The Whitehorse Nordic Centre hosted its inaugural Holiday Heroes ski race, drawing 141 registered racers for the first time on Dec. 23.
Cross-country skiers raced along trails surrounding the Whitehorse Nordic Centre chalet, with cash prizes up for grabs on the 3.5-kilometre and 7-kilometre course races.
Yukoner FIS World Cup athlete Derek Deuling took the top spot by completing the seven-kilometre race in 18 minutes and 22 seconds, earning him the $100 cash prize.
Competitive skier Erik Embacher finished first in the three-and-a-half-kilometre race and took home $100 with a finishing time of 12 minutes and 41 seconds. Embacher earned the fastest time in the men’s category during the 2023 Buckwheat International Ski Classic in B.C.
Cross Country Yukon, the sport governing body, had been wanting to have a race for Yukoners over the holidays to get a wide variety of people involved, explained Sarah Johnson, one of the organizers with the event.
“We started organizing it probably a month ago and it's just been a little group of us. Right before registration were closed, we had 141 racers that were signed up. We were pretty surprised. It's one of the largest club races with that number of racers,” Johnson said.
She explained that the race was intended to be light-hearted and an enjoyable experience for everyone involved, pointing out the one-kilometre Santa chase race event for kids.
“We just kept it super simple, keeping the scheduling tight and planning it for the evening, so if people had to go to work they could show up and participate,” Johnson said.
The idea for the race originated from a group of skiers from the Whitehorse Nordic club who had raced in the Sovereign 2 SilverStar Ski Marathon in Vernon, B.C., the previous April. At that race, Whitehorse skiers won $500 in a Club Championship award, Johnson explained.
The group from Whitehorse Nordic decided they wanted to use that $500 to organize a race in Whitehorse when all the university students and local athletes would be home for the holidays, she added.
The race was organized by a small group, primarily Sarah Johnson and Jocelyn Land Murphy, with support from others like Kevin Embacher and Asia Montgomery.
The Holiday Heroes may make a return next year following the inaugural launch this December, Johnson said. She added that next year they hope to offer more prize money and raise the level of organization by taking on more volunteers.
“I think we would definitely try and keep the cash prizes, maybe we would have more money for the cash prizes this year. Because we had such a great turnout, we could try and get a few more volunteers because honestly, our volunteer team was pretty small as we just weren’t anticipating it to be this big of an event,” Johnson said.
Contact Jake Howarth at jake.howarth@yukon-news.com
