Orienteering champ Colin Abbott displayed his prowess in the long advanced category Wednesday during the weekly orienteering event.

The youthful Abbott completed the 5.6-kilometre course in a gritty 46 minutes and 23 seconds, but not before a challenge from veteran Forest Pearson, who finished second in 51:11.

Lee Hawkings finished the long course for advanced orienteerers in third, with a time of 59:26.

The event held at Long Lake was attended by 87 competitors in the four categories, with team entries ranging from individual entries to teams of six in the more casual family-type novice category.

Christine Boyd was in town from Sweden visiting family, and together with her very young niece Emma, completed the 2.6-km novice course in 10th place, from a field of 21, with a time of 28 minutes and 44 seconds.

Leif Blake led the field of 21 novice teams in a time of 18:30, while Amanda and Dan Thomson finished second 33 seconds off the pace, and Luke and Ed vanRanden came in third with a time of 20:17.

Cheylsea Mitchell and Wendy Taylor put their heads together to eke out a victory on the 3.2-km intermediate course, finishing in 45:15, a mere five seconds ahead of Jennifer MacKeigan and 11 seconds ahead of third-place Mike Gladish. Fourth- place Pia Blake wasn't far behind either, with a finishing time of 46:37.

Ross Burnett dominated the 4.1 kilometre advanced category with a time of 41:19. Ryan Kelly finished second in one hour, one minute and three seconds, while Bob Sagar was nipping at his heels with a time of 1:03:52.

The next regularly scheduled Wednesday event is June 2, and will be run on the Mount McIntyre map. The start location is the at the Dog Trail Parking Lot.

On Sunday May 30, however, is the annual WAR and PEACE long distance challenge for teams that dare.

The Whitehorse Adventure Run course is 16 kilometres. The course for People Enjoy Active Challenging Exercise is 10 km.

Participants must pre-register on the website or by contacting Forest at 393-3301.