Klondike International Outhouse Race

Klondike International Outhouse Race

September, Sunday of Labor Day weekend

First held in 1977, the Klondike International Outhouse Race takes place annually in the gold rush city of Dawson in Canada's Yukon Territory. A serious athletic event for some—and an opportunity for less serious competitors to indulge in what can only be described as "bathroom humor"—the race involves four-person teams, each pulling an outhouse on wheels. Many of the teams compete in outrageous costumes and cover their outhouses with appropriate graffiti or equip them with such modern-day comforts as telephones and carpeted seats.
There are two basic types of competitors: the serious runners, who train rigorously for the event and are sent off in the first heat of the three-kilometer race; and those who never make it any further than the first bar on the course, or who reach the finish line from the wrong direction. There are awards for the best dressed as well as the fastest, and the grand trophy is a wooden outhouse with an engraved plaque.

CONTACTS:
Klondike Visitors Association
P.O. Box 389C
Dawson City, YT Y0B 1G0 Canada
867-993-5575; fax: 867-993-6415
www.dawsoncity.ca

Celebration days: Sep 4, 2011; Sep 2, 2012; Sep 1, 2013; Aug 31, 2014; Sep 6, 2015