The 37th annual Klondike Trail of ’98 International Road Relay was Sept. 6 and 7, starting in the evening in Skagway, Alaska, and finishing the next morning in Whitehorse at Rotary Park.
Starting in downtown Skagway, runners climb more than 800 metres in the first two legs of the 10-leg race before continuing through the White Pass, across the border into Canada, through Carcross and along the Klondike Highway all the way to Whitehorse.
This year, 197 teams in 12 categories competed in the event. All told, 1,877 runners were involved.
The overall winner of this year’s relay was TNP: Dirty Skags from Anchorage, Alaska. The team finished in 11 hours, 11 minutes and 50 seconds, and also won the mixed category.
The second-fastest overall team was #teamraven, also from Anchorage, who finished first in the corporate category with a time of 11 hours, 36 minutes and 40 seconds.
In third place overall and first in the open category was Longest Game of Tag Ever, from Juneau, Alaska, who finished in 13 hours, seven minutes and 34 seconds.
Second place in the open category went to the Rain Dogs with a time of 15 hours, 40 minutes and 30 seconds, and the Max Lightning Turbo Eagles finished third with a time of 15 hours, 53 minutes and 25 seconds.
In the women’s category, the Chilkooters edged out Trail Thunder by just 29 seconds to win. The Chilkooters finished in 14 hours, 58 minutes and 19 seconds, while Trail Thunder finished in 14 hours, 58 minutes and 48 seconds.
Third place went to Worst Parade Ever: My Pace or Yours? with a time of 16 hours, 44 minutes and 45 seconds.
In the mixed category, second place went to Yukon Brewing and Midnight Sun Coffee Run(ners) with a time of 13 hours, 20 minutes and 28 seconds, and Luck of the Draw finished third in 14 hours, 14 minutes and 43 seconds.
The lone masters open team, Running From The Law, finished in 14 hours, eight minutes and 54 seconds.
The winner of the masters women’s category was Winterlooooong! with a time of 15 hours, 45 minutes and eight seconds. Quantum Running Machines were second with a time of 16 hours, 20 minutes and 16 seconds, while Hard Women Are Good To Find was third with a time of 17 hours, 48 minutes and one second.
In the masters mixed category, The Classics finished first with a time of 16 hours, 51 minutes and 46 seconds. Los(t) Lobos was second in 17 hours, 32 minutes and 46 seconds, and the aptly-named 10 Person Mixed Team was third in 17 hours, 56 minutes and 49 seconds.
Second place in the corporate category went to JDS with a time of 15 hours, 10 minutes and 22 seconds, with Hard Coeur third in 15 hours, 12 minutes and five seconds.
The lone golden masters team, Aged To Perfection 2019, finished in 20 hours, five minutes and 59 seconds.
In addition to the full-length category, there were four additional categories that only included the final four legs of the race.
The lone ultra finisher was Brendan Morphet, who completed legs seven through 10 in five hours, 32 minutes and four seconds.
The fastest team in the speed walker category was Chocolate Claim Walkers with a time of nine hours, four minutes and 10 seconds. Second place was the Bytown Gold Rush with a time of nine hours, 46 minutes and 34 seconds, and third place was Slowly Heading North with a time of nine hours, 54 minutes and 56 seconds.
The final two categories split each of the last four legs in two, creating eight shorter legs.
In the youth category, Speed Soles was first with a time of five hours, 27 minutes and 36 seconds. Excel-erators! was second in five hours, 37 minute and seven seconds, and The Cirque Du Sore Legs was third in five hours, 50 minutes and seven seconds.
Lastly, in the eight-person speed walkers category, All Girls and A Guy won with a time of nine hours, 52 minutes and 51 seconds. Happy Hikers Yukon was second in nine hours, 58 minutes and one second, and Sassy Speed Walkers was third in nine hours, 58 minutes and two seconds.
The event wrapped up with a post-race banquet at the Whitehorse Curling Club the evening of Sept. 7.
Full results for all 197 teams can be found at klondikeroadrelay.com.
Contact John Hopkins-Hill at john.hopkinshill@yukon-news.com
An earlier version of this article erroneously stated this year was the first time women outnumbered men in the race. In fact, more women than men have participated each year since 2000. The initial report was based on comments from event volunteers on race day. The News regrets the error.