Hillarie and Max Zimmermann finished Wednesday night’s Long Distance Yukon Orienteering Championships course dripping wet, but with ear-to-ear smiles.

“High five dude,” said Hillarie as they walked away from the finish. “We did it.”

The mom and son team competed for the first time last night on the novice course. Max was first introduced to the sport in school and then wanted to try a real challenge.

But after finishing a dominating seven minutes ahead of the second-place team on the 1.3-kilometre course, the 12-year old and his mom think they’re ready for a bit more challenge and will try to tackle the intermediate course in a few weeks.

Not every athlete had a breezy time on last night’s course. A litany of trails confused runners and many tried to short-cut through the brush to no avail.

“I missed a couple and had to look for them,” said intermediate course runner Mike Gladish as he waited for his nephew to finish the course. “That’s why I did intermediate and not advanced.

As the heavy rain fell on earlier teams, conditions got even more difficult.

“For more courses, especially the longer, harder ones, you try and challenge people’s ability to really think about what the best route is between the different controls,” said race organizer Afan Jones. “They can take a direct route through the bush, they can try and figure out something that’s on trails, so I try and set a course that really challenges that and makes people think.”

Jones originally mapped the area in 1985 and knows it quite well. It’s where orienteering was born and incubated in Whitehorse.

“This particular area is amazing,” said Jones. “It’s where we started orienteering and we continue to use it. The opportunities here are endless. We can come back to this area every year and offer something different.”

Only a pocket of it was used for the course last night. The map, which encompasses most of the terrain east of the Yukon River, is versatile.

Jones finds the area used near the hospital, on what’s known as the Long Lake Southeast map, particularly fun to set a course in.

“Right around the start and finish area there’s a huge network – maze – of trails, so you have to read the map fairly carefully,” he said. “That’s what the long distance is all about: route choice. There’s some technical map reading as well, especially when you get close to the control.”

Colin Abbott won the expert map in 41:04 followed by Leif Blake (44:44) and Trevor Bray (48:32). Kendra Murray (56:21) was the first lady across the line, while Pia Blake (60:02) was second.

Regular programming returns June 29 at the Chadburn Lake ski trail parking lot at 6 p.m.