Last year, the Klondike Road Relay got off to a late start when a tour bus crash delayed the race, forcing participants to skip the first few legs. This year, the event celebrated its biggest gathering, despite broken infrastructure and ongoing political tension.
Half party, half grueling mountain run, the 109-mile race stretches from downtown Skagway up the Klondike Highway, all the way to Whitehorse, Yukon. It retraces the steps of the gold miners, except these participants wear wild costumes, flashing safety lights and followed by support vehicles. One of those vehicles this year was an open trailer outfitted with a working hot tub.
Julia Frost from Juneau almost missed this year’s event. It was her first time running the relay. A mechanical issue on the Alaska Marine Highway System made the long journey even more challenging.
“The LeConte broke down so our three cars that we had booked could not come,” Frost said. “So we scrambled yesterday and found one rental car and one Turo for an obscene amount of money. But we were coming, we were doing this.”
So, how much did that broken down ferry cost Frost’s team?
“The Turo was $1,300 and the rental was like $1,200 — a lot,” Frost said. “I mean, we’re sharing it with 10 people, whatever. You know, it’s the whole experience.”
Angene Johnson from Anchorage didn’t so much want the Klondike Road Relay experience as much as her husband didn’t want to run two of the ten legs. The couple flew to Juneau and made it to Skagway before the ferry mishap. But Johnson worried about how they’d get home to their two children if the vessel wasn’t restored.
“We have not had any official communication yet, but we’re trying to start making some backup plans, just in case it’s not functional,” she said. “We have a number of potential worst case scenarios.”
Johnson’s teammate, Aaron Cravez, was less concerned.
“We got plenty of beer, so we’re good,” he said.
For Yukoner Kirsten Madsen, the race was about restoring a relationship.
“I definitely had some qualms,” she said. “As we were driving, I said this is the first time I’ve crossed the border since Trump’s election. And there have been other things that we didn’t do so far this summer because of that. But this race and the kind of friendly feelings we have about Skagway made it an exception for me.”
Madsen was part of team Tiger Fire.
“We’ve got some tiger ears and a bow tie and a tail that’s affixed in a weird, not quite accurate location, but it’ll work,” she said.
Race coordinator Ryan Sikkes says this is the biggest race ever at 2,000 entries sold. One team had to cancel because of the broken ferry.
