So who are Jenny and Su? They were there at the beginning -well not the real beginning – but close to the beginning.
Two days before the start of the 2005 Yukon River Quest, Su Green, Jenny Trapnell and I cooked up two 24 litre batches of BoldRush over a propane turkey basting stand in the middle of the kitchen floor taking instructions from James on his cell phone (who was changing planes in the Vancouver airport) and filled the 50 or so bottles they took with them down the Yukon River. Jenny and Su became the first team we sponsored in the River Quest, the world’s longest annual canoe and kayak event of 740 km (460 miles) between Whitehorse and Dawson City, Yukon.
As first-year paddlers they placed second in the women’s tandem canoe finishing their race in 59 hours. The full impact of their accomplishment did not really sink in until I worked the Carmacks check-point this year and witnessed the brutal effects of total exhaustion on almost all the Quest participants, including the British navy teams. The compulsory 7 hour stop is about halfway through the race for most teams. Often, up to 30% of racers scratch.
That my good friends finished, finished uninjured, and finished feeling no worse than after their first four hours of training is a testament to commitment, training, and perseverance.
And of course, to the endurizing quality of BoldRush. Their feedback kept James and I going.
oh, to be on the river again – gave the boys the bars today to take to work and they seemed keen and I felt less guilty for not making them lunch – yeah!