This July, Salterton's Ian Tyers and Jim Nye of Salterton are taking on one of the most demanding endurance events anywhere in the world. They will paddle 1,000 miles down the Yukon River, from Canada into Alaska, in the Yukon 1000.
Billed as the world's longest canoe and kayak race, the Yukon 1000 is not a race in the ordinary sense. Competitors paddle up to 18 hours a day, carry everything they need, and sleep rough wherever they stop. There are no support crews and no comforts. The route runs through some of the most remote wilderness on the planet, across braided and poorly mapped channels, past fallen trees and whitewater, and through grizzly and black bear territory. As the organisers put it, more people have climbed Everest than have travelled beyond Dawson City.
Ian and Jim are taking on all of it to raise money for FORCE Cancer Charity.
FORCE supports people affected by cancer in and around Exeter. From its Cancer Support and Information Centre in the city, the charity provides free counselling, wellbeing services and practical help to patients and their families, close to home and when it is needed most. These services depend almost entirely on donations.
The pair have set out to raise £1 for every mile they paddle. Every donation, whatever the size, goes directly towards keeping FORCE's support available to local people facing a cancer diagnosis.
The team sets off on 10 July 2026. You can follow their progress and sponsor them here:
Donate to Ian and Jim's Yukon 1000 challenge
We will be cheering them on every mile of the way.
