Whitehorse’s Kieran Halliday captured Yukon’s five-kilometre men’s title last month with a sprint to the finish, winning by a second.
The 18-year-old pocketed a second territorial title with a lot more breathing room on Tuesday.
Halliday was first overall in Athletics Yukon’s Yukon 10-Kilometre Championships, starting and ending at F.H. Collins Secondary School.
“It’s great running conditions; it’s not too hot, not windy, no rain,” said Halliday. “It was nice to get out there and hammer out a couple kilometres.”
Halliday, who finished with a time of 36 minutes and 49 seconds, will attend University of British Columbia this year and has been picked up by the school’s cross-country running team.
Halliday represented Yukon in track (and tennis) at the Canada Summer Games last August and also placed 19th at the B.C. High School Cross Country Championships in November.
He placed third for males at last year’s 10-kilometre championship with a faster time of 35:38.
“I had some tough training yesterday,” said Halliday. “I pushed myself a little too much before I realized the 10K was today. So I was sort of feeling that on the second lap.”
Anett Kralisch was the top female at the championships.
She crossed the line behind Halliday with a personal best time of 43:19.
“The first five kilometres felt really great. After kilometre-seven, not so much,” said Kralisch. “At the end I was still happy with my time.”
Nathalie Dugas ran to second for females at 46:42, ahead of third’s Deb Kitchen at 57:34.
Kralisch placed second out of three female runners at last year’s 10-kilometre championships posting a time of 45:54.
“I started running a few years ago because a friend talked me into it, but I was pregnant,” said Kralisch. “This is the first year where I’m not pregnant, I’m not recovering from a pregnancy. It makes a difference.”
Whitehorse’s Sammy Mather will likely be giving the likes of Halliday a run for his money in years to come.
The 10-year-old finished the 10-kilometres in 46:14 to finish second for males, third overall, and first for under-15 males.
Tuesday was his very first time running a 10K.
“I usually just do five,” said Mather. “At the end of my first lap I didn’t think I would do 10. But I sat down and realized I was feeling quite good, so I told (the timer) I was going to do 10.
“And I’m feeling super good and I’m super happy.”
Mather ran to second and third overall in Yukon Energy’s Haeckel Hill Run the last two years, winning his age division both years. He also won his division at YSAA school runs this spring.
He plans to run the eight-kilometre event at the Victoria Marathon in October.
“I run a lot,” said Mather. “I don’t have a secret, I just run.”
Not far behind Mather were two other under-15 males. Isaac O’Brien took second in the category with a time of 50:08, just 10 seconds in front of Neil Mikelson.
Dave Kalles, running in the males 70-79 category, finished in 1:06:12.
“It’s the end of the season for me. I’m not going to be racing any more races in the Yukon this summer, so I just want to say thanks to all the race organizers who did all the work organizing this stuff,” said Halliday. “I want to say thanks to my parents, too, for helping support me. They were out here today, giving me Gatorade. It was nice.”
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com