High winds and drifting snow didn't make things easy for either the volunteers or participants in this year's Northwestel Yukon Loppet.

In fact, Friday's windstorm resulted in at least a third of the 30-km course being blown over and eventually forced organizers to shorten the distance to 20-km.

Despite the challenges, difficult weather conditions and the eventual shortening of the 30-km distance, approximately 135 people still came out on Saturday to take part in the 26th running of the cross country ski race.

"It is so awesome arriving in the morning of an event like this and all of the volunteers know what they have to do," said Sue Meikle, chair of competition for the 2009 Northwestel Yukon Loppet. "You can really feel a buzz in the ski club, because they are all doing what they know they need to do and I just love it. The way it all comes together and it was a very successful race in that regard."

Volunteers had to be on their game as a result in the 33 additional skiers in the 20-km distance.

As a result of the increase, the 20-km race featured the largest field and included 91 skiers.

Meikle said the 30-km race has a long standing history with the loppet and it was a little disappointing not being able to hold it this year.

"People understood it was beyond our control, it was the weather, so everybody was in great spirits," she said. "Our volunteers had to sort of jump into action and make some changes, but they really rose to the occasion."

Using the groomed trails at the Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club, loppet participants did their best to keep warm despite the high winds that picked up right before the competition began.

Novice, intermediate and experienced skiers made up the field, having the choice to ski in three separate distances, including 20-km, 7.5-km and three-km.

However, no matter what course an individual skied in, there were still plenty of challenges and scenic beauty to take in.

Thanks to the sponsorship of Northwestel, skiers under the age of 12 skied and attended the banquet for free.

Besides the Yukon cross-country skiers, Saturday's loppet attracted some Outside competition, including twin brothers from Ontario and a women visiting from Nova Scotia.

Male and female category winners in the 20-km, 7.5-km and the fastest skiers registered for the 30-km were each given a gold poke, which had 26 loonies in it.

The gold pokes were reintroduced to the loppet last year for its historic 25th anniversary.

In addition to the pokes, trophies were presented to the overall male and female course winners in each distance.

Trevor Bray was the male recipient of this year's Mayor Trophy.

Bray completed the 7.5-km course, finishing at 0:31:19.6.

Right behind Bray was Holly Bull, who crossed the line less than a second after he did.

Bull's time of 0:31:20.1 placed her first overall in the 7.5-km category among female skiers.

Adrienne Hynes received honorable mention in the 7.5-km girls' category.

Hynes completed the course at 0:31:33.3.

Other trophy winners included Ontario's Scott Weersink, who won the 20-km men's category.

Weersink's time was 1:10:40.5 and more than five minutes faster than his brother Brett, who also competed in the junior men's category. He won the Northwestel Trophy for the male category, while Kaelin Shea took the honour on the female side. Shea's time was 1:28:06.3.

Honourable mention in the 20-km group went to 11-year-old Caelan McLean, who placed first in the junior boys' category, coming in at 1:44:03.7.

Dave Brook and Pippa Lawson each won the Coast Mountain Sports Trophy, which was open to all individuals that were registered to race in the 30-km distance. Brook had a time of 1:05:31.1, while Lawson came in at 1:14:17.6.

The ski loppet always attracts a wide variety of ages. Meikle said Saturday was no exception and included skiers who were four to skiers that were over 75 years old.

"That's what I love about the loppet, is you tend to get that kind of range out there and families and friends," she said.

"Probably 99 per cent who register do it for the fun of the day."

Some of the 75 and older participants included Nesta Leduc, Don Graham and Ken Mulloy, who all completed the 20-km race.

Each of the three were in the master's four category.

Graham placed second in his age class, finishing with a time of 1:48:07.1, while Mulloy came in third at 2:56:47.9.

Mulloy is the only skier to race in all 26 Northwestel Loppets.

"We were waiting for him at the finish line and he looked pretty pleased crossing," Meikle said about Mulloy.

Grant Abbott was the first place finisher in the master's four category.

Abbott came in at 1:32:21.5.

Leduc, meanwhile, finished third in her age class with a time of 2:09:28.2.

Lene Nielsen posted the best time among the female participants in the masters four category.

Nielsen came in at 1:42:16.8, beating Wendy Jickling by fewer than nine minutes.

Other age class winners included Jan Polivka, Miriam Lukszova, Jonah Clark, Kaelin Shea, Bill Parry, Wendy Nixon, Jacob Flinton, Benjamin Cannings, Hannah Shier, Marcus Deuling, Cambria Fuerstner, Adrienne Hynes, Diana Cardoso, Regan Fuerstner and Adam Hynes.

Monique Levesque was one of the skiers in the masters two women's 20-km category.

Levesque, who completed the race at 2:04:18.5, said she had some trouble with her grip and even stopped during the race to wax her skis.

"Looks more like a 30-km time," Levesque joked, adding it doesn't matter and it was great participating in her first Northwestel loppet. "It feels great, I am very happy to be done, it was a difficult one because I had no grip for the 20-km, even trying with some other skiers to wax on the way, but nothing would do."

In other Northwestel Loppet news, Beth Hawkings was recognized at Saturday's banquet.

Hawkings, who has been the chief of timing/results for more than 15 years, was given an inscribed dust clock commemorating her contribution over the years at the Northwestel Yukon Loppet.