David Eikelboom set the pace for the 17 men in the Claim Pre-Skagway 10-Miler on Sunday.

It was Amelia Fraser who led the field of 22 women.

Eikelboom posted a time of 57 minutes and 47 seconds, finishing two minutes and 25 seconds ahead of second-place Brendan Morphet. David Greer was third in a time of 1:05:52 and John Parry was fourth in 1:13:17.

Fraser covered the 10 miles in 1:13:23, or just over three minutes ahead of second-place Anett Kralisch who clocked in at 1:16:25. Victoria Ryan was third in a time of 1:21:19 and Janet Clarke was fourth with a time of 1:22:54.

Race director Lauren Whyte of Athletics Yukon attributes the larger-than-usual field of 39 runners to the weather.

“I have organized this race a couple of times and this was easily the best weather we have had for it,” Whyte said. “We had a good turnout.

“This is kind of like a training run for people participating in the (Klondike Road) relay.”

The 36th annual road relay begins in Skagway Sept. 7, and ends in Whitehorse the next day.

Race co-ordinator Sandra Soares of Sport Yukon said there are 192 running and walking teams registered, with the total number of participants sitting somewhere between 1,800 and 1,900.

Of the 192 teams, 167 are relay teams of 10 runners each.

There are four, four-member walking teams competing in the relay from Carcross to Whitehorse, five eight-member teams and 16 youth teams of eight walkers each.

The open team Dirty Skags from Anchorage won the Skagway-Whitehorse relay last year in a time of 11:15:35, with an overall pace of 9.7 miles on hour.

TMP of Anchorage won the women’s relay, in a time of 14:13:57, with an overall pace of 7.7 miles per hour.

The mixed relay was won by Running Home to Yukon Brewing of Whitehorse, in a time of 12:43:29.

Whitehorse walkers Slowly Heading North won the walking race in a time of 9:23:32.

The run relay record was set in 1990 by Juneau B from Auke Bay, with a time of 10:16:00.

The race co-ordinator said because of a new Canada-wide policy, leg-three runners will have to present their passports at Canada Customs.

In previous years, Soares explained, the passports could be carried in the support vehicles.