Entrants fill Yukon River Quest's new stand up paddleboard category
10 paddleboarders have signed up for 700-kilometre race
Seven hundred kilometres is a long way to stand up paddleboard but that hasn't stopped 10 athletes from wanting to give it a try.
Spots in the new stand up paddleboarding category in the 2016 Yukon River Quest filled up in less than three weeks.
Up until now, the annual river race from Whitehorse to Dawson City that takes days to complete has been for canoeists and kayakers.
Norm Hann from Squamish, B.C., will be competing in the stand up paddleboard category next summer. He says he has been in races before, but nothing close to one this long.
"I've always enjoyed some of the unknowns when it comes to a sport like stand up paddleboarding," he said.
"It's like, 'How long will that take you? How fast can you do it? How many people can complete it?' I mean I think those are some of the fun things and there's very few things in adventure these days where you get to do something for the first time."
Hann says the distance will be a challenge, but he'll take it hour by hour. His goal is to complete the race safely.
Hann will be competing against professional paddleboard racers from Belgium, the United Kingdom and Hawaii.
Next year's race starts June 29.