Plenty of cheers could be heard on Sunday for every runner who crossed the finish line in what was the last discipline of the 10th Annual Whitehorse Triathlon.

The event was held at Canada Games Centre, beginning in the pool and concluding with the running event in designated area outside the facility.

Runners and cyclists had to deal with a cool breeze, but despite the wind, the race was highlighted by sunny skies and warm temperatures. The triathlon also had a tremendous turnout from the community, who showed their support for all of the hard work put in by the competitors at the race.

"The event was absolutely fabulous," said Kathryn Zrum, the race director and event organizer. "All of the volunteers did an incredibly great job, made the race course so much easier for all of the participants."

In 1998, the City of Whitehorse held its first triathlon race, "What a Rush!" The event was held to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Klondike Gold Rush.

What's special about the Whitehorse Triathlon is that it gives participants the option of competing on a team. Teams can have two or three members and allow a participant to focus his or her attention on a specific segment of the triathlon, while avoiding one or both of the remaining disciplines.

Without the team option, junior competitors would not be allowed to participate in the triathlon because of a race stipulation about not allowing people under the age of 15 to cycle on the highway.

This year's event offered two distance levels for participants.

The first was the sprint distance challenge, which included a 500 m swim, which involved 20 lengths of the pool, a 20 km cycle and a five km run.

The Sprint category attracted 48 individuals and teams.

The other category was the Olympic distance where 32 individuals and teams. The Olympic category included 60 lengths in the pool, which was 1,500 m altogether, a 40 km cycle and a 10 km run.

The race routes began outside the Canada Games Centre and followed along Hamilton Blvd., Sumanik Drive and the South Alaska Highway.

One of the differences this year was that Parks and Recreation was required to complete a Highways Right of Way permit, which gave them permission to have the event on the Alaska Highway.

What it meant in terms of the actual triathlon was that the cyclists had to stop at the check point turnarounds and give their name and number to the person at the station.

After a cyclist has been crossed off, he or she was allowed to turn around, when it was safe to cross the highway, for the final half of the cycling event.

Parks and Recreation also offered two different training courses for individuals interested in improving their times at the triathlon. Both courses began in April and were held once a week.

The triathlon was purely a fun and participation event and didn't award prizes for the top race . However, all participants were timed with the same equipment that was used for the 2007 Canada Winter Games for each of the three challenges.

An incredible 18 participants entered the female individual Olympic category, which turned out to be one of the more competitive classes at the triathlon.

The top six competitors in the category finished less than eight minutes apart from each other.

Catherine Fussell placed first with her time of 2h42:56, which was more than five minutes faster than the second place time, posted by Amanda Deuling.

Leslie Raenden rounded out the top three with her time of 2h49:19.

Laura Salmon also competed in the individual Olympic distance, placing sixth overall with her time of 2h50:37.

Salmon said there was a reason she chose to enter the Olympic distance as an individual as opposed to joining a team.

"I figured I could swim the distance, I could bike the distance and I could run the distance, so I thought I would see if I could do them all together," she said. "It was a bit gruelling, but I felt pretty good most of the way."

This was the first year she has competed in the Whitehorse Triathlon and Salmon said she was pleased to see so many people participate. Salmon said her only goal was to finish the race in less than three hours.

"I didn't really set very lofty goals for myself," she said. "I thought I would like to try to finish in under three hours. I did that, so I'm pleased."

The male individual Olympic category was won by Joel Macht with a time of 2h20:55, while Jud Deuling finished less than five minutes behind him at 2h25:10.

Jim Newnham was the only competitor in the Olympic male senior's category, finishing the race at 3h28:22.

The Olympic Team category was won by Hayley's Comets, which featured Whitehorse Glacier Bears swimmer Hayley Braga, cyclist Derrick Hynes and runner Sue Bogle.

Hayley's Comets managed to finish 10:49 ahead of second place Super Fly, which was largely thanks to 11-year-old Braga, who not only formed the team, but also swam an outstanding time of 23:30 in the 1,500 m event.

Braga's time was third fastest in the team category.

This was the second time Braga has competed in the Olympic team event at the Whitehorse Triathlon and she said she was pleased with how it went.

"I like swimming 1,500-m, it's the longest distance," Braga said. "Since I did it last year I knew what to expect, so it was fun."

One of Braga's goals was to improve upon her time from last year's triathlon, which she did by about 3 1/2.

This was a great weekend for Braga, who besides helping her team achieve a first place finish, also managed to qualify for the B.C. provincials, which is AA swim meet that will be held later on in June. Braga qualified for the meet after finishing with a time of 3:07 in the in the 200-m backstroke.

Hynes said the team didn't really have any goals going into the triathlon.

"We just wanted to have fun as much as anything," he said. "I don't swim, I don't run, so the team part really made this fun for me."

He said he was impressed with how well Braga performed in the swimming discipline.

"Our swimmer was amazing," Hynes said.

"That's what I am the most amazed about. She is 11 and 1/2 years old and she was 23 minutes for that distance, which was really remarkable."

Hynes was the second fastest cyclist in the Olympic team category, posting a time of 1h4:36, which he achieved despite having to deal with a flat tire for the final stretch of the race.

Bogle, who finished with a time of 43:50, credited her teammates for the great position they put her in to conclude the triathlon.

"I had a really fast runner behind me, Tom Ullyett, who always beats me by lots and lots. He did beat me in the time, but because of the lead they gave me I was able to hold him off at the finish line," she said. "So my team members came through for me."

The winning sprint team was 3 P's In a Pod, who finished the event at 1h23:25, which was 3:21 faster than second place team Girl Power.

Twenty-six competitors finished the women's sprint category. In what was a close race for top spot, Melissa O'Brien beat out Hayley McIndoe by less than three minutes to capture the top place in the standings with her time of 1h15:44.

This was Jennifer King's second time participating in the Whitehorse Triathlon and her first time competing in the sprint distance.

King, who finished in 14th place with a time of 1h37:15, said she was happy with how the triathlon went this year.

"It was really good," she said. "I was happy just to finish."

King said she prefers to compete in the Olympic distance and chose to enter the sprint event only because she just had a baby this past November.

"I don't think the Olympic distance would have been realistic for me this year," she said. "It's a big difference."

She said she plans on taking part in the 2009 Whitehorse Triathlon and hopes to compete in the Olympic distance event.

Darren Holocombe's time in the sprint male category 1h12:58 was the fastest, while Brett Cross crossed the finish line at 1h26:26 to come in second. Keith Vig was the only competitor in the men's senior's category, finishing the race at 2h16:26.