On your marks, get set, go… to Skagway.
Sport Yukon announced March 31 that the Klondike Road Relay will return to a Skagway start this year.
The 10-leg running and walking relay event traditionally starts in Skagway with teams making their way to Rotary Park in Whitehorse via the South Klondike and Alaska Highways.
As with many events, the COVID-19 pandemic has altered the race in recent years with the 2020 being a virtual event for competitors and a modified “Kinda” Klondike Road Relay in 2021 that saw a more limited number of racers taking on legs six to 10 on the Canadian side of the border.
Earlier this month, Sport Yukon (which oversees the relay) officials announced they considering two plans for the 2022 race depending on the border situation, giving themselves until the end of March to reach a decision.
Plan A would begin in Skagway on Sept. 9, with racers leaving between 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
If that wasn’t able to happen, Plan B would see start times from the Canadian border between midnight and 5 a.m. Sept. 10.
As Sport Yukon noted in a March 31 social media post announcing the confirmed plan to start in Skagway: “It’s been a long two years since the Klondike Road Relay has operated in full. We can’t wait to be back with our Alaskan friends.
“If COVID-19 restrictions tighten, Sport Yukon reserves the right to switch coarse and start the race at the Canadian border - what would have been Plan B.”
Registration opens May 16 and 700 runners’ spots will need to be reserved by June 5 for the race to go ahead.
Contact Stephanie Waddell at stephanie.waddell@yukon-news.com