Junior runner dashes to first in Chocolate Claim 10 Miler

Forty-six runners braved cool, soggy conditions yesterday to compete in the Chocolate Claim Pre-Skagway 10 Miler.

Forty-six runners braved cool, soggy conditions yesterday to compete in the Chocolate Claim Pre-Skagway 10 Miler.

But it was junior runner Logan Roots who showed why his star is on the rise.

The 18-year-old blew away the competition in the male runner group with a finishing time of one hour, 43 seconds, roughly four minutes in front of second-place finisher Karl Blattman (1:04:46). Joel Macht, meanwhile, settled for third with a time of 1:07:15.

In the 2010 edition of the race, Blattman finished second in 1:00:41 and Roots took fourth in 1:03:11.

Last year’s winner, Rodney Hulstein, who finished in 59:20, was absent from this year’s event.

Roots is back in Whitehorse this summer after a stellar season on Vancouver Island.

The Yukoner ended his Shawnigan Lake School running career with a first-place finish in the 16-19-year-old division of the Annual Chemainus Legion Twilight Shuffle five-kilometre event in June, helping him secure top spot in the Island Series.

Earlier this month, he cracked the top 10 with a ninth-place finish in the 3,000-metre event.

He followed that performance up with a 12th-place finish in the 800 and 1,500.

In the Chocolate Claim 10 Miler, Roots beat out Blattmann, a prolific athelte who won the Yukon River Trail Half Marathon at the beginning of August.

That win followed Blattmann’s 10th-place performance at the Desert Half Iron in B.C. in July.

The women’s group was much closer on Sunday.

Women’s winner Amy Riske edged out second-place finisher Keltie Hollingsdale by 1:21. Riske finished with a time of 16:46 while Hollingsdale finished in 17:27.

Michelle Rigoni took third place with a time of 1:18:23.

Lone walker Sue Dennehy finished the course in 1:59:37, cutting nearly eight minutes off her time last year.

The numbers for this year’s Chocolate Claim 10 Miler were down slightly from last year, when a record turn out of 60 runners and walkers took to the course.

The route runs over three significant hills, including the first two on Schwatka Lake Road.

The route starts and finishes at Rotary Peace Park, following the Riverwall portion of the Millennium Trail to the South Access Road before dipping down the Schwatka Lake Road to Miles Canyon Point. The route then takes runners over the suspension bridge in Miles Canyon and then back to Rotary Park, following the Chadburn Lake Road and Riverdale roads.

For nearly 20 years, the Chocolate Claim 10 Miler has been a rite of passage for those athletes looking to take on the Klondike Trail of ’98 International Road Relay between Whitehorse and Skagway, Alaska.

This year’s Road Relay will leave Skagway on Sept. 9, following the trail of the Gold Rush Stampeders over the famous White Pass, through British Columbia, and into the Yukon on Sept. 10.

For more information on the Road Relay, visit http://www.klondikeroadrelay.com/race2/.

Complete results from Sunday’s Chocolate Claim Pre-Skagway 10 Miler are as follows:

Runners
Male
1. Logan Roots 1:00:43
2. Karl Blattman 1:04:46
3. Joel Macht 1:07:15
4. Dom Bradford 1:07:42
5. Kieran Halliday 1:09:24
6. Aidan Bradley 1:10:37
7. Logan Boehmer 1:13:41
8. Sean McCarron 1:15:41
9. Ben Yu Schott 1:21:24
10. Justin Chow 1:21:37
11. Patrick Anderson 1:24:54
12. Francis Whitman 1:26:53
13. Luke Bakica 1:29:12
14. Bryan Craven 1:31:28
15. Grant Macdonald 1:39:05
16. Sam Bonar 1:42:34
17. Don White 1:42:34
18. Brendan Hanley DNF

Female
1. Amy Riske 1:16:46
2. Keltie Hollingsdale 1:17:27
3. Michelle Rigoni 1:18:23
4. Laura Salmen 1:18:59
5. Cynthia Freeman 1:19:43
6. Anett Kralisch 1:20:40
7. Piia Kukka 1:23:17
8. Cathy MacDonald 1:23:36
9. Chrissy McConnell 1:23:55
10. Sylvie Hamel 1:24:03
11. Marlon Davis 1:25:54
12. Megan McAndrew 1:26:35
13. Jeanette Gallant 1:27:19
14. Pam Taylor 1:28:09
15. Anissa Guenfud 1:28:09
16. Kelsey Bragg 1:28:52
17. Stacci Kindervater 1:29:52
18. Brenda Dion 1:31:28
19. Deb Kitchen 1:33:25
20. Judy Ratcliffe 1:33:43
21. Barbara Scheck 1:34:08
22. Rossalyn Robertson 1:36:34
23. Deb Kiemele 1:37:07
24. Annette King 1:38:07
25. Susan Whitty 1:46:55
26. Aisha Montgomery DNF
27. Maura Sullivan DNF

Walkers
1. Sue Dennehy 1:59:37