With one team lost, and three others far behind, the Trail Trash managed to finish the Yukon Adventure Race over four hours ahead of the pack this past weekend.

The team, made up of Rodney Hulstien and Chantal Gagne, finished the race at 3:45 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.

Trail Trash even chose to take the advanced course, which added three hours onto their time, race organizer Mike Tribes said. They made a few navigation errors that cost them hours as well. All that didn't stop them.

"Trail Trash just had two strong athletes on their team,” Tribes said. "They were much faster.”

The second place team, veteran Yukon adventure racers Swamp Sisters came into the finish line at 7:55 p.m.

Tribes said the Sisters have competed in this race many times before, and take a slower approach.

The team of four includes Tunde Fulop, Tom Fulop, Danielle Boisvert and Sylvia Anderson.

Besides the happy ending for the Trail Trash and Swamp Sisters, it was who didn't arrive at the finish line that attracted much attention from race volunteers.

"One team got lost,” Tribes said.

The team were in pursuit of Trail Trash before they made a wrong turn and lost contact with race volunteers, but Tribes said they were sure the team was alright.

"I knew that they were fairly competent,” he said.

The only real concern for the team came when reports of a grizzly bear with cubs in the area came in. Tribes patrolled the area where the bears had been spotted as a precaution, and eventually the team reported in safe and sound on a radio.

"I was just hoping they'd make it through without encountering a bear,” Tribes said.

"They had no trouble.”

The team were unfortunately named The Lost Patrol.

"Maybe it was just a bad name to choose,” Tribes said.

Another set back was the high winds experienced on Saturday. The teams were expected to paddle across Fish Lake, but due to unsafe conditions, Tribes decided to bring the teams across by power boat.

The winning team was made up of two people, and Tribes said that could be an advantage for racers in this type of trek.

"I think a two person team is just easier to organize,” he said.

The bonus is there are less relationships to deal with, less weaknesses and a smaller room for error with fewer people.

On the other side of the coin, however, Tribes said a larger team can sometimes make a big difference too.

"The strength in a large team is you do have the comfort in numbers,” he said.

Even with The Lost Patrol getting off track, Tribes said the course was well received by the racers.

"People were very happy with the race, with the course,” he said.

This was Tribes' first year organizing the course.

"It was very busy,” he said.

Despite it being his first time, Tribes said the event went fairly well.

"Everything went off very smoothly.”

He was slightly disappointed in the turnout, with only five teams taking part.

"I would have liked to have seen more people,” Tribes said.

Tribes said because of the low attendance, the race cost him more to put on than he saw back in registration fees.

To raise interest in the race, Tribes said he is hoping to organize another event in August.

"36 hours was just too daunting for most people,” he admitted.

Tribes said he hopes to keep the teams to a two-person limit, and shorten the course to about eight hours.

More information on the course the Yukon Adventure Challenge followed, as well as updates on the August race can be found online at www.yukonadventurechallenge.ca