The roar of engines filled the air on Sunday at the Schirmer Family Ranch for the Yukon Cross Country Motorcycle Association (YCCMA) Mosquito Harescramble 1. It was the YCCMA’s second event of the summer and this race format featured endurance racing through long trails.

In endurance racing, riders race from one to three hours depending on their class.

“Enduro racing is fun and a very physically demanding sport which relies on technical skill with the motorcycle,” said Mike Beaman. “You wear yourself out pretty good.”

Depending on their class the riders either took the B Track which is a seven-kilometre, single track with open trail and optional intermediate obstacles.

The A Track was 11-kilometres of single track and open trail with intermediate and expert obstacles.

“There are more logs, rocks, hill climbs,” said Beaman about the A Track.

Preceding the endurance race was the C Classes, on a single track and open trail. Each race ran 20 minutes each.

The tracks are designed to level the field by challenging the riders with obstacles of varying difficulty depending on class so that the rider with the most skill wins, not the fastest bike.

“We continue to get better at building tracks and adjusting for the club,” said Beaman.

The Sunday Harescramble also saw the re-introduction of the Ladies Class which had a record nine women compete.

“We’ve done it before but it depends on interest,” said Beaman. “It was a record turnout for the ladies which was great.”

Beaman believes the sport continues to grow as more families get involved.

“It’s grown in the past few years as more people hear about it,” said Beaman. “We keep it family-oriented, there is something for everybody.

“It is not just for the hardcore racers, we try and make sure it is family fun.”

The winners of the races are as follows. The class is first indicated and the letter beside is the track the race was won on.

Max Labelle took the top spot in the Junior C category edging out Royce Thomas and Carter Coates.

Intermediate C was taken by Casey Hadley with KJ Raymond and Mason Geier coming in second and third respectively. Mia Raymond topped the Intermediate C Girls class with Sophie Hadley and Ryley Ryckman rounding out the podium spots.

Clayton Hadley, Tom Pechio and Brad Wilson were the top finishers of the Sportsman B Class.

In the re-introduced Ladies B category it was Antje Beaman racing her way to victory. Amanda McCarthy and Megan Stallabrass were the second and third runner ups.

Moving to Intermediate B, Aven Muir reigned supreme as he beat out Ryder Brulotte and Cameron Geier.

Ethan Davy was the premier Expert B rider and was followed by Niels Kristensen and Vince Van Delft.

Chris Lane, Cole Beaman, and Neil Ryckman got the most laps completed in the Intermediate A. In Expert A, Sam Schirmer rode to the win leaving Julien Revel and Steven Sanders in second and third.

The YCCMA Harescramble 2 will be at the MX Track on Robert Service Way. Beaman said it is the first time in 20 years there will be racing held at the location.

“We insured it with the city as a safe place to ride,” said Beaman. “It is pretty exciting we have somewhere different to ride.”

Beaman said it will be a learning experience for everyone on the new tracks.

“Everyone has the opportunity to practice there,” said Beaman. “It should really even out the playing field.”

The MX Track has been a practice track for motocross and now has plenty of different trails for competitions to happen. The practice track still remains.