DAWSON CITY – Team 21, the Golden Lake Tandem Canoe team, paddled by the husband-wife team of Seb and Jen Courville, passed the finish line flag on Thursday at 5:17:12 p.m. to take first place in this year’s edition of the Yukon River Quest, a bit more than half an hour before the number two team, number 40, Planned Grit.

Their time, as posted on the website, was 46 hours, 17 minutes and 12 seconds.

Later in the evening, an official Facebook post had a celebratory message.

“We proudly present the 2023 Yukon River Quest overall WINNERS: TEAM 21 - GOLDEN LAKE CREW!!

“With a winning time of 46 hours and 17 minutes, Seb Courville and Jen Courville are not only the mixed tandem canoe champs and the overall tandem canoe champs, they are also the OVERALL WINNERS!!

“Amazing effort and a massive CONGRATS to you both!!”

The couple seemed tired but lively at the pull-out point a few hundred metres downstream from the finish line.

Most of the final day was brutally hot after a cold night. The temperature when they arrived in Dawson was hovering above 30°C and they were happy to have cold towels draped over their necks as they chatted with friends, posed for pictures, and went through the mandatory checklist with officials.

“The heat is just nuts (this year),” Jen said, “which is crazy because at six this morning we were both freezing … and then this happened.”

The river was slow and they did not get the boost they had expected to receive from the White River flow, which they described as hardly a trickle.

“We couldn’t believe that there was nothing coming out of the White River,” Jen said. “At that point we knew that we were going to be hours later coming in.”

They have done this race together in 2018 and 2019 and Seb paddled it as well in 2022, after having signed up for 2021 when the race was cancelled, so they knew what to expect.

Lake Laberge was tough but they knew it was just as hard for everyone else, so they paddled on against the wind and waves.

Jenn was plagued with what she called “stomach issues” right after crossing the lake, and that persisted for the rest of the trip. She was surprised because this hasn’t been a problem in previous races.

Their run was slower than they had hoped for, but Jen said it seemed like there was no current in the river on their final day.

“It was a hard race,” she said, “way harder than when we did it previously.”

When they left Carmacks they realized that they had a chance at winning and worked hard after that, first to get ahead, and then to stay there.

Seb said that by the time they reached Dawson they were “coming in on fumes”.

But after a race filled with struggle and some pain, they were feeling celebratory as they sipped cold water and a beer and cheerfully made time for interviews. They were both looking forward to a shower and expecting to be stiff the next day.

Their team name came from a desire to “put our little hamlet on the map,” Seb said. According to the winning couple, their town is about half the size of downtown Dawson.