The Reckless Raven 50 Mile Ultra and Relay was held in Whitehorse on July 1 with a field of 63 solo runners and 48 relay teams setting off on an 80-kilometre loop from the Mount McIntyre Recreation Centre to Raven’s Ridge, the top of Haeckel Hill, Sumanik Ridge, Jackson Lake, Sunshine Valley Ranch, Fish Lake, Mount McIntyre Road, Copper Haul Road and back to the start.
Weather on the day largely cooperated, although there were patches of rain at various stages of the race.
The course itself included more than 2,300 metres of elevation gain, three ridges, two peaks and two creek crossings.
The race kicked off bright and early with a 6 a.m. start. Runners for the second leg had until 1 p.m. to check in at the Jackson Lake aid station.
A trio of cutoff times were in place, meaning racers had to reach Jackson Lake by 1 p.m., Fish Lake by 4 p.m. and the finish line by 9 p.m.
Whitehorse’s Ian Weir won the individual race with a time of eight hours, 49 minutes and 39 seconds. Weir bested his 2017-winning time by nearly 10 minutes.
David Brabec of Carcross was second in nine hours, one minute and 14 seconds. Third place went to Ian Cleland from Grand Prairie, Alberta, with a time of nine hours, 33 minutes and 16 seconds.
On the women’s side of things, Carcross’s Denise McHale was tops with a time of 10 hours, 25 minute and 33 seconds — good for seventh overall.
Jane Hollenberg from Smithers, British Columbia, finished half an hour later with a time of 10 hours, 57 minutes and 49 seconds for second. Amy Kenny (disclosure: she’s a reporter for the News) was the third woman to finish with a time of 11 hours, 40 minutes and 40 seconds.
Of the 63 solo runners, 45 made it to the finish.
In the relay, the team of Colin Abbott and Matthias Purdon under the name I Love Lamp were the first to cross the line with a time of seven hours, 41 minutes and 54 seconds.
The winning relay time was nearly 50 minutes faster than the 2017 pace.
The team of David Eikelboom and Greg McHale were second with a time of seven hours, 51 minutes and 26 seconds. Rounding out the top three was Team Duplex, composed of Harry Borlase and Simon Lapointe, with a time of eight hours, 47 minutes and 26 seconds.
Contact John Hopkins-Hill at john.hopkinshill@yukon-news.com
Individual Results
1 Ian Weir 8:49:39
2 David Brabec 9:01:14
3 Ian Cleland 9:33:16
4 Brent Langbakk 9:58:34
5 Devin Wittig 10:07:42
6 Matt Hosford 10:16:54
7 Denise McHale 10:25:33
8 Nathan Wenger 10:32:10
9 Jane Hollenberg 10:57:49
10 Morten Nielsen 11:10:40
11 Murray Anderson 11:27:30
12 Mick Lester 11:30:21
13 Amy Kenny 11:40:37
14 Gemma Clark 11:40:40
15 Svety Tchilinguirova 11:45:52
16 Boris Hoefs 11:48:05
17 Florent Dutarque 11:49:11
18 Jason Mackey 12:02:22
19 Scott Sych 12:07:15
20 Julianne Kucheran 12:10:13
21 Kristy Petovello 12:12:31
22 Lindsay Hutchinson 12:12:33
23 James Paterson 12:18:23
24 Sandra Hardy 12:32:56
25 Michael Buurman 12:33:37
26 Walter Cantwell 12:36:25
27 Peter Mattsson 12:42:14
28 Edward Tucker 12:48:11
29 Maren Bradley 12:55:55
30 Rick Brown 13:03:27
31 David Marlor 13:05:43
32 Jody Barber 13:09:19
33 Heather Bretschneider 13:12:17
34 Bronwyn Hancock 13:15:43
35 Rich Morris 13:16:46
36 Sarah Matula 13:28:12
37 Barry Lester 13:42:09
38 Jordan Tyson 14:01:05
39 Darrel Forest 14:09:35
40 Theresa Reid-Shea 14:22:19
41 Nadine Schuurman 14:34:39
42 Amber Drift 14:35:00
43 Tracie Curry 14:52:58
44 Jennifer King 15:23:49
45 Gillian Smith 15:23:53
Relay Results
1 I Love Lamp 7:41:54
2 McHale Eikelboom 7:51:26
3 Team Duplex 8:47:46
4 The Duke’s Team 9:35:38
5 Team Hobo 9:51:40
6 The Earth is not Flat 10:03:33
7 Kortsalo Morphet 10:07:14
8 Ricky Baker 10:10:30
9 Half Curls 10:12:37
10 Go Benny Go! 10:20:45
11 G & J 10:53:53
12 Cunningham Thompson 10:57:34
13 Team No Cursing 11:04:27
14 Polivka Champagne 11:08:36
15 Horton’s Whos 11:11:22
16 Switching Legs 11:15:56
17 P4T Athletics 11:28:55
18 1 Easier Said than Run 11:33:45
19 Wells Sarrazin 11:34:47
20 In it to Finish 11:38:12
21 Skeena Sisters 11:43:50
22 Machines 11:47:13
23 The Getaway Sticks 11:55:09
24 Bird Moen 11:58:16
25 Leviathan Shakes 12:09:23
26 The Schibli Boys 12:14:37
27 2 Easier Said than Run 12:25:25
28 HCC 12:26:40
29 The Hannahs 12:35:39
30 Brews Brothers 12:41:24
31 The Easy Keepers 12:42:20
32 Smooth Snailin’ 12:51:07
33 Naked Franki 12:55:51
34 Running Late four our 1s 12:56:16
35 Locke Hogeboom 13:00:25
36 One Step Beyond 13:05:11
37 WTF - Where’s the Finish 13:15:56
38 Larry and Valerie 13:19:54
39 Running Outta Time 15:45:30
