With five Yukoners planning on attending, this year's Huntsman World Senior Games will feature one of the largest contingents from the territory in the 22-year history of the competition.

The senior games are held in Utah in early October and this year will include 25 separate sports categories.

The five Yukoners are Bill Curtis, Bob Bowerman, Mike Craigen, Gail Miller and VeloNorth Cycling president Mike McCann.

There won't be an official Team Yukon, as athletes compete as individuals in most of the sports that are offered at the senior games

The first instalment of the senior games was open to athletes 55 years of age or older. However, in its second year the age restriction was lowered to 50 in the hope of attracting more competitors as well as encouraging a healthier lifestyle for individuals nearing retirement.

The Huntsman games will begin on Oct. 6 and are run for two weeks in order to accommodate all of the sports that are offered.

The sports include basketball, bowling, chess, cycling, golf, horseshoes, racquetball, road races, softball, table tennis and volleyball. This year will also include archery and badminton for the first time.

Craigen and Miller are both newcomers to the games and they are both looking forward to taking part for the first time.

"We are still able to compete and we are doing it more for the fun than for the competition," said Miller. "We don't necessarily care whether we bring home a medal."

Craigen and Miller have been married for 29 years and met while jogging in Riverdale more than 30 years ago. The two are still active runners and, fittingly enough, will compete in the 10-km road race together, which will include a mass start.

Other road races at the senior games include the 5-km distance and half-marathon.

Miller said there was a reason they chose the 10-km distance.

"We feel that we can do 10-km," she said. "We kind of wanted to just see what it was like this year and if we really like it maybe we will go back."

The couple first found out about the games through a friend of theirs, who attends every year for softball.

After years of trying to persuade them, both Miller and Craigen finally agreed to give it a shot.

The two will compete in the 60 to 65 age category at the Huntsman games.

The last running event the two participated in together was a friendly competition in Ontario in 2006, in which Miller ended up winning a gold medal.

Craigen has also won his fair share of hardware as a runner, including a pair of bronze medals at the 55+ Canada Senior Games, which were held that year in Whitehorse.

At those games, Craigen finished third in both the men's 3,000-m and the men's 4x100-m team relay event.

Both Craigen's and Miller's success in running events are a credit to their healthy lifestyle, which involves the two jogging together at least three times a week on the Alaska Highway by their home in Marsh Lake.

In preparation for the Huntsman competition, they have been jogging every other day as well as going on longer runs for up to an hour each time.

"I think we made a commitment to doing a little longer jogging and maybe not taking the time off that you sometimes might be more tempted to," Miller said, adding that the longer runs have increased their overall stamina.

She said she is looking forward to her first senior games.

"We are quite excited about it," Miller said. "We have heard that it is a really beautiful run and we look forward to being around an upbeat group that are kind of in the holiday mood. I have always enjoyed running and that's probably why we are still doing it."

Craigen said the camaraderie at the games is something he is looking forward to the most.

"It's a great opportunity to combine a little bit of travel and a little bit of a challenge to do better running and also to meet lots of new people," he said. "It's just amazing when you go out and see all of these older people. There are people who are running this that are 85 years old."