Whitehorse’s Tom Ullyett summed up the Grey Mountain Summer Solstice Fun Run/Walk concisely.
“On the way up, tough on the lungs. On the way down, tough on the quads,” he said.
“That’s really accurate,” added Lauren Whyte.
Whyte and Whitehorse’s Logan Roots won their second straight summer edition of the run, organized by Athletics Yukon.
Whyte also won the winter solstice edition in December.
“It’s always a painful run until the top, and then you start coming down,” said Whyte.
Forty-three runners and walkers took part in Tuesday’s 10.4-kilometres jaunt, up and down, climbing 420 metres in elevation.
Whyte was the top female with a time of 54 minutes and 19 seconds, about a minute-and-a-half faster than last year.
Roots was two minutes slower than in 2012 with a time of 45:39.
“Last year I put a lot more effort into it than this year,” said Roots. “This year it was about getting to the top and cruise down.”
“It was good. Two boxes of Smarties got me to the top and the downhill brought me back,” he added, referring to a bin of full of the candy at the start line.
“Every year since I started running I’ve gotten stronger at downhills. Instead of slowing yourself down, you just fly.”
Roots, 20, is slated to represent the territory at the Canada Summer Games this August in Sherbrooke, Que., as are the two second-place finishers in the men’s division.
Logan Boehmer and Kieran Halliday tied for second with a time of 52:16. Roots and Boehmer will compete in athletics at the Games and Halliday in tennis.
Roots won the 2012 Yukon River Trail Marathon, but doesn’t plan to defend the title this summer.
“I think it’s a week before we go to Canada Games and my coach says I might feel a little tired if I do that,” said Roots.
Roots represented the Yukon in track at the 2009 Canada Summer Games and the 2011 Western Canada Games. He won three golds and a silver in snowshoeing at the 2012 Arctic Winter Games.
He also won the overall title in the Vancouver Island Series for the second time in three years this spring.
Whyte was named Fastest Female Runner of the Year by Athletics Yukon at the Sport Yukon Awards Night last December.
She took first in the open women’s half distance division at the Yukon River Trail Marathon last August and plans to do the full distance this year.
Top-five results
Female runners (10.4 km)
1st Lauren Whyte - 54:19
2nd Kealy Sweet - 56:40
3rd Anett Kralisch - 1:02:11
4th Janet Clarke - 1:02:51
5th Hayley Henderson - 1:06:29
Male runners (10.4 km)
1st Logan Roots - 45:39
2nd Logan Boehmer - 52:16
2nd Kieran Halliday - 52:16
4th Tom Ullyett - 54:09
5th Tedd Tucker - 56:40
Female walkers (10.4 km)
1st Bonnie Love - 1:32:51
2nd Debra Fendrick - 1:32:52
3rd Becky Streigler - 1:42:07
3rd Ruth Hall - 1:42:07
5th Tanya Astika - 1:48:18
Female runners (5 km)
1st Larra Daley - 26:10
2nd Laurie Drummond - 31:37
3rd Jessica Bakica - 47:16
4th Arianna Gibson - 48:04
Male runners (5 km)
1st Luke Bakica - 27:52
2nd Thomas Bakica - 33:21
3rd Anakin Gibson - 37:26
Male walker (5 km)
1st Philip Gibson - 48:04
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com