INUVIK
Competitors in the first Inuvik Adventure Race found out the hard way it wasn't going to be a quick and dirty contest.

Scott Young and Patrick March jockey for position during the inaugural Inuvik Adventure Race July 19. March's team went on to win the competition, while Young was one of the top finishers in the solo division. - Shawn Giilck/NNSL photo

"It was humbling," racer Jullian MacLean said after finishing the running portion of the race as part of a team.

He's an experienced long-distance runner and Nordic skier, but he found the obstacle course portion of the race daunting.

The racers competed in any or all three legs of the race.

It began with what looked like a simple obstacle course through the mud along the shore of the East Channel near the boat launch, followed by a 4.5 kilometre run to the Boot Lake Trail, where the competitors did a lap. They finished with a 10-kilometre paddle along the river.

Most people took part in the teams, but three competitors finished the race solo, which was even more impressive.

MacLean dueled with Patrick March, the winner of the Midnight Sun Fun Run half-marathon race, during the running portion of the race through the Boot Lake Trail.

He had passed March before making a wrong turn on the trail and winding up on Airport Road somehow, before being re-directed by a volunteer.

"That was embarrassing," he said with a bit of a grimace.

He said he enjoyed the trail running far more than the obstacle course, which was deceptively tough.

MacLean said if he had known what that portion, which included climbing under ropes, a short swim and a dash through a maze of tires, was going to be like, he would have trained differently.

"That's more of a thing for power athletes and sprinters," he said. "It's really for explosive athletes, more so than endurance athletes.

"I recovered a bit in the running portion," he said. "It became easier after the obstacle course."

The Inuvik Fire Department was recruited to water down the course so there was plenty of sticky mud for the racers to get trapped.

The race was the brainchild of Kylik Taylor, who wants it to become an annual event. He also competed in the race.

Initially, he thought the obstacle course was too easy, he said, after trying one lap of it and finishing in 30 seconds.

"I thought maybe we'd have to do it 10 times to make it more work," Taylor said.

He changed his mind after completing a full five laps in the testing phase, and realized it was far more difficult than he had realized.

It seemed as if MacLean had a point about the 4.5-km run around the trail as being the easy part.

Several racers struggled with the final paddling leg as well.

Scott Young, who finished second among the solo racers, said he found it a bit tough.

"It was slow," he said, seconds after he landed on the shore.

Still, everyone seemed enthusiastic to try it again next year.

Kendall McDonald, who captained one of the teams and powered his way to the finish in a canoe with his wife Nicole, said he was looking forward to racing again.

Taylor, whose team placed second in the teams, said he would be looking at "buying a faster boat next year."