Golden Lake Crew comes out on top in this year's Yukon River Quest

It's described as the world's toughest and most alluring marathon paddling race.

Yukon River Quest contenders paddle 715 kilometres from Whitehorse to Dawson City, pushing their limits both physically and mentally.

Fifty-five teams competed this year but only one team could be be first to cross the finish line. That team was the Golden Lake Crew from Golden Lake, Ont. 

The husband and wife duo finished the race in 46 hours, 17 minutes and 12 seconds.

Once on solid ground, Seb and Jen Courville spoke to CBC News.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How are you both feeling right now ?

Seb: Not too bad actually. Better now than 10 minutes ago.

Jen: Better now that we're not sitting because that was about 26 hours straight sitting.

What do you have to do to get yourself prepared for something like this ?

Jen: We do a lot of training at home. Just short paddles down our local river. So usually an hour-and-a-half to two hours. And either weight training, or CrossFit, and running.

This is a physical game but it's also mental. What do you have to do to mentally prepare yourself for something like this ?

Seb: I think we've done it so much that I don't really think about it anymore. I'd say just be open to anything that can happen to you and roll with the punches.

Can you give an example of how you had to 'roll with the punches' during this race ?

Seb: Well, about half way up Lake Laberge the wind started picking up and I said, 'There's no need to worry about it.' Like, everybody's in the same boat so everybody's facing the same challenges. So instead of stressing for the waves ... just go with it.

Jen: For me, I always claim to have, like, an iron stomach, and halfway through the first day, right after Lake Laberge, I had stomach problems. I had never dealt with that on a race before so I felt humbled a bit because I'm always like, "I can eat anything on a race," so it bothered me a bit.

Is there something that happened during the race that will stick with you for the rest of your lives?

Seb: I think definitely the relationship that we have. Like, to be able to do this. The hardship that we went through. You know, we never argued. Not even once. So just to be able to go through all that with everything that happened in the last two days with stomach aches, and the wind, and the heat and just punching through. You know, I think it's good for life.

Jen: You know, we're taking care of all business in the boat. We have a pretty close relationship. We're married  We have kids. So nothing really comes as a surprise to either of us. I just think we have a great relationship that's built on mutual respect. We never have decision-making issues or any type of fights in the boat. We're always really quite compatible.

Seb: If you can go through a race like this and be married, and coming out of it still married and happy, I think we're good.

What do you do when you have to use the washroom but you're in the middle of a lake or river ?

Seb: You got a bucket.

Jen: You got a bucket.

What's next for you both now ?

Jen: I think maybe take some time off. 

Seb: Maybe go to a good restaurant ... in Dawson.

Jen: Oh yeah, and go to Diamond Tooth Gerties.

If you could sum this whole experience in one word, what would that word be?

Jen: See that's the thing ... Now that it's over, it's not suffering. It's celebrating. Celebrating what we accomplished. So I think for us, it doesn't matter what time we came in. It just matters that we did it. We're healthy. We came off the water but on the water it's a very different thing. It was al ot of suffering. I'm celebrating.

Seb: Hardship. It's hard. It's hard.