If Sunday’s Klondike Road Relay tune-up race was any indication, Team Scarecrow is once again poised to dominate this year’s race.

Logan Boehmer – who will run the anchor leg this year for the four-time champs – blazed to his second straight victory in the Chocolate Claim Pre-Skagway 10-Miler Sunday morning.

The 16-kilometre race, hosted out of Rotary Peace Park in Whitehorse, saw 33 participants compete in chilly conditions.

Boehmer, 22, was the first to cross the finish line in 1:01:39, followed by Dominic Bradford (1:02:50) and Tedd Tucker (1:09).

Anett Kralisch, 39, was the top female finisher in a time of 1:14:36, good for ninth overall.

Kralisch was coming off winning the women’s title at the Yukon 10-km Championship last week.

The race takes runners up three major climbs, including two hills on Schwatka Lake Road and another on Chadburn Lake Road.

Last year, Boehmer beat Yukon MP Ryan Leef by just four seconds with a time of 1:00:49.

“It’s definitely a tough course to do,” Boehmer told the Star. “Dominic kind of helped me out ... he broke the wind for a bit ... and then after the first hill, he said ‘OK, go for it Logan.’ Then I just kind of pushed and did my own race after that.”

Boehmer said the route was about 500 metres longer than last year due to construction, and added running alongside a partner helps.

“Like last year, it helps when you’re running with someone to keep the pace up,” he said. “It was a good effort, but maybe if I had been in a better mindset, I could have pushed a little bit harder.”

The annual race serves as a final tune-up for the Klondike Trail of ’98 International Road Relay, which sees teams of 10 runners complete the 176.5-km route from Skagway to Whitehorse. This year’s race will be held Sept. 5 and 6.

Sport Yukon’s events coordinator Kevin Patterson said this year’s numbers will be record-setting.

A total of 182 teams will compete this year, up from the previous record of 161, with participants numbering 1,500-plus.

Last year, 1,396 runners took part in the 31st annual relay won by Team Scarecrow in a time of 11:12:24.

This year’s race will also see a small contingent of brave souls attempt the entire route in the Trail of ’98 Ultra category, as well as a brand-new eight-person walking category.

“With the number of teams that we have, we are still looking for volunteers for a couple of the checkpoints at the B.C.-Yukon border and the U.S.-Canada border,” Patterson said.

A scheduling change will see awards presented at 5 p.m. at Rotary Peace Park.

The road relay is Sport Yukon’s annual fund-raiser. For more information, visit klondikeroadrelay.com.