It’s more than seven kilometres long… it has 600 metres of vertical rise.
It takes place on a rutted, gravel road.
Why would any one want to run to the top of Haeckel Hill?
It might be a mystery, but it was all good fun for the 33 participants in last Saturday’s 12th annual Yukon Energy Haeckel Hill Run & Walk.
It was a sunny morning with the temperature in the mid-teens and a tail wind when the runners and walkers’ approached the start line near the Icy Waters fish hatchery.
Before the race even started, it was clear that there would be some friendly rivalries.
There were no young guns, like David Greer, John Parry, Shane Carlos or Rodney Hulstein, to seriously challenge NCAA cross-country skier Ray Sabo, but perennial competitors Melissa O’Brien and Sue Bogle expected they’d have a battle.
Likewise, race walker Ruth Hall knew that she’d face stiff competition from runner-turned-race-walker Becky Striegler.
Likewise, Klondike Road Relay teammates Dan Shier and Tom Ullyett exchanged pleasantries knowing they might be dueling each other to the top of the mountain.
To no one’s surprise, Sabo reached the top first in an impressive time of 37:26.
Shier, an accomplished masters athlete, finished second (39:35) outpacing third place finisher Tom Ullyett (40:49) all the way up the mountain.
O’Brien finished first amongst the female runners with a time of 43:30. She was not seriously challenged by her usual rival, Bogle, who finished in second place almost three minutes later (46:17).
Chantal Gagne, sporting a T-shirt bearing the name of her alma mater Trent University, crossed the line in third place (47:42).
The closest battle of the day featured walkers Hall and Striegler who crossed the finish line together in an amazing time of 1:06 — almost as quick as some of the runners.
The next walkers across the line were the father-and-son combination of Steve Cash and Simon Cash who arrived just a few minutes later (1:11).
Top finishers by division:
Male runners
1st Ray Sabo, 37:26
2nd Dan Shier, 39:35
3rd Tom Ullyett, 40:49
4th Chris Hogan, 43:30
5th Bill Greer, 45:08
Female runners
1st Melissa O’Brien, 43:30
2nd Sue Bogle, 46:17
3rd Chantal Gagne, 47:42
4th Carrie Burbidge, 49:47
5th Janet Clarke, 50:59
Walkers
1st Ruth Hall, 1:06:22
2nd Becky Striegler, 1:06:22
3rd Steve Cash, 1:11:10
4th Simon Cash, 1:11:10
5th Margaret Griffiths, 1:12:28
Whitehorse Minor Soccer
Under-16 (Tuesday)
Kal Tire 14
Mackay & Partners 8
Robbie Borud led Kal Tire with six goals on the night, Matthew Pollard added the hat trick, Caleb Kelly scored twice, and Cody Lessard, Hana Val and Michael Donohoe each added a single. MVP goes to Sarah Meister.
Jordan Holway scored three for Mackay, and Kaiden McIntyre and Brett Hills netted a pair each, and Jessica Woodhouse added one.
Mic Mac Toyota 6
Energy North 5
Mic Mac’s David Ratcliffe scored three goals as his team edged past Energy North. Odette Rivard, Garet Heynen and Joel Brennan scored as well. Maya Poirier was Toyota’s top player.
Tyler Wiens had two goals on the night for Energy North, while Thomas Scoffin, Mac Potter and Braden Kulych scored as well.
Caleb Steele-Lane took the MVP nod.
Alpine Bakery 6
EBA Engineering 5
MVP Kyle Risbey and Travis Pumphrey scored two each for Alpine, and Felix Bouchard and Owen Hedstrom-Langford added goals. Will Thomson, Alex Lindsay, Marten Sealy, Ryan Burke and Travis Wilson scored for EBA, Gary Drinnan took the MVP nod.
High Calibre Contracting 2
Dave’s Cleaning 1
Dawson Beaulieu, and Brett Roulston found the net for High Calibre, and Jackie Rodrigue was named MVP.
Dave’s scorer was Zain Syed, and Linea Eby was named top player.
Under-12 (Wednesday)
The Deli 6
Eldorado Ranch 2
Deli scorers were Jono Runions, Louis Kedzioria, Jorey Bauer, Daria Jordan and Andrew Scoffin with two. The Deli MVP was Shanice Reti. Scoring for the Ranch was Tanner Borsa, Peter Joe Jansen and MVP was Alidas Jamnicky.
Boston Pizza 5
Woodhouse Business Consulting 1
Lane Davignon scored twice to lead BP to victory over Woodhouse. Connor Morgan, Cole Morris and Sam Burgis scored as well. MVP Camila Gaw stole the ball in the last minute and fed a perfect pass to a streaking Sam Burgis who potted the ball into the far corner for the final goal.
Ryan Chippet scored for Woodhouse, and MVP Rachel Rodrigue had a stellar second half in goal steering two penalty shots over the top of the bar.
EVF Fuelwood 3
Sportslife 1
Aidan Uiterwaal’s two goals were enough for EVF to post the win, and Kieran Morehouse added the icing on the cake.
Kieran Halliday took the MVP nod.
Sportslife’s lone goal was scored by MVP Landon Worsfold.
Under-11 (Wednesday)
Tim Hortons 1
Physio Plus 1
Goal Scorers for Tim Hortons: Etienne Geoffray-Gagnon - 1 Goal MVP - Kathryn Fortune
Goal Scorers for Physio Plus: Caelan McLean - 1 Goal MVP - Nylan Duncan
Under-nine (Tuesday)
Underhill Geomatics 1
Yellow Truck Excavating 0
Brandon Barrett was named Underhill’s MVP, as they shut out the truckers.
Impact Well Drilling 4
Midnight Sun Alpacas 3
Curtis Perrier led the way for Impact, earning the MVP honours, and James Russell was Midnight Sun’s top player.
Vector Research 3
Murraya Dental 0
Joseph Stokes took the player of the game honours as Vector kept Murraya off the scoreboard. Jarrett Berner was Murraya’s top player.
Under-eight (Tuesday)
MVPs
The Truss Plant — Max Zaparinuk, Jossy Muckoskey
Yukon Outfitters — Peyton L’Henaff
Coldwell Banker — Simon Kischuk, Carl Knickle
RPAY — Samantha Ng, Tyler Milton
Mosi Oa Tunya Montessori — Nathan Smith (great saves and power kicks)
Antigua — Jake Draper (great passing)
Yukon Appliances — Derek Hennings, Cruz Goodman
Under-seven (Tuesday)
MVPs and star players:
Coates Services Yukon — Axel Buchanan, Marya Gatien
Coldwell Banker — Oscar Sawicki, Brett Walchuk
M&M Meatballs — Jessica Lam, Michael Fewer
Lake Laberge Lions Club — Logan Kruse, Hunter Fitzsimmons
Envirolube — Hanna King, Logan McKay
Silver Spoke Adventure — Grayson Turner, Micah Taggart-Cox