Treated to a beautiful day and a course at sea level, Emily Wale used her 32 1/2 hours in Vancouver productively – to finish as the top Yukoner in the BMO Vancouver Half Marathon Sunday.

“It was beautiful,” said Wale. “We had perfect conditions.”

She finished the scenic course, which winds through Stanley Park and along the sea wall in 1:42:48, for 41st place in the female 25-29 division.

It was her fastest time in the distance – her 30th race since she started running them at 16 – by 11 whole minutes.

Just over a day earlier, she and roommate – and training partner – Coralie Ullyett were enjoying a nice, easy taper run at the Law Day Fun Run in downtown Whitehorse on Friday.

Training for the half was different for the duo this time. Fresh off their first marathon in Seattle in November, Ullyett traded her running shoes for skates over the winter, playing broomball and hockey during the week.

Wale, knowing she could run the 21K distance of the half, focused her training on getting strong, by running hills, instead of pushing her mileage with long runs.

The duo trained and travelled together, but they each ran their own race, with Wale taking off with the pack with her top 40 tunes pushing her along at 7 a.m.

Ullyett, who also posted a personal best time of 1:54:42, was the fourth Yukoner overall and 142nd in her female 25-29 division.

“Training in the mountains and running at sea level is a treat,” she said.

Ullyett described the course as very scenic and said she enjoyed the greenery in Vancouver at this time of year as well as the high energy along the course.

With about three kilometres to go, she looked down at her watch and realized she had the potential to set a personal best time.

Her heart rate skyrocketed to 205.

“I had to calm myself down,” she said, realizing she still had about 15 minutes left in the race.

The last 500 metres were the hardest, but she persevered and gave double thumbs-up with her finisher’s medal.

For Ullyett, the PB, was the “cherry on top of the weekend.”

In the marathon, Kevin Embacher was the top Yukoner, finishing in 3:14:53.

Andrea Morgan was the fastest Yukoner in the 8K, clocking a time of 58:11.