Festivalgoers race to Midnight Dome

For three decades, runners have been charging to the Dawson City Music Festival. Or charging away from it, depending on your perspective.

Amidst the festival festivities, 77 participants took part in the Midnight Dome Race on Saturday morning.

“They come for the music festival - that’s how it works now. Actually they come for both,” said Helen McCullough, an organizer of the race, now in its 33rd year - one more than the music festival.

“They’re hardy runners - and the walkers too. The walkers get a category, but they’re not really competing. And many of the runners aren’t competing either; they’re doing it for themselves.”

Starting in downtown Dawson at 10 a.m., participants ran the 7.2 kilometres up the Dome Road past the vehicle turnaround, switched onto a trail and then climbed to the summit of the Midnight Dome that reaches 564 metres in elevation.

Completing the climb first overall was Whitehorse’s Stephen Waterreus in the master male runner category, winning his third straight Midnight Dome.

“I think this might be my last time running the Dome,” said Waterreus. “I wanted to get a three-peat and then retire from it.

“Probably I’ll come out of retirement.”

Waterreus, who won the Dry Tri triathlon the weekend before at Takhini Hot Springs, completed the course in 34 minutes and 24 seconds, about three minutes short of the record set by Steven Page a few years ago.

“I’ve been racing it since I was a kid, not every year, obviously, but at least 15 times, if not 20,” said Waterreus. “I’ve had a few other wins throughout the years, but never three back-to-back.

“It’s the exact same thing every year, it’s just a real hard grunt up the hill. You can always expect to be hurting at the top.”

Coming in first out of women competitors (12th overall) was Gwendolyn Muir, from Knowlton, Quebec, who is working in Dawson for the summer. Muir, who recently won the five-kilometre category in the Mayo midnight Marathon, found a hardy run was a good way to balance the indulgent nature of the music festival.

“I think it should happen more often - everywhere,” said Muir. “It’s great to mix up something that is healthy into a weekend where there’s a lot of debauchery. And it’s also a lot of fun, both the music and the running.

“Personally I don’t like running on the street, on the pavement, so being able to run up a hill with trees around was really pleasant.”

The race was far short of the more than 200 runners at its peak about a decade ago, but did have participants from throughout Canada and abroad. Included in the start lists were runners from Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Prince George, Quebec City, Pembroke, Ontario, as well as Alaska, New York and even one from Vranov, Czech Republic, in town visiting friends.

Those who did not get their fill of competition - or just wanting to get back into the music festival state of mind - the Dome race is followed by an unofficial tag-on event, a race back down ending in downtown at the Westminster Hotel, aka the “Pit.”

“We run down and the first person into the Pit is the winner,” said Waterreus. “It’s always our goal to be in the Pit before noon.

“I was the victor in that race as well.”

The Run Dawson running club, which hosted the Dome race and the Gold Poke Run during the May long-weekend, will be hosting the Discovery Days Race in Dawson next month.

Festivalgoers race to Midnight Dome

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