Athletics Yukon doesn’t let runners and walkers ease into the race season.
The Haeckel Hill Run, the first big race on the calendar, took place May 27 in Whitehorse. Fifty runners and walkers hit the gruelling 6.4-kilometre course, climbing 584 metres in elevation, at the 21st annual event.
Whitehorse’s David Eikelboom is preparing for another arduous event in just over a month — the Reckless Raven 50-mile (80-kilometre) ultra — and was first to the top.
“It was good. I’ve been training a lot of hills this year with that Reckless Raven race coming down the pipe, so it was a chance for me to put in a good hill effort,” said Eikelboom. “I was really happy with how it went. I felt like I didn’t go out like an idiot, I stayed relaxed and calm and ran how I wanted to run.”
Eikelboom, who was running his first race of the season, finished in 33 minutes and 44 seconds. The 30-year-old was first to the top two years ago at 35:17.
“I didn’t realize my old time was that different, so that’s exciting to see,” said Eikelboom. “It tells me I’m doing something right.”
Eikelboom’s time on Saturday was the fastest since Whitehorse’s Colin Abbott set the course record of 33:24 in 2012.
No stranger to wins, Eikelboom won the Yukon River Trail Marathon last summer for his second time and also took his fourth straight title at the Mount Lorne Mis-Adventure Trail Race.
Contact Tom Patrick at tomp@yukon-news.com
Results
Male runners
1st David Eikelboom — 33:44
2nd Jonathan Zaugg — 37:57
3rd Jason Mackey — 41:30
4th Tedd Tucker — 43:00
5th Petr Polivka — 43:31
6th Bill Greer — 43:34
7th Keith Maguire — 43:59
8th Scott Gilbert — 44:52
9th Ross King — 44:54
10th Ben Harper — 46.51
11th Ben Yu Shott — 47:17
12th Wayne Smyth — 48:20
13th Michael Edwards — 50:32
14th Isaac O’Brien — 51:19
15th Chester Kelly — 51:37
16th Corey Roussell — 54:30
17th Francis Whiteman — 56:04
18th JF Roldan — 56:08
19th Nigel Allan — 57:26
20th Chris Widrig — 59:43
21st Cody Magun — 1:01:09
22nd Keith Lay — 1:02:18
23rd Ed McLean — 1:05:11
24th Mark Newman — 1:07:22
Female runners
1st Kristy Petorello — 47:17
2nd Sarah Johnson — 48:01
3rd Lorrie Greer — 48:11
4th Janet Clarke — 48:32
5th Hayley Henderson Thur — 48:42
6th Sonjaa Schmidt — 51:30
7th Ilana Stehelin — 51:49
8th Lindsay Hutchinson — 52:13
9th Polly Thorp — 55:25
10th Maureen Johnstone — 55:55
11th Aisha Roldan — 56:08
12th Cheryl Klippert — 56:37
13th Joanne Van Bibber — 59:43
14th Valerie Girard — 1:01:14
15th Jody Laws — 1:02:12
16th Hannah McDonald — 1:05:41
17th Jill Charlie — 1:11:20
Walkers
1st Bonnie Love — 1:04:45
1st Becky Striegler — 1:04:45
3rd Catherine Simpson — 1:11:43
4th Rachel/Jacob McRorie — 1.14:56
5th MaryAnn Ferguson — 1:16:57
6th Alycia Aitken — 1:23:16
7th Katie Kasper — 1:23:24
8th Jenny Trapnell — 1:26:10