Last minute turnout at five-kilometre Intersport fun run

It was like a typical social event in Whitehorse. At Tuesday's Intersport 5 km road race nobody showed up until minutes before the start of the event.

It was like a typical social event in Whitehorse. At Tuesday’s Intersport 5 km road race nobody showed up until minutes before the start of the event.

Maybe some of the regular Tuesday night racers were put off by the prospect of another desert-like race with the mercury at 24 C? Or maybe they were still sore from last Sunday’s Whitehorse Triathlon?

Still, 20 people ran and race-walked the now very familiar five-km route that incorporates the Riverdale side of the Millennium Trail and Nisutlin Drive to form an out and back loop.

The female side of the run saw a fast runner chase after first place finisher Brittany Pearson-Smith (21:52). The high octane athlete, is a member of Carleton University’s cross country ski team and Yukon’s 2009 Canada Summer Games team.

Pearson-Smith was paced throughout the course by speedster Rodney Hulstein.

Only 14 seconds behind in second place was Amy Riske (22:06) still smarting from running a hard 10 km in the triathlon.

Making a cameo appearance was all around athlete Emily Wale who finished third (25:30) and walked away with the bronze medal.

When a 50-something masters runner becomes the first place finisher, you know that many of younger, faster runners took the night off. That’s what happened on Tuesday night when a surprised Tom Ullyett (19:38) found himself leading the race from start to finish.

Making his first appearance of the season, Belgian-born Fred Vandenot took the silver medal with a time of 20:12. The usual front runner, Rodney Hulstein (21:52), finished third.

Some of the charter members of Yukon’s race walking glitterati faced off against each other on Tuesday night. Masters walkers Bonnie Love (34:46) and Tanya Astika (34:46) tied for first place while the unassuming Arlene Ogden (34:49) was just three seconds behind.

With their heart rates in the 150 to 165 range, these three speed walkers seemed oblivious to the heat and their 11 minute per mile pace until they crossed the finish line and nearly collapsed.

Article provided by Tom Ullyett on behalf of Athletics Yukon.