Photo by Marcel Vander Wier
OUT FOR A RIP – Ashten Staffen of Whitehorse runs along the South Klondike Highway during the 32nd annual Klondike Trail of ’98 International Road Relay.
Photo by Marcel Vander Wier
ON THE WAY TO VICTORY – Bonnie Love, captain of the Chocolate Claim Walkers, burns up the pavement during her leg.
Photo by Marcel Vander Wier
UPHILL, BOTH WAYS – Whitehorse runner Zsofi Wagner leads a rival runner up the hill near Emerald Lake Saturday morning.
Photo by Marcel Vander Wier
CHECKPOINT EXCITEMENT – Volunteers were out in full force to help put on the Klondike Road Relay.
Photo by Marcel Vander Wier
KEEPING WARM – Runners crowd around a bonfire along the highway near Carcross to stay warm before dawn Saturday morning.
Photo by Marcel Vander Wier
FOR LUCK – Teammates give each other a kiss for the road during the 2014 Klondike Road Relay.
Whitehorse teams win masters, youth divisions
Whitehorse teams claimed five division titles at the 2014 Klondike Road Relay.
Whitehorse teams claimed five division titles at the 2014 Klondike Road Relay.
While the Yukon’s elite running teams may have been bested by their Anchorage rivals, local masters and youth runners held off their U.S. rivals from sweeping all categories.
Updated results indicate a Yukon sweep in the masters divisions, as well as Whitehorse victories in the youth and walking categories.
The Cabriolet Xcelerators, captained by Tom Ullyett and including Yukon MP Ryan Leef, won the Masters Open division in 13:09:03.
Charlie’s Angels, captained by Joanne Van Bibber-Widrig, won the Masters Women category in 16:45:13.
Led by Stephan Atmanspacher, the Whitehorse Renegades finished their race in 14:26:30 to win the Masters Mixed division.
Meanwhile, the Kluane Drilling Road Runners took the youth crown, with eight runners running an abbreviated race of the last four legs in 5:53:35. Captain Isaac O’Brien ran the anchor leg, hitting 14.1 kph in the process.
The Chocolate Claim Walkers, captained by Bonnie Love, earned the inaugural four-person title, completing the final four legs in 8:37:29.
Elite teams from Anchorage won both the relay’s open men’s and women’s titles.
Team Raven: Take No Prisoners was the first team to cross the finish line in a time of 11:04:51, while a new-look women’s Team Raven Sistas finished first in their category in 13:08:22.
“We were definitely expecting to win,” said Raven Sistas captain Emma Bohman, 25. “But the one thing that I said to everybody was: ‘It doesn’t matter how fast you run. It’s all about how much fun you have, because I want you to come back and do it again.’”
Bohman competed in the relay for the past three years, before deciding to recruit her former teammates from the University of Alaska - Anchorage to form an elite women’s squad.
Half of the 10 runners she recruited were relay rookies. Bohman said the team did enjoy a rivalry with the Masters Open winners from Whitehorse, beating them to the finish line by about 40 seconds.
For detailed statistics on the relay, visit klondikeroadrelay.com.
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