If there’s one thing participants in the Vanier Ridge Run can agree on, it’s that the event is the most grueling of the four school runs on the Yukon Schools Athletic Association calendar.
Over 170 runners from nine Whitehorse schools raced in the run hosted by Vanier Catholic Secondary on Friday in Riverdale.
“It was a lot harder than the other races,” said Wyatt Peterson from Jack Hulland Elementary.
Peterson would know. The Grade 5 student competed in all four events this spring, producing great results in each.
He was the top male runner for the three-kilometre course on Friday, with a time of 21 minutes and 14 seconds. Peterson, who is on the running club at Jack Hulland, finished first in his division in three out of the four school races.
“It was really good. There were a lot of hills,” said Peterson. “There was a Grade 4 (runner) ahead of me, but I caught him near the end.”
The fastest female runner in the three kilometre race was Elijah Smith Elementary’s Jayden Demchuk. The Grade 6er is also on her school’s running club and plays for the Yukon Strikers rep soccer club.
“It was super fun. The views were really great,” said Demchuk, who finished with a time of 23:49. “I was in a group with some of the five-kilometre runners.”
Demchuk also had success in other school runs, taking first for her division in the Golden Horn run and third in Carmacks.
The top five-kilometre runner was Vanier’s Matt Ford, with a time of 22:59. Ford took the lead about a third into the race and held it to the finish line. He finished third in his division last year.
“It was great – lots of ups and downs on the hills,” said Ford. “I do a lot of running actually, from school up to Takhini every day, training for races and just staying fit.”
Ford, who is in Grade 12, also finished first in the Carmacks school run a month ago.
The fastest female runner on the five kilometre course was Vanier’s Katie Peters.
“It was fun. It’s so nice to see all the young people out running, even if they don’t train on their own, just to see them out having fun,” said Peters, who had a time of 25:29.
The Grade 12 student is a former member of the Yukon Cross-Country Ski Team who has competed nationally. She also won a gold medal at the Arctic Winter Games earlier this year in cross-country skiing.
“Now I just train on my own,” said Peters. “I was on the cross-country ski team, so we’d do dry-land training, but now I just run on my own in the summer.”
The Vanier Ridge Run features three big climbs. Runners first have to tackle Peewee Hill, then Heartbreak Hill, and then the five-kilometre runners cross Chadburn Lake Road and climb Yukon Electric Hill.
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Results
Atom boys
1st Thomas Bakika (CKES) – 21:23
2nd Mattias Sembsmoen (ESE) – 25:43
3rd Rohit Sharma (ESE) – 25:45
4th Ashton Underhill (ESE) – 29:28
5th TJ Murphy (SES) – 29:30
Atom girls
1st Sonja Schmidt (HFE) – 25:05
2nd Breda McIntyre (CKES) – 25:56
3rd Alyssa Cuenza (CKES) – 28:13
4th Maya Cairns-Locke (ESE) – 32:15
5th Bayly Scoffin (JHE) – 33:53
Peewee boys
1st Wyatt Peterson (JHE) – 21:14
2nd Niall Lowrie (JHE) – 22:04
3rd Joseph Coyne (WES) – 22:28
4th Dominic Henderson (HFE) – 22:41
5th Wyatt Sheardown-Waugh (WES) – 22:55
Peewee girls
1st Jayden Demchuk (ESE) – 23:49
2nd Hannah Kingscote (WES) – 24:52
3rd Matisse Robertson (WES) – 24:55
4th Ellie Pfeiffer (WES) – 25:31
5th Dylan Massie (ESE) – 28:52
Bantam boys
1st Joe Parker (WES) – 24:19
2nd Gavin Lowrie (JHE) – 24:24
3rd Adrian Robinson (HFE) – 28:12
4th Darby McIntyre (CKES) – 29:57
5th River Tourangeau (FHC) – 30:17
Bantam girls
1st Reena Coyne (WES) – 27:01
2nd Amanda Thomson (WES) – 27:49
3rd Hannah Jirousek (WES) – 28:33
4th Karen Qiu (FHC) – 31:55
5th Kaitlyn Holway (CKES) – 32:11
Midget boys
1st Zach Heynen (PCSS) – 23:59
2nd Malcolm Muir (FHC) – 26:07
3rd Allen Mark (FHC) – 27:56
4th River Tourangeau (FHC) – 30:17
5th Damien Homis (FHC) – 42:25
Midget girls
1st Cambria Fuerstner (FHC) – 27:52
2nd Aimee Parker (FHC) – 29:21
3rd Kelly Munroe (VCSS) – 39:00
Juvenile boys
1st Aiden Bradley (PCSS) – 23:11
2nd Brody Smith (PCSS) – 26:32
3rd Keifer Steriah (FHC) – 28:20
4th Casey Parker (VCSS) – 41:04
Juvenile girls
1st Corey Baxter (FHC) – 28:00
2nd Karra Macintosh (VCSS) – 43:28
Junior boys
1st Matt Ford (VCSS) – 22:59
2nd Conrad Kirkwood (FHC) – 32:35
Junior girls
1st Katie Peters (VCSS) – 25:29
Adult male
1st Daniel Halen (PCSS) – 27:59
Adult female
1st Jacintha Gurash (HFE) – 37:47
Contact Tom Patrick at tomp@yukon-news.com