Whitehorse’s Logan Roots gave himself a belated birthday gift on Saturday.
A day after his 22nd birthday, Roots took first place in the half-distance of the Skagway Marathon in Alaska.
It was his first time racing in the event.
“It’s definitely worth the drive,” said Roots. “It was well organized, beautiful course. It was a little bit of a smaller marathon, which was especially wonderful because there were no pre-race Porta Potty line-ups or anything. The race bags came with T-shirts and a pair of socks, which was awesome.”
Roots placed first out of 27 runners in the men’s division. He finished with a record time of one hour, 13 minutes and 18 seconds. (It should be noted this year’s race had a new start line, on a neighbouring dock at the Skagway Ferry Terminal, changing the distance of the race by the matter of a few paces, said organizers.)
Roots recently competed at the Canadian Half Marathon Championships in Calgary, placing third for his age division and 19th overall.
“Somehow I ran faster than I did in Calgary - I don’t know how,” said Roots. “After Dyea Road, the entire race you’re either going up or going down ... Nothing too steep, but a pretty constant grade for most of the race.”
Whitehorse’s David Eikelboom, who won the men’s half last year in Skagway, placed second on Saturday, ahead of Whitehorse’s Kieran Halliday in third.
Whitehorse participants won four out of six divisions, coming up short in the two walking categories, at the fifth annual event that had 107 registered participants including 61 from Whitehorse.
Joanne Van Bibber-Widrig won the women’s marathon division with a time of 4:28:48.
Sheldon Lyslo outpaced 10 others in the men’s marathon division, winning at 3:29:54.
Whitehorse’s Amelia Fraser defended her title in the women’s half marathon, the event’s largest division with 42 runners.
The 30-year-old finished in 1:38:22, about two minutes slower than last year, and almost 10 minutes off her personal best that she set at the BMO Vancouver Marathon in early May.
“I wasn’t feeling the best throughout the run, so I’m proud of myself for not stopping,” said Fraser. “It was a mental battle more than a physical battle on Saturday. It was a lot harder than I remember, which you tend to block out after you finish running.
“My stomach wasn’t the best, my legs were tired, I felt really out of shape.”
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com
Top 10 results
Women’s half marathon
1st Amelia Fraser (Whitehorse) - 1:38:22
2nd Anett Kralisch (Whitehorse) - 1:39:19
3rd Alanna Hennessey (Whitehorse) - 1:45:18
4th Morgan Bouquot (Whitehorse) - 1:46:24
5th Molly Payne (Seattle) - 1:48:06
6th Jaime Salonen (Grande Prairie) - 1:49:13
7th Larra Daley (Whitehorse) - 1:49:21
8th Garnet Muething (Whitehorse) - 1:50:06
9th Sarah Johnson (Whitehorse) - 1:51:05
10th Rachel Drummond (Whitehorse) - 1:53:01
Men’s half marathon
1st Logan Roots (Whitehorse) - 1:13:18
2nd David Eikelboom (Whitehorse) - 1:14:01
3rd Kieran Halliday (Whitehorse) - 1:18:30
4th Dominic Bradford (Whitehorse) - 1:23:05
5th John Carson (Whitehorse) - 1:29:18
6th Spencer Morgan (Skagway) - 1:33:41
7th Ryan Hennessey (Whitehorse) - 1:36:22
8th Matt Ordish (Whitehorse) - 1:39:30
9th Sandro Holzinger (Whitehorse) - 1:39:33
10th Ralph Borders (Haines) - 1:40:01
Women’s half marathon (walking)
1st Becky Jensen (Skagway) - 2:57:41
2nd Marni Delaurier (Whitehorse) - 3:32:25
3rd Ricki Tardiff(Whitehorse) - 3:32:25
4th Tammy Neunherz (Whitehorse) - 3:32:25
5th Sarah Gallina (Whitehorse) - 3:32:25
6th Shanna Epp (Whitehorse) - 3:32:25
7th Lorraine Taillefer (Whitehorse) - 3:33:38
8th Line Gagnon (Whitehorse) - 3:33:38
9th Linda Bonnefoy (Whitehorse) - 4:04:53
10th Debbie Ackerman (Skagway) - 5:04:27
Men’s half marathon (walking)
1st Jack Braden (Norcross, Ga.) - 3:52:40
2nd Ray Tsang (Skagway) - 4:08:39
Women’s marathon
1st Joanne Van Bibber-Widrig (Whitehorse) - 4:28:48
2nd Tammy Sieminowski (Toronto) - 4:41:04
3rd Cassie Nelson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) - 6:01:48
Men’s marathon
1st Sheldon Lyslo (Whitehorse) - 3:29:54
2nd Jason Mackey (Whitehorse) - 3:44:58
3rd Michael Healy (Skagway) - 3:46:10
4th Robert Gillis (Whitehorse) - 3:48:24
5th Bryan Abbott (Skagway) - 3:55:31
6th Don White (Whitehorse) - 4:02:28
7th Steve Burrows (Orillia, Ont.) - 4:27:58
8th Paul Nelson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) - 4:28:48
9th John Griffard (Skagway) - 5:12:19
9th Pete Griffard (Skagway) - 5:12:19