In 2020, the Run for Life’s Reckless Raven 50 Mile Ultra and Relay became the first event to happen after COVID-19 shut everything down.
With an approved health plan, the Reckless Raven was a “wonderful success”. The race went ahead again in 2021 with an expanded number of registered athletes.
This year, the fifth anniversary of the race, had over 150 runners registered for the June 27 race. Of that 150, 45 signed on to do the full 50 miles while 108 runners formed 54 relay teams.
The Reckless Raven is not for the faint of heart. The trail route west of Whitehorse features three creek crossings, wetland valleys, exposed mountain ridges, forests, single track steep pitches and periodically, no distinguishable trail.
On top of all that, June 27 was a scorcher of a day with temperatures reaching 25 degrees or more.
A new feature to the 2021 event had runners, quite literally, running for gold. The fastest man and woman to reach the horse at the Sumanik Ridge aid station each received a gold nugget that was mined and gifted by local miner Will Fellers.
Ian Weir posted the fastest overall time and won first place in the solo men’s class finishing in 9:16:18. The second place solo men’s runner, Brendan Morphet was right on Weir’s heels with a time of 9:17:40. Gaetan Guery finished third in 10:21:34.
The fastest solo female runner was Jody Eikelboom who crossed the finish line after 11:22:52. She was followed by Marine Gastard who ran a 12:42:36 race and Theresa Nielsen who was just behind with 12:49:28.
Some of the masters male and female runners were right among the leading pack. Anthony Delorenzo was the fastest masters male at 10:45:57. Denise McHale posted a time of 11:11:16 making her the fastest masters female. Delorenzo was followed by second place Dean Cunanan and third place Duane Hanscom who finished moments apart with times of 12:10:03 and 12:11:53. Second and third among the masters females were Lourdes Gutierrez-Kellam and Christine Harper who finished in 14:43:31 and 14:56:15 respectively.
The mixed team called Bundy Run made up of Roger Hosking and Lauren Whyte stopped the clock at 9:53:50 to win their class. The fastest all female duo were Jacqueline Mills and Callahan McKenzie, known as team Fish Out of Water, who crossed the finish line at 9:52:30. William Bell and Jake Morash finished in 9:17:35, good for first place in the male team class.
Contact John Tonin at john.tonin@yukon-news.com