If Logan Boehmer’s performance on Sunday is any indication, the Whitehorse relay team Scarecrow will have a strong anchor runner come the Klondike Road Relay in a week.
For the second year in a row, Boehmer was the top finisher in the Chocolate Claim Pre-Skagway 10 Miler, Whitehorse’s warm-up race for the Klondike Trail of ‘98 International Road Relay.
Boehmer finished the roughly 10-mile race, starting and ending in Rotary Park on Sunday, with a winning time of 1:01:39.
“It was a little windy today, a little rainy, but it still makes for a good race,” said Boehmer. “You don’t have to worry about getting too hot.”
Boehmer is registered to run the final leg of next week’s Skagway to Whitehorse relay as Whitehorse’s Team Scarcrow goes for their fifth straight title of the event.
The 22-year-old won the half-distance at the Yukon River Quest Marathon at the start of the month. He also placed 13th overall, and third for men 20-24, at the 2014 B.C. 10-Kilometre Championship in July.
Dominic Bradford, who placed third last year, moved up to second in Sunday’s 10 miler at 1:02:50.
Boehmer and Bradford were shoulder to shoulder until the first big hill on Miles Canyon Road.
“We chatted for a bit and we like, ‘Do you want to work together?’ and we did until the first big hill,” said Boehmer.
“It’s nice to run hard on a Sunday morning. I’m glad Dominic was there to push me.”
Ted Tucker completed the race in 1:09:38 for third. Aidan Bradley, who competed in athletics at the Canada Summer Games with Boehmer a year ago, took fourth at 1:09:38.
Hot off her win at last week’s Yukon 10-Kilometre Championships, Whitehorse’s Anett Kralisch was the top female on Sunday and ninth overall.
“I guess the 10K on Tuesday gave me quite a bit of confidence that I can do this one, so that was good,” said Kralisch.
Kralisch finished in 1:14:36 to beat her third place time from last year by just under two minutes. Not an easy task considering the course is a little long this year due to construction of Yukon Energy’s Whitehorse liquefied natural gas plant on Robert Service Way, removing the shortcut onto Miles Canyon Road.
“I didn’t think I would be able to beat my time from last year, but I did,” said Kralisch. “It was very tough at first - the wind was brutal. And then there was that extra loop at Yukon Energy. But I felt great, so that was good.”
Janet Clarke placed second for females at 1:17:26 and Laura Daly darted to third with a time of 1:17:30.
“I ran the first four kilometres with my friend Laura who basically pushed me through the season and is the reason I got a bit more serious about running,” said Kralisch. “Without her I’d probably just run my five kilometres once a week. I’m really glad she’s such a good friend and got me into running.”
While the Scarecrow team roster tends to change a little year to year, there is a significant difference in the line-up for next week’s race.
Scarecrow will have its first female member next week with Whitehorse’s Lindsay Carson.
Carson was the top female in the half distance of the River Trail Marathon, placed second for open women (first for women 20-24) at the 2014 B.C. 10-Kilometre Championship and placed second out of 19,377 women runners at the Vancouver Sun Run in this spring.
She came fourth at last year’s Canadian National Cross Country Championships.
Also on Scarecrow, which will continue to race in the competitive open division, is Team Canada cross-country skier Graham Nishikawa of Whitehorse.
This year’s relay has a total of 182 teams registered, surpassing the previous record of 161 set in 1998, Sport Yukon says. Though the exact number has not been pinned down, it appears over 1,500 runners will take part in the 32nd annual, 175-kilometre race September 5-6.
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com