of T.

Their background in skiing likely helped along the way with an ability to deal with pain and the knowledge a high performance athlete has of how to take care of their bodies.

Weir moved to Whitehorse about seven months ago. A lot of his friends were in the North, he could work and embark on epic adventures.

“EDI Stroke Gods,” got off to a strong start in the chaos of the mass start last Wednesday in Whitehorse. They stayed near the front of the pack over Lake Laberge and gained steam overnight.

“We found we had better nights than most people,” said Hawkings. They passed the voyageurs who had seemed so strong during the day.

Hawkings said they never pulled the boat into shore –except at the two mandatory stops in Carmacks and Coffee Creek Kaminak. Their boat was always moving downstream, one person paddling while the other ate or drank or changed clothes, and never for more than a minute.

Hawkings said one of the more mentally challenging stretches was between Little Salmon and Carmacks, with the river winding a lot.

When they finally pulled into Carmacks, “We didn’t think about relaxing,” said Hawkings. “This recovery spot is still part of the race.”

They showered, changed into their dry clothes, pounded back some pasta, napped, ate some more and got back on the river.

Weir said it was hard getting back into the boat after seven hours on land. His blisters and a rash on his stomach from the PFD rubbing had caught up to him.

But quitting wasn’t in the cards.

“It wasn’t really an option,” said Weir. “We were going to finish that thing no matter what.”

A few hours later they were gliding through Five Fingers Rapids, a bit of fun in the monotonous rhythm of the flat river.

And they even gained some energy along the way. Weir said he felt the best on the last day.

Just before 60 Mile, “EDI Stroke Gods” was in a pack with three other boats with a fork in the river.

Hawkings made a last-minute decision to go their own way. It paid off when the routes joined again and the Whitehorse duo was ahead. They kept paddling hard and got to Dawson that day after a long 48 hours, 28 minutes and two seconds of paddling.

The team finished fourth overall, second tandem canoe across the line and the first Yukon team to arrive in Dawson.

While both athletes are still recovering from the epic journey, they haven’t ruled out a return next year in a voyageur canoe.

“We’re super happy to have all the support we had,” said Hawkings.”We couldn’t have asked for a better event.”