The rain that doused Whitehorse on Saturday subsided for Sunday’s The Claim Pre-Skagway 10 Miler race at Rotary Peace Park. The ground and the trails were still damp but the sun peaked out from the clouds warming up the area and creating what the runners were saying were perfect running conditions.

The Pre-Skagway 10 Miler falls two weeks before the Klondike Trail of ‘98 International Road Relay - a race from Skagway to Whitehorse. The race Sunday was a perfect tune-up for the Road Relay which will be run the weekend after Labour Day

Forty-eight runners embarked on the 10 mile (16 kilometre) run. Starting from Rotary, the runners travelled along the Millennium Trail and then onto Miles Canyon Road. They then crossed the bridge over Miles Canyon and continued down Chadburn Lake Road before ending where they started.

Just before the hour mark, the volunteers at the finish line started to anticipate the first wave of runners to reach the end.

Crossing over the Robert Campbell Bridge was David Eikelboom, who held a quick, steady pace toward the finish line to complete the race in 55 minutes, 37 seconds. He was the only runner to finish below the hour mark.

In the training leading up to the race, Eikelboom said he has been doing more sprint training compared to distance running.

“You just suffer a little more I think,” said Eikelboom. “The thing that is limiting my running right now is my top-end speed. I should be able to run a lot faster for five kilometres, a mile, 800-metres than I can right now.

“My training has all-around been trying to build all that up. I guess I have been doing enough long, easy stuff that this was OK. But ideally I’d be doing more 10, 15-minute intervals to really be prepared right for this but it was alright all things considered.”

Eikelboom will be racing in the Klondike Trail of ‘98 International Road Relay and said the Pre-Skagway 10 Miler was good preparation.

“It’s a good benchmark,” said Eikelboom. “I’ve done this race most years I’ve been here. I kind of have a sense of where I am compared to a normal year. And it’s just a fun race so it’s good to be out here.”

He said he was happy with his time and his race overall even though it took him a few miles to feel comfortable.

“I’m really happy with how today went,” said Eikelboom. “I did five-miles before we even started the race to just try and get properly warmed up. Even then, it took five more miles to get my breathing under control and then I felt sort of smooth.

“Then I was able to close. Those last two miles I did kind of five minutes, 15 seconds each so I was happy with that.”

While racing, Eikelboom said he looks at mile-by-mile splits and looks at each mile individually, focusing on each mile.

With 11 days until the Klondike Road Relay, Eikelboom said he is starting to get excited.

“I’m looking forward to it,” said Eikelboom. “We’ve got a bit of a different team this year then we’ve done the last few years but we are excited and just looking to have a good time.”

Colin Abbott was the second runner to cross the finish line to a chorus of cheers from the onlookers. His time was one hour, four seconds.

Dominic Bradford trailed Abbott by two minutes coming in third place.

The first woman to complete the race was Anett Kralisch, who earlier in August was the second-place finisher in the Yukon River Trail Marathon and Relay. Kralisch posted a time of one hour, 11 minutes and 58 seconds, on Sunday.

After running under the Robert Campbell Bridge, Kralisch turned on the jets and sprinted to the finish line.

“I wanted to stay under one (hour) 12 (minutes),” said Kralisch between heavy breaths. “The sprint made the difference.”

Kralisch said she felt she had a very good day on the course.

“It was probably my best run ever on the 10 Miler,” said Kralisch. “The conditions were perfect, no humidity, cold temperatures.”

Just after the halfway point of the race, Kralisch said she had to keep pushing herself because she didn’t want to be overtaken by Maura Sullivan.

“I guess as of kilometre seven my entire race was fuelled by sheer panic that Maura would pass me,” said Kralisch. “I don’t like the thought of having that push but in reality, it makes you faster.”

Kralisch will be racing the Klondike Road Relay with Eikelboom and Bradford.

“It’s the highlight of the year,” said Kralisch.

She said the Pre-Skagway 10 Miler was a good race to prepare for the run in two-weeks time because the trail is similar to the leg she will be doing.

“It’s a perfect fit for the run I’ll be running,” said Kralisch. “I’ll be running leg seven. It’s a great leg because it is relatively short and it usually starts in the morning around sunrise so it is beautiful. This was perfect preparation.”

Sullivan, the racer Kralisch feared would pass her came in second, coming in three-minutes behind in one hour, 14 minutes and five seconds.

Sue Bogle was the third woman to return to Rotary Peace Park with a time of one hour, 16 minutes and seventeen seconds.

The Klondike Trail of ‘98 International Road Relay will begin on Sept. 6 in the evening in Skagway. It follows the trail of the Gold Rush Stampeders over the White Pass, through B.C. and finishing on Saturday in Whitehorse at Rotary Peace Park.

It is 175 kilometres and is broken into 10 legs varying in distance from nine to 25.6 kilometres.