Stephen Waterreus says he’s done with the Midnight Dome Race, but don’t count on it. He’s said that before.
The Whitehorse runner reclaimed the overall title at the 38th annual event in Dawson City on Saturday.
“I came out of retirement, but I’m back in retirement once again,” said Waterreus. “It was the same as every year, as far as pain goes. It hurt just as much as previous years.
“There was nice weather, a good crowd - I would say not as many people as there was in the past. But still a pretty enthusiastic crowd.”
Waterreus won the race four consecutive times from 2008 to 2011. After taking first in 2010 and 2011 he said he was retiring from the event. Saturday’s win was at least his seventh - a few years are missing from the records - having also won in 2006 and 1999.
The 50-year-old also placed second in 1988 and third in ‘84, ‘85 and ‘86.
Waterreus completed the 7.2-kilometre run up the Dome Road, climbing 564 metres in elevation, in 38 minutes and five seconds.
Jeff Irwin of Orilla, Ont., placed second at 38:46. Dawson’s Jack Amos, who is just 14 years old, took third at 39:29.
“We made it to The Pit (tavern) before noon, as always,” said Waterreus, who, like in previous years, did the race wearing a kilt. “That’s part of our goal every time we run this, myself and my friends ... (And) the music fest was excellent.”
After twice taking second, Dawson’s Catherine Lamarche captured her first female title in the Dome race.
The 28-year-old came in with a time of 43:31 and placed 10th overall.
Fellow Dawsonite Valerie Dube came second at 48:26 and Jessie Gladish of Kamloops third at 49:03.
“I was totally not expecting it,” said Lamarche. “I think people train for this. For me, one thing I’ve realized about my training, it’s all about being efficient and enjoying the process. I’ve been doing a lot of meditation and yoga and cross-training - playing basketball, not only running. Ever since I’ve been doing that I’ve been improving so much.”
Lamarche credits ChiRunning, a form of running influenced by tai chi, for her speed and staying injury free for years now.
“ChiRunning is an effortless way of running. It’s a technique in which it looks like flying, it doesn’t look like you’re running,” said Lamarche. “It’s about using the gravity with you, not against you. It’s about body sensing, so any time you have discomfort while you’re running, instead of continuing the way you’re running and end up getting an injury, you can fix it right away with your posture. I started that eight years ago and ever since I’ve never had an injury.”
Olympian Jane Vincent of Whitehorse was the top walker on the day, reaching the summit in 1:00:27. Dawson’s Isaak Dube came in with a time of 1:07:21 to take first for male walkers and a ticket on an Air North flight.
“We’re really happy to have rekindled the partnership, the sponsorship, with Air North,” said Marta Selassie, a race organizer with Run Dawson. “This year they sponsored the top male and female, runner and walker - they all got free flights on Air North.”
A total of 68 runners and walkers, ranging from ages 11 to 71, took part in the race held during the Dawson City Music Festival.
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com
Results
Top 10 males
1st Stephen Waterreus
(Whitehorse) - 38:04
2nd Jeff Irwin
(Orilla, Ont.) - 38:46
3rd Jack Amos (Dawson) - 39:29
4th Cam Elgie (n/a) - 40:03
5th Ray Sabo
(Whitehorse) - 41:19
6th Stephen Roddick
(Whitehorse) - 42:03
7th Nanson Murray
(Whitehorse) - 42:06
8th Logan Potter
(Whitehorse) - 42:27
9th Keith Walsh (Ottawa) - 43:23
10th Patrick Hutton
(England) - 43:39
Top 10 females
1st Catherine Lamarche
(Dawson) - 43:31
2nd Valerie Dube
(Dawson) - 48:26
3rd Jessie Gladish
(Kamloops) - 49:03
4th Eleanor Parker
(Whitehorse) - 51:55
5th Andrea Walsh
(Calgary) - 53:55
6th Clare Miller (Calgary) - 53:55
7th Erin Trochim
(Fairbanks) - 55:24
8th Nicola Nemy
(Toronto) - 55:28
9th Laella Hartling-Sappel (Whitehorse) - 56:40
10th Sophia Zubrycky
(Vancouver) - 57:08
Female walkers
1st Jane Vincent
(Whitehorse) - 1:00:27
2nd Teresa Procee
(Dawson) - 1:05:41
3rd Julie Jai (Toronto) - 1:08:33
4th Sharlaina Bain
(Dawson) - 1:13:15
5th Mary Walden
(Whitehorse) - 1:14:00
6th Meghan Holmes
(England) - 1:14:09
7th Diane Siegriest
(Vermont) - 1:26:07
8th Christine Harrower
(Lakeside, Ont.) - 1:31:26
9th Amanda Bragg
(Woodstock, Ont.) - 2:09:19
Male walkers
1st Isaak Dube
(Dawson) - 1:07:21
2nd Brock Morford
(Vancouver) - 1:13:55
3rd Dave Samis
(Dawson) - 1:14:03