On Sept. 1, the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the new $8.2-million track and field facility at F.H. Collins Secondary School was held.

Twenty-eight days later, Athletics Yukon, one of the two major user groups of the facility along with Soccer Yukon, hosted their first event on the new track Tuesday evening.

Before the race, Athletics Yukon and F.H. Collins had been using the track for training.

The race, formally named “Last Gasp” was open to all age groups. There were two distances held, 2,000 and 5,000 metres. The Last Gasp was an opportunity for runners to get an official time while trying the brand new rubber track.

To ensure the safety of the athletes amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, a limit of 15 runners was allowed on the track at a time, decided on a first-come-first-serve basis.

The track, which surrounds the soccer pitch, is an eight-lane, 400-metre rubberized track built to International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) standards.

When Don White, a track and field coach in the territory and Athletics Yukon board member since 1987 spoke at the ribbon-cutting ceremony he said the new track was a dream come true.

On Tuesday, White said it was great to see all the runners and fans out enjoying the facility.

And the fans were out, watching safely from the sidelines. As is custom with an Athletics Yukon event, the cowbells were out and ringing.

In the 2,000 metre men’s race, four laps of the track, Shane Carlos posted the fastest time of 5:48. Coming in second was Leon Borlase in 8:35 and Theo Yu Schott earned third place.

Julie McVicer set the pace in the women’s 2,000-metre category. Her time was 8:35. Erin Henderson finished 24 seconds behind McVicer and Emily Kralisch-Sequin came third.

The 5,000 metre race (five kilometres) was 12.5 laps of the track. Shane Carlos earned himself another win atop the men’s division completing the run in 16:24. Shane’s brother Luke came second, edging out third-place finisher Dominic Bradford by three seconds.

It was a race down to the wire in the women’s 5,000 metre category. Amelia Fraser proved victorious with a time of 20:08. Only two seconds behind Fraser was Anett Kralisch. Four seconds separated second and third, which was taken by Jody Eikelboom.

John Storms and Bonnie Love walked the 5,000 metres. Storms completed it in 32:10 and Love in 35:13.