It was a sunny, albeit, chilly Saturday afternoon for the Yukon Ski Marathon beginning in the Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club stadium and ending in front of the wax room.

There were 147 athletes registered to ski across three distances - 34, 25 and 10 kilometres respectively. All the races were free mass starts.

The skiers in all distances began in the stadium and travelled through the tunnel under Sumanik Drive to get onto the trails.

Family, friends, and volunteers patiently waited at the wax room for the first athletes to arrive at the finish line.

Sasha Masson, skiing in 10-kilometre U18 boys’ category was the first skier across the end line. His time was 31:51.1.

He said it was an ideal day of racing.

“It was really beautiful,” said Masson. “It was sunny and just perfect conditions for the Yukon Ski Marathon.”

Masson said his goal heading into this 10-kilometre race was to win.

Helping motivate him was a warm welcome he was anticipating when he was done his race.

“I gave myself a little bit of a lead and thought I could win it,” said Masson. “It was definitely nice to come back and see my mom.”

The Yukon Championships were held the weekend prior, which Masson also raced. This coming weekend is the Buckwheat Classic. Masson will be representing the Yukon at the Arctic Winter Games and said all these races are important to maintain the competitive drive.

“It’s pretty much keeping up the intensity level every weekend,” saidMasson. “It’s always a warmed-up constant body and once you get into Arctics you give it all you got.”

Masson said doing local events like the Yukon Ski Marathon is also helpful because it allows him, and his fellow teammates, to race competitively on some of the trails that will be used for the Games.

The first female back was Sonjaa Schmidt in the 10km U18 female class. Her time was 35:32.8.

“I feel pretty good,” said Schmidt. “It’s a really nice day. They (the trails) were really firm and fast. It felt good.”

Heading into the race, Schmidt said her goal wasn’t to win, rather she just wanted to test herself.

“I wouldn’t say win, but my goal was to push hard enough, but not too hard that I would ruin my lungs,” said Schmidt.

“It’s pretty cold out.”

The start time of the Yukon Ski Marathon was delayed an hour because the mercury was well below -25 C. When the mass starts began at noon and then 12:30 p.m., the air temperature, according to the official results, was -19 C.

Like Masson, Schmidt will be representing the Yukon in cross country skiing at the quickly approaching Arctic Winter Games.

Schmidt said in preparation for the Games, she and the team have been doing a lot of races.

“We’ve been racing a lot,” said Schmidt. “Just from local loppets to these fun marathon races. Next week is the Buckwheat which I’ll do.

“I think I’d rather do a race than intensity. I think it’s wonderful.”

Finishing behind Masson in the U18 boys’ category was Victor Emile Thibeault, who had an end result of 34:00.2. The other athletes in the class, Curtis Cash and Derek Deuling did not start.

Dahlia Lapointe was the second-place U18 female. Her time was 45:16.0.

The junior boys and girls also raced 10 kilometres. The top three boys were seconds apart. Felix Masson finished in 42:48.8. Only 2.8 seconds behind was Nicolas Giangrande who edged out Finegand Bradford by 0.3 seconds.

Seconds are all that separated the top girls as well. Kate Mason completed the 10km in 36:19.2. Constance Lapointe was five seconds behind and Sophia Giangrande rounded out the top three.

In the 25 kilometre senior female race, Zoe Braul was able to put some separation between herself and second place finisher Marit Parry. Braul’s final result was 1:47:54.3, over 11 minutes quicker than the next skier.

Deb Higgins placed third in 2:03:32.8.

Like Braul, Stuart Hamilton finished well ahead of his fellow skiers.

Hamilton’s time was 1:40.00.7, nine-plus minutes quicker than Bill Parry. In 2:03:14.6 Tom Ullyet rounded out the top three.

Annmarie Gill was the top female in the day’s longest race. Gill, from Revelstoke, B.C. completed the 34-kilometres in 2:29:46.9. Emilie Stewart-Jones wasn’t too far behind Gill in second, finishing 2:39.5 behind the leader.

Laura Salmon grabbed the third position in 3:05:31.1.

Winning the men’s 34-kilometre race was 2018 Olympian Knute Johnsgaard, whose time was 1:51:30.4. Not far behind Johnsgaard was Matthias Purdon, who finished 1:42.6 after the winner.

Colin Abbott, one of the marathon’s organizers and chief of competition placed third, in 1:57:35.6.