Seventy participants came out to brave rain showers and mosquito's on Wednesday night at part one of the 2008 Yukon Orienteering Championships.

Wednesday's event was the Long Distance Discipline.

Course planner, Ross Burnett, set seven courses of different lengths to challenge all skill levels. Participants ranged from two to 70 years old, proving that orienteering truly is "Your Sport For Life."

Staying mostly on the Biathlon Ski Trails off Grey Mountain Road, Course One took the younger orienteers on a distance of just under two km. Leading the way was Caelan McLean with the fastest time of 16:12.

Course two required the juniors and family groups to navigate mostly on trails but then be prepared to leave the trails when they got closer to the markers.

Fastest on the 2.4 km course was Shea Hoffman in the M14 category. Shea completed it in a competent 30:53.

Course three was also mastered by members of the Junior Team. Dahria Beatty was a speedy 47:38 on the 3.6 km course in the F16 category. Participants on this course were required to make more route choice decisions and the ability to use a compass would give some a distinct advantage.

Courses Four to Seven were considered advanced courses with strong orienteering skills required, which included compass, contour interpretation, distance judgement and also good route choice decisions.

On the short, but technical, course four, Bruce McLean in 46:26 and Jill Pangman in 46:51 showed son Caelan McLean that he came by his skills naturally.

The popular course five had many participants running in their competitive age groups. Karen McKenna led everyone running the course and also won the F 45-54 category in 70:25.

Jim Green of Haines Alaska trumped the M45-54 category in 73:37. Leading the field in the open category was Justine Scheck in 71:39.

Course six was over six km long and local Yukon Orienteering Association member Pam James was up to the task finishing well ahead of Ellyn Brown from Anchorage. Also running this course in the M 35-44 category was Kimball Forest of Anchorage.

Course Seven was the longest and most challenging of the courses and only the elite men took on the 10 km which involved a spectator control and a map exchange.

Keeping just ahead of the young guns was Afan Jones in 115:56. Afan was followed by Lee Hawkings, Nansen Murray and Colin Abbott.

This event was one of the last preps for Hawkings and Abbott before they head to Sweden for the Junior World Championships at the beginning of July.

For full results please check the website at www.yukonorienteering.ca

Particular thanks go out to Ross Burnett and Aileen McCorkell for their efforts to make this such a successful event.

Part two and three of the 2008 Yukon Orienteering Championships, which include a sprint and a middle distance, will be held in September.

The next regular Wednesday night meet is July 2 on the Long Lake map. Start location will be the Long Lake Day Use Area. For more info call Jones at 667-6659.