Smooth enough to walk on, he thought, as he briefly considered stepping out of the boat.

“First you break down physically, then mentally,” said Olive, who went up against some of the world’s best paddlers in the Yukon River Quest at the end of July. “We talked to some of the veteran racers and they said to expect (hallucinations).”

Even a well trained athlete like Olive – who trained six days a week for a full year in preparation for the gruelling 740-kilometre race – pushes their wills and wits to the limit with just three and seven hour rests to break up two days of constant paddling.

In the end Olive, 52, and his racing partner and neighbour Ian Mockett, 35, crossed the finish line in 54 hours, ranking fourth in the men’s tandem canoe class and well outpacing their target time of 74 hours.

“We weren’t surprised we made it but we were surprised by the time,” said Olive. “You’re not racing against other people. (You’re) racing for (your) own time.”

At the start of the race, the Yukon River felt more like a can of sardines for the Glen Cairn racers. More than 90 boats – everything from single kayaks to voyageur canoes – converged at a single starting point in Whitehorse.

“At one point, Ian couldn’t put his paddle in the water,” said Olive.

But the boats spread out in a matter of minutes, on their way to a checkpoint 55 kilometres away on Lake Laberge. Volunteer scouts are positioned along the river through the race, to mark boats as they pass.

“Once you’re outside Lake Laberge, the only (racers) you see are the ones close to you in hours,” said Olive.

The first mandatory rest stop is in Carmacks, 325 kilometres from the start, where teams have seven hours to eat and rest. It's a solitary race but there's one catch: each team can bring a crew to meet up with them on their break to help cook their food and prepare their bedding.

With arms like jelly and legs locked into a squatting position, some racers even need help getting out of their boats. That is, if they make it that far.

Ten racers of an approximate 80 scratched by the first stop.

“These are good quality athletes scratching too,” said Olive.

By the second rest point on Kirkman Creek, 582 kilometres into the race, five more had scratched. By the end, 20 teams would drop out.

FOOD

Food is a major issue during the rigorous, physically draining race. Both hands are constantly occupied but paddlers are burning calories by the thousands.

Thankfully, Olive didn’t need hands to eat peanut butter sandwiches. He said he just stuck the pre-prepared sandwiches in his mouth and let his teeth finish the job with two bites.

“You could eat a sandwich in 30 seconds,” said Olive, who two-bited his way through three loaves of bread’s worth of sandwiches before stopping at the half-way point in Carmacks.

Amazingly, Olive also managed to drink from a thermos of hot coffee on the trip. The thermos made him a popular fixture in the race.

Like a buoyant coffee shop, Olive frequently topped up a nearby solo racer’s mug – who didn’t have the cargo space for his own thermos.

CLOTHING

Olive and Mockett constantly wore multiple layers of clothing to keep them warm in the chilly north: both fleece and raingear.

“The raingear doesn’t breathe and it certainly affects your paddling,” said Olive.

But the clothes were necessary for the trip, with temperatures dropping to near zero on the third night.

The temperature was just one obstacle for the amateur athlete, who paddled most of the race with a sore elbow.

“He’d paddle with a broken elbow,” said his wife.

ON THE WATER AGAIN

Though Olive enjoyed the experience, he doesn’t know if he'd try it again.

To win the race, Olive said racers must train like Olympic athletes. Training has to be a full-time job.

“It’s mostly the time (that’s an issue),” said the racer, who alternated between weight and endurance training and rowing.  “We do this because we like camping and canoeing.”

It also helps to live on the west coast, said Olive.

“You have to really be on the water a lot,” he said.

From his home in Kanata, he was able to practise on a rowing machine during the cold months and when the water thawed, he took his exercise regimen to the Ottawa River.

Paddling has become a big part of his life.

Even when the big race was all over, without so much as a day’s rest, Olive flew all the way to Penang, Malaysia to join the Cascades Boat Club from Chelsea, Que., for another international boat race.

Thankfully for his overexerted muscles, the World Club Crew Championships involve a series of short dragon boat races.

The next time Olive travels 740-kilometres, he'll be in a car or plane.