Thirty-four Yukon runners braved a downpour yesterday afternoon to race in the annual Yukon Cross Country Championships.

Competitors of all ages earned medals for their efforts, courtesy of Athletics Yukon.

Twenty-two runners competed in the Under-12 category, thanks in large part to Cross Country Yukon’s purple ski squad, many of whom ran wearing purple superhero capes.

Other than that, competition was hard to find.

Special Olympics runner Darby McIntyre’s excellent week continued as he led the field around the course during his two laps.

The recent World Summer Games nominee set the pace and eventually won his age group by churning out four kilometres in 18:02.

The 14-year-old said running in the rain never hurt anyone.

“It’s just worth it because it’s just good sports,” he said post-race.

“It’s better when you’re running because you’re pretty warm ... It’s fun and it’s good exercise.

“I had a few cramps, but I basically did jogs and sprints.”

Scott Williams won the Masters eight-km event in 36:54.

The 43-year-old said he enjoys trail running and tries to hit every cross-country event that he can.

“We wanted to go berry picking today, so we figured this would be a good catalyst to get us out into the rain,” the 43-year-old said.

“I just like to run in the rain, so if it’s just a Thursday night trail run with people or one of these timed events, it’s just fun to go to,” Williams added.

“Usually if it’s cold and rainy, I go faster. It’s just a matter of staying warm and getting a good warm-up at the start ... Once you’re running, it’s fantastic.”

While total numbers were up from just 16 runners last year, organizer Don White said he was disappointed no one showed up to run in the open classes (age 20 to 34).

“It’s always disappointing,” he said. “It was kind of rotten, but ... you’d like people to come out, regardless of the weather.

“It really depends on the year. Some years we’ve had 40 or 50 people at the championships.”

This year’s course was set up as a two-km loop. Runners ran up to five laps, depending on their age and gender.

“The loop involved ups and downs and flats,” White explained.

Other age category winners included Masters runners Tom Ullyett and Maura Sullivan, while Dahlia Lapointe earned the female U-14 trophy.

Youth winners included Thomas Bakica, Kate Mason, Luke Cozens, Constance Lapointe, Nicolas Freeman and Gregory Freeman.

Full results should be posted on the Athletics Yukon website this week.

In other local running news, national team runner Lindsay Carson was the third Canadian woman to finish the Oasis Zoo Run with a time of 34:31 Saturday.

Meanwhile, Kieran Halliday debuted for the University of British Columbia cross-country team at the Sundodger Invitational in Seattle Saturday, finishing 73rd in the eight-km event.