As many as 63 Yukoners were in Victoria over the Thanksgiving weekend to compete in the Royal Victoria Marathon.

The runners took on either the full, half or eight-kilometre race that marathon veteran Keith Thaxter calls a Yukon favourite. While Thaxter spent the weekend competing in the Chicago Marathon, Whitehorse's Richard Zral and Wendy Tayler were in Victoria to run the half and full. Zral placed fifth out of 33 in his age group, and Tayler was 1,240 overall.

"It was a great day,” said Zral. "The weather was pretty much perfect for running.”

Tayler says the route was a beautiful one for her first marathon.

"The Victoria marathon route is incredibly beautiful. It winds through part of downtown and then heads back through Beacon Hill Park and up Dallas Road towards Oak Bay,” she said. "It was a crystal clear day and the temperature was just right for a long run.”

Zral placed 866 overall out of 5,400 registered runners, a feat he says he is proud of.

"It's just neat to be able to do it my age,” he said. Zral, in his 60s, beat out a few thousand younger competitors for his 866th position.

"My race went really well.”

Zral did not beat his best time of 1:46 for the half, but he did come in close at 1:49, an improvement from last year's time.

"I was pretty happy with my time,” he said. While his time wasn't a personal best this year, Zral says the Royal Victoria Marathon is a perfect race for such a goal.

"If you're going to do a personal best, Victoria is probably the place you're going to do it,” he said, because the course in Victoria has no big hills to tackle.

"The Victoria marathon is a beautiful scenic course where many runners achieve personal best times and run Boston Marathon qualifying times,” said Thaxter, who has run it before.

Zral changed his strategy this year by cutting up the race into quarters. He ran the first part steady, and about half way he kicked it up and ran hard for a quarter, then settled in to a steady pace to the finish.

Also competing in the marathon with Zral were several members of his family. The Victoria marathon has become an annual event for him and his family. Zral has competed for the last five years.

Tayler was competing in her first ever marathon, and finished off the weekend on a high.

"My first marathon experience was beyond words, truly exceptional,” she said.

Tayler urges those thinking about trying out a marathon to take the leap after her positive first-time experience.

"To anyone considering a full marathon I would strongly encourage them to go for it,” she said. "The training required is significant but the feeling as you cross the finish line makes it all worthwhile.”

After the run about 18 Yukoners met for an after-race party.

"We had a great time after the race,” said Zral.

Zral says that during the opening ceremonies an announcer stated that 69 people from the Yukon were in attendance, but Zral counted off 63. There were 52 names listed in the official race results.

"It's great to see that many people from the Yukon out there and doing so well,” said Zral. "It was just good fun.”

The Royal Victoria Marathon is hailed as one of the top 10 destination marathons in North America by Runner's World Magazine.

Thaxter congratulated the runners for their efforts over the weekend.

"For many runners I believe it was their first marathon or half marathon, so (congratulations) to them,” he said.

At the Chicago Marathon, Thaxter managed to finish up the race at 3:04:00.

"(I'm) still shooting to break that three hour barrier,” said Thaxter.

The Yukoner is planning to run in three more marathons before the end of the year, New york, San Antonia and Las Vegas, which will add to his goal to compete in a marathon in every U.S. state.

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2009 Royal Victoria Marathon

Yukon Results

Full marathon

Name Time Overall

Stephen Rose 3:33:16 509

Douglas Moyer 3:47:21 844

Paul Flaherty 3:49:53 882

Nathalie Dugas 3:51:35 958

Sandro Holzinger 3:52:39 983

Aisha Montgomery 3:53:29 1,010

Cory Gordon 3:55:50 1,080

Anissa Guenfoud 3:55:51 1,081

Wendy Tayler 4:00:36 1,240

Keith Bogard 4:11:27 1,454

Terri Cairns 4:12:03 1,482

Alain Duguay 4:12:59 1,509

Sherri Cooper 4:22:06 1,705

Justin Kolla 4:35:09 1,920

Gilles Menard 4:57:45 2,206

Sonya Hansen 5:02:00 2,223

Sharon Walsh 5:49:04 2,459

Heather McIntyre 5:49:04 2,460

– – –

Half marathon

Name Time Overall

Rodney Hulstein 1:21:52 45

Zeb Brown 1:26:40 66

Anett Kralisch 1:44:50 617

Sky Pearson 1:47:32 741

Nathalie Ouellet 1:46:50 865

Richard Zral 1:49:04 866

Natalie Thivierge 1:53:30 1,404

Justine Scheck 1:58:23 1,536

Megan Brady 1:57:24 1,637

Deb Kiemele 1:59:16 1,730

Bailey Staffen 2:00:26 1,754

Asley Kostelnik 2:01:00 1,804

Fabienne Brulhart 2:01:14 1,961

Shaila Baxendale 2:04:19 2,108

Gisli Balzer 2:04:19 2,109

Kelli Taylor 2:04:42 2,239

Alison Daffe 2:05:35 2,308

Andrea Bailey 2:03:46 2,339

Julie Haywood 2:08:35 2,547

Anne Landry 2:09:38 2,642

Tina Woodland 2:10:52 2,741

Cheryl Rivest 2:11:09 2,825

Andrea Morgan 2:12:31 2,991

Casey McLaughlin 2:18:21 3,083

Brenda Lee McCain 2:17:14 3,183

Philippa McLeod 2:21:25 3,401

Natasha Dunmall 2:26:43 3,715

Cheryl Wishart 2:40:50 4,043

– – –

Eight-kilometre race

Name Time Overall

Cynthia Freeman 37:02:00 188

Sheri Hogeboom 41:21:00 415

Annick Chasse 40:43:00 453

Colleen Kormos 49:38:00 1,085

Ian Hogeboom-Burr 54:11:00 1,375

Leanne Kormos 55:04:00 1,483

– – –

Stephen Rose's run has been confirmed as a Boston Marathon qualifying time in his age group.

According to Thaxter, personal best times were recorded for Douglas Moyer, Wendy Tayler, Terri Cairns, Sharon Walsh and Heather McIntyre.