THE YUKON ARCTIC ULTRA - represents probably one of the world’s coldest and toughest ultramarathon race in the World!
300 miles of snow, ice, temperatures as low as -40°C and relentless wilderness, the MYUA is an incredible undertaking, challenging and demanding event.
The Montane® Yukon Arctic Ultra (MYAU) follows the Yukon Quest trail, the trail of the world’s toughest Sled Dog Race. Where dog teams once slid and scrambled now human power chases up the trail.
Choose to race 300 mile, 100 mile or marathon distance either by fat bike, cross country ski or by foot.
The 300 mile race starts in Shipyard’s Park in Whitehorse next to the Yukon River. The first checkpoint (CP) being in Muktuk (26m), a dog-breeding farm for mushers, followed by a remote CP at Dog Grave Lake (33m), the 100 mile mark at Braeburn Lodge (35m), also host of the Yukon Quest, another remote checkpoint at Mandanna Lake (52m) as well as Carmacks (27m), a recreational center. 41 miles away from Carmacks is McCabe Creek, a hidden-away checkpoint in the thick forest. From there, Pelly Crossing is quite close (28m) followed by a 33m trek on a frozen river to reach Pelly Farm, a novelesque farm owned by the Bradleys, a family of wolf trappers who host athletes of the MYAU every year. Pelly Farm marks the final checkpoint and the 300-mile racers return via a forest road on rolling hills to the finish line in Pelly Crossing (32m) again.
The race trail is marked, however, fresh snow or a lot of wind can obliterate the route leaving it difficult to find the way.
The hours of darkness are brutally long, clouding your judgement and playing with your mind. You struggle to eat enough to provide the fuel your body craves. Sleep is limited and you’re alone, solo in a vast empty cold wilderness. This isn’t any ordinary race. It is so much more than that. It is predominantly a lesson in the art of survival. It is quite easily one of the hardest races on the planet- both physically and mentally. You needed to utilise the entire "arsenal" of skills to get to the end. The implications of extreme weather in the sub-Arctic winter are something that could have influence on if managed poorly. And this is what makes the MYAU so special; whereas it is perhaps the essence of the ultra-marathoner to be able to overcome and embrace physical pain, any small problem can spiral into frostbite and/or hypothermia in the Yukon. The body must constantly be monitored and taken care of as even the slightest inconvenience can mutate into a problem with long-term consequences.
The MYAU differs from the other similar long distance races in that there are no crews waiting at checkpoints to deal with aches and pains. You get food, encouragement and are told – if you have enough psyche – to get back out into the snow and race to the finish.
Holyfat athlete Jovica Spajic from Serbia outpacing just a few competitors who haven’t withdrawn.
Spajic led the foot race from the very start. He reached Pelly Crossing the evening of Feb. 7. After a short rest he began the race’s penultimate leg by starting an overnight march to Pelly Farm where he arrived at around 7 a.m. the next morning. The race tracker shows him back in motion a few hours later, beginning to retrace his steps to the Pelly Crossing finish line, which he crossed the evening of Feb. 8. There were many challenges in this year’s race, but Spajic overcame them all.
The next 300 mile athletes to finish were Daniel Benhammou and John Nakel. Both US and both MYAU veterans.
According to a Facebook post by MYAU administrator Callum Joliffe: “At the front of the foot discipline since the start of the race, never stopping for long, and always with a look of determination on his face, Jovica set out to achieve this race for his loved ones and for his country - We think he did them all proud, and with incredible speed!”
_____________________________________