Local kayaking duo aims to break records

Boundary County couple and kayaking duo Josh Friedman and Julie Kirk are setting their sights on breaking several records this year.

The duo, who compete as the team Spirit of America, will face the 444 miles Yukon River Quest race for the seventh time on the Fourth of July.

Many may ask, why? The answer is simple: by completing the race Friedman and Kirk would reach 5,000 kilometers, or 3,100 miles, of paddling on the Yukon. That would earn them a spot in the Yukon River Marathon Paddling Association Great River Club.

Currently there are only 30 people in the club out of hundreds of people who have completed the Yukon River Quest.

Kirk would be the first American woman on the list and Friedman would be the fourth American male to receive the honor.

Friedman and Kirk are local inspirations for health and fitness. Both being in their early 60s and competing in so many endurance races, they have proved time and time again it’s never too late to achieve your goals and live in the moment.

In 2019, Spirit of America finished the Yukon River Quest in 57 hours 45 minutes and 37. On July 4, they will start at Whitehorse and finish at Dawson City, Yukon.

Last year, the duo competed in the Yukon 1000, a grueling 1,000-mile paddle race, which follows the Yukon River through Canada into the Arctic Circle, finishing in Alaska after seven days, three hours and 27 minutes on July 10, 2022.

In August, the pair will be doing two things they have never done before, participate in a dragon boat team and compete in the 18th annual Missouri American Water MR340.

A dragon boat is a long vessel that takes a team of paddlers to man. The MR340 is a 340-mile race on the longest river in North America — the Missouri.

“We were invited to join by a national dragon boat champion Rod Price,” Friedman said. “He asked us if we would join his team and we were honored to do so.”

Friedman and Kirk will join the team along with 15 other athletes from the U.S. and abroad, forming the Pan Am Express dragon boat team. They disembark in August with the goal of breaking the world record for distance paddled in a dragon boat. They will have to paddle an additional 30 miles after the race order to break the world record.

MR340 race officials cautioned that the race could be postponed due to flooding or other issues of safety, which has happened four times in the previous races.

The MR340 record for dragon boat was set in 2010 with a time of 38 hours and 5 minutes.

Full Pan Am Express Roster: Rod Price, Orlando, Fla., Ryan Gillikin, Bay Minette, Ala., Mirko Pruefer, Podrosche, Germany, Manuela Heyn-Dittbrenner, Cottbus, Germany, Bobby Johnson, Dunedin, Fla., Jeff Larsen, Greenwood, La., David Miller, Mount Holly, N.C., Alan McDonald, Mt Baldy, Calif., Jeff Kay, Castro Valley, Calif., Christian Logan, Washington, Mo., Josh Friedman and Julie Kirk of Moyie Springs, Esther Wheeler, Sydney, Australia, BeaV Volhaber, Stacy, Minn., Kendra Leibel, Princeton, Minn., Brandon Grundy, Palm Harbor, Fla., and Greg Stamer, Altamonte Springs, Fla.