A pair of Whitehorse runners were at the top of the heap following the Goodlife Fitness Victoria Marathon on Vancouver Island this past Sunday.
Whitehorse’s Lindsay Carson was the top female in the eight-kilometre race and up-and-comer Sammy Mather was first in his division in the same distance.
“The race was great. The female field wasn’t that deep, but I had plenty of guys to run with,” said Carson. “The weather was awesome: moderate temperatures, no winds, perfect race conditions.”
Carson placed first out of 1,553 female runners in the eight-kilometre event with a time of 27:15. The 25-year-old came in 2:14 ahead of the second female finisher, Victoria’s Sarah Macpherson.
Carson, who took sixth at the 2014 Canadian 10-kilometre Road Race Championships last month, also placed 12th overall out of 2,365 racers.
Sunday was just her second time running an eight-kilometre event, beating her previous time by two seconds.
“I’ve never run that race before, so it was a good experience. It was an out-and-back loop ... so I had a lot of people cheering for me on the way around,” she said. “I really enjoyed that.”
Mather placed first for males 12 and under, completing the 8K in 32:40. The 10-year-old was also 41st out of 812 male runners and 56th overall.
When asked what his secret was to beating so many older, more experienced runners in a recent interview, he simply replied: “I run a lot. I don’t have a secret, I just run.”
A total of 95 Whitehorse runners participated in Sunday’s race (19 in the marathon, 51 in the half marathon and 25 in the eight-kilometre race) and 28 placed in the top 20 for their respective divisions.
Whitehorse native Logan Roots was Yukon’s top finisher in the half marathon. The 21-year-old was seventh overall (and seventh for males) out of 3,795 participants.
Roots, who finished in 1:11:32, was also second for the males 20-24 division.
“I was 12th (overall) last year, so my goal for this year was to break into the top 10,” said Roots. “I was hoping to run a little bit faster. I was aiming for an hour (and) 10, so it’s a little bit disappointing I didn’t quite get there, but I can’t be too disappointed with a personal best. Next year maybe.”
Roots, who currently lives in Victoria, won the Yukon River Trail Marathon for his second year in a row this past summer.
Roots and Carson both hope to compete at the B.C. and the Canadian cross-country championships before the end of the season.
“I was trying to hang on to (Victoria’s) Jim Finlayson, who finished fifth in an hour (and) 10, almost exactly,” said Roots. “So I was trying to hang in with him. I felt a little bit weak going up some of the hills, so at about 10K he pulled away and I eased up. From there I was quite alone; I just ran my own race to the finish.”
Whitehorse’s Richard Zral wasn’t in the front of the pack on Sunday, but he was for his division of the half marathon. Zral finished third for males 70-74 with a time of 1:56:22. He was also 633rd for males.
Like his buddy Roots, Whitehorse’s Logan Boehmer cut time and moved up the standings from last year in the half marathon. Boehmer placed 19th overall, 18th for males, and fourth in males 20-24 with a time of 1:16:52.
Kate Mason podiumed in her respective division in the eight-kilometre race. Mason finished in 44:45 to place third for females 12 and under.
Dahlia Lapointe was less than a minute behind Mason, finishing in 45:41 to take fifth in the same division.
Jacob Loos completed the eight kilometres in 32:04 to snag fifth for males 25-29 and 51st overall.
Whitehorse’s top marathon finisher Sunday was Michael Kulachkosky at 3:14:39. Kulachkosky placed 17th for males 30-34 and 107th overall out of 1,565 runners.
Two-time Whitehorse Triathlon champ Joel Macht was the territory’s second finisher in the full-distance event. Macht crossed the line in 3:24:36 to place 173rd overall and 29th for males 35-39.
Whitehorse’s Amelia Fraser cracked the top-10 for females 30-34, placing seventh at 3:27:17. She was also 39th for women and 199th overall.
“It was a well-organized race and it was great to see so many people from Whitehorse going,” added Carson.
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com