Everyone knows one or, at least, knows someone who knows one (or maybe, it’s you): the people that regularly participate in “extreme” sporting events. Apart from the microscopic number of those who engage in these activities as a profession, the remainder do so for the sheer thrill of it or abide by the “because it’s there” adage. Adrenaline tends to be their drug of choice.
Whether it be snowboarding (low) or mountain climbing (extremely high) there is an inherent level of risk that comes with pushing these activity envelopes. The chances of spraining an ankle or breaking bones are considerable but actual death, less so.
In the 100 years people have been climbing Mount Everest, 311 have died while doing so, the most recent less than two weeks ago. To date, no one has died while participating in the Race to Alaska, commonly referred to as “R2AK.”
Medium Level Danger
Held annually in the spring since 2015 (save for 2020 due to COVID-19 and in 2021 because of the Canadian border closure), the “R2AK” is about a six out of 10 on the danger scale and, after watching this highly entertaining documentary, it is also the most colorful, unique, and freewheeling event of its kind.As much of an endurance test as it is a traditional race, the taxing water trek begins in Port Townsend, Washington (with a LeMans-style cold start) and ends some 750 miles later in Ketchikan, Alaska. The first portion is something of a qualifier known as the “proving ground”: a 40-mile jaunt ending in Victoria, British Columbia. Think of it as the cut taking place halfway through most professional golf tournaments. Teams unable to complete this phase within 36 hours cannot move forward.
Will It Float?
The pressing question regarding “R2AK” isn’t who can participate, but rather, who can’t? If you have an apparatus which floats and treads water, you’re in. Sail boats, paddle boats, peddle boats, rowboats, canoes, schooners, kayaks—they’re all good.Wanna make the trip on a surfboard? Sure thing. Do you have a machine which defies categorization? Welcome to the show. Each team can have as many mates as they wish but there are two things no vehicle in the race can have: a motor or a secondary support team. Those are the only restrictions. Everything else is fair game.
At first blush, watching the plethora of sea-worthy vehicles leaving the starting point suggests a similar array of augmented road monsters seen in the “Mad Max” franchise. Not a single one of them looks, moves, or operates the same and each has its own distinct personality—and that goes for their various team members.
The lion’s share of the competitors aren’t self-deluded. They know going in they have zero chance of actually winning; they just want to go along for the ride and everyone appears to be in hog heaven the entire time. This is certainly an event where the journey is greater than the destination.
Steak Knives
In laying out the stakes for a sales contest in “Glengarry Glen Ross,” the sales manager character (played by Alec Baldwin) states: “first prize is a Cadillac, second prize is a set of steak knives, and third prize is you’re fired.” The winning team of a “R2AK” race receives $10,000 (nailed to a piece of wood) and the second-place team gets a set of steak knives. There is no third-place prize.
Humor and High Drama
As tongue-in-cheek as the “R2AK” movie often is, it is not without its moments of danger, peril, and high drama. The most intense of these passages shows a team attempting to sidestep a moving whirlpool measuring 30 feet around and 10 feet deep and others dealing with unseen but equally threatening riptides. Unlike other team races such as the prestigious yet elitist and stuffy “America’s Cup” (which Carver makes a good-natured swipe at early on), the competing “R2AK” teams look out and care for each other. They all love to compete but their collective humanity reigns supreme.
The movie also pulls double duty as a history of the race, chronicling it from the gestation stages in 2015 through 2019. Like so many events derailed by events beyond their control, “R2AK” bounces back in just under a month on June 13.
It’s too late to sign up but, if it floats your boat (pardon the pun), you can still make the north by northwest trip and witness this inspiring example of the human condition in the flesh.
