FORT McMURRAY, Alta. ó, Yukoner Rodney Hulstein gathered up his second gold ulu of the Arctic Winter Games Tuesday as he crossed the finish line first in the junior male five-kilometre snowshoe race.

Hulstein, who won gold in the combined event Monday, also attended the 2002 AWG in Greenland where he won three gold ulus.

'I beat my 2002 time in the five-kilometre,' he said after the race. 'And in the 1,500-metre (part of the combined event) I got first in 2002 I didn't. So overall it's been better.

'All the training paid off I guess.'

Yukoner Alanna Carlos also had a strong race Tuesday, finishing in third place to grab her second ulu of the Games.

Both athletes could have had a third ulu in the relay but decided to withdraw so others would have the chance to win a medal.

'We're proud of them,' said Hulstein of the team, which won silver in the relay. 'We knew they would get a medal of some kind, we just didn't know if it would be silver or gold.'

'It's the second time Rodney's done it,' said a proud coach Don White. Hulstein also gave up a spot in the 2002 AWG relay. 'It's just one of those quality things.'

Hulstein, who is a marathon runner in the summer months, got into snowshoeing three years ago thanks to White, who is also a runner. It was an alternative to running in the winter time.

White said snowshoe athletes need a certain depth of maturity and strength, for a sport which can be thankless at times.

'They don't get the glory that the skiers do and they don't get the coverage of basketball or volleyball players,' he explained. 'It's a lonely sport but they still come out and do it.'

The athletes are very supportive of each other though and encourage each others success, according to White. After the last Arctic Winter Games, the snowshoe team was named Yukon's team of the year. White said they're coming along just as well this year but they've been told they aren't considered a team because they compete individually.

'But they are a team,' he insisted. 'How do you end up defining it? The support that they offer each other, that tells you they're as much a team as (a) curling or volleyball team.'

It will take a lot of team work for the Yukon squad to pull off another victory in the long distance races 10 km for junior males and 7.5 km for junior females.

Hulstein said, of course, he would like to win gold again, but with the course in Fort McMurray it's going to be really tough.

'This course is brutal,' he stated. 'It's up and down all the way. There are a couple of flat parts halfway and right up at the finish there's a flat part but that's it.'

Hulstein said the 10-kilometre race isn't usually one of his best events either.

But White said his goals for the team at these Games are just to remain healthy enough to compete, do the things they are able to do and keep up the race from start to finish.

'Beyond that, I want them to keep up their training when they get home,' he said.

Both the 10-km and 7.5-km snowshoe races will get underway Saturday at 9 a.m. Yukon time.