If racing in a heavy downpour wasn’t dramatic enough, a sprint to the finish did the job.
Whitehorse’s Kieran Halliday beat Yukon MP Ryan Leef in a sprint to the finish for his first men’s title at a very rainy Yukon Five-Kilometre Road Race Championships on Tuesday in Riverdale.
“This is a hard course to PB on because we have that headwind the whole run by the river, and then the rain doesn’t help,” said Halliday. “It’s a bit slower than I was going for.”
Halliday outpaced Leef by a second with a time of 17 minutes and 34 seconds.
The 18-year-old was 15 seconds off his personal best and 35 seconds from his goal of breaking the 17-minute mark.
“I think (Halliday) is well on his way to that 17-minute mark because it seemed we were both running comfortably along that trail, trading off leads a bit in the wind,” said Leef.
“We just stayed together until the finish where he pulled away. It’s great to see the young lions out and starting to do well.”
Halliday represented Yukon in track at the Canada Summer Games last August and also placed 19th at the B.C. High School Cross Country Championships in November.
Leef will be hitting the track this weekend for his first Canadian Masters Outdoor Championships in Toronto.
“I’m officially a master this year so it’s exciting to be 40 and in a new age class,” said Leef. “It’s great to run with the young guys and keep up with them.
“We had a really good race and those are the kinds that are enjoyable to everybody. Seeing that back-and-forth exchange and pushing each other till the end, despite the conditions.”
Open men’s Sam Lindsay finished third overall with a time of 18:57 on Tuesday.
The rainy weather didn’t bother Amelia Fraser. The open women’s runner claimed her first five-kilometre title with a time of 20:20, which might be a personal best.
“Maybe when I was younger I did better, but I don’t remember,” said Fraser, who placed second in 2012.
“I started running in Vancouver, so I’m used to running in the rain. I run faster because when you’re too hot, it’s hard to push yourself.”
Annette Kralis placed second for women with a time of 20:45, ahead of Sue Bogle at 21:36.
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com
Results
Males
10 years old
1st Issac O’Brien - 23:02
11 years old
1st Naoise Dempsey - 21:30
2nd Connor Cozens - 23:08
Junior (18-19)
1st Kieran Halliday - 17:34
Open (20-34)
1st Sam Lindsay - 18:57
2nd Craig Beauchemin - 25:13
Masters 1 (35-39)
1st Ben Yu Shott + kids - 24:42
Masters 2 (40-44)
1st Ryan Leef - 17:35
Masters 4 (50-54)
1st Clarke LaPrairie - 23:19
Master 5 (55-59)
1st Tom Ullyett - 21:17
2nd Brendan Hanley - 21:27
3rd Bill Parry - 30:01
Masters 6 (60-64)
1st Don White - 21:10
Masters 9 (75-79)
1st Dave Kalles - 29:12
Females
Pee Wee (14-15)
1st Anika Hart - 30:00
Open (20-34)
1st Amelia Fraser - 20:20
2nd Erin O’Connor - 24:20
3rd Coralie Ullyett - 25:44
Masters 1 (34-39)
1st Annette Kralis - 20:45
2nd Julia Gerlech - 21:58
3rd Lana Daley - 22:02
4th Melissa Yu Shott - 26:17
Masters 2 (40-44)
1st Sonya Seeber - 24:47
2nd Kelli Taylor - 25:43
Masters 3 (45-49)
1st Sue Bogle - 21:36
2nd Janet Clarke - 21:48
Masters 4 (50-54)
1st Maureen Johnstone - 24:55
Masters 5 (55-59)
1st Laurie Drummond - 25:11
2nd Donna Jones - 26:48
3rd Debbie Kitchen - 28:18
4th Cynthia Desoto - 33:45
Walker
Masters 6 (60-64)
1st Phil Gibson - 33:17