A record 53 riders turned out for Saturday’s Mosquito Harescramble races hosted by the Yukon Cross Country Motorcycle Association at the Schirmer Family Ranch.

Association president Mike Beaman attributes the increase in interest to more and more people simply hearing about the events.

“It’s just growing in popularity,” he said in an interview Monday.

“A lot of the growth is in the kids. We give them a place to do the sport where they can learn safety and trail etiquette.”

The largest group of 13 riders was in the Junior Under-15 class, he pointed out.

There were six classes with participants ranging in age from as young as four years old right on up.

The youngest raced for 20 minutes on a one-kilometre loop while the Junior U-15 group rode on a seven-kilometre loop for one hour. The intermediate B riders raced on the seven-kilometre loop for two hours and the Intermediate A and expert riders raced on an 11-kilometre loop for one hour.

Beaman explained that depending on the lap times, some riders could have been on the trail for up to 2 1/2 to three hours.

“It’s pretty exhausting,” he said. “It is a pretty demanding sport, one of the most demanding in the world I would imagine.”

In the Peewee class of riders between four and eight years old, Levi Walker finished first, Hunter Grant was second and Royce Thomas was third.

In the Mini class of riders between six and 10 years old, KJ Raymond finished first, Memphis Nolan was second and Casey Hadley was third.

Azraia Walker won the Girls class while Mia Raymond was second and Wendy Whitford was third.

In the Junior U-15 class, Cody Hadley was first, Cameron Geier was second and Brent McNeil was third.

James Verville finished first in the Intermediate B class while Ben Clark was second and Shane Pilsworth was third.

In the Intermediate A class, Ethan Davy finished first, Mike Murphy was second and Cole Beaman was third, or one position ahead of his dad Mike.

Sam Schirmer was first in the Expert A class, Julien Revel was second and Richie Law was third.

The next Mosquito Harescramble is scheduled for Sept. 22 at the Schirmer Family Ranch.