Registration open for the annual Yukon River Trail Marathon

The 10th anniversary of the Yukon River Trail Marathon takes place this year on August 3. Participants who had registered by July 1 were entered in an early bird draw for a round trip airfare courtesy of Air North.

The 10th anniversary of the Yukon River Trail Marathon takes place this year on August 3.  Participants who had registered by July 1 were entered in an early bird draw for a round trip airfare courtesy of Air North. 

This year’s winner was Janet Green of Courtenay, B.C.  Green is a former resident of the Yukon and has previous run this marathon many times.

“We are very happy to have Air North as one of our sponsors,” said Keith Thaxter, president of the Boreal Adventure Running Association. “Air North is a great supporter of many Yukon events. They recognize that running a great activity to promote a healthy lifestyle.”

This is the second year Air North has sponsored the marathon.

“Many of our participants register early to get a chance to win the prize.  This also gets people to commit early to competing in the event and probably to start running earlier in the season,” said Thaxter in the release.

Besides running the full marathon (42.2 km), participants can choose to run the half-marathon (21.1km), or run the marathon as a two person or four person relay team. 

Each year about 250 people participate in the event. 

“It’s great to see all the people take part in the event. The marathon course is very challenging, as it contains a lot of hills. However, once you get to the top of those hills the views is spectacular,” said Thaxter.

As of July 1 there were 119 registered in all the events so far.  The number of participants in the full marathon is up this year.

Last year there were only 30 full marathon runners. So far there are already 36 registered.  At this rate, there might be 50 participants in the full marathon this year.  Many of the participants will be running their first marathon ever. 

“I look forward to congratulating each of them when they cross the finish line. They should be very proud of themselves.” said Thaxter. 

Marathoners start at 8:30 a.m. and the race course (all checkpoints) officially shuts down at 2:30 p.m.

“If a runner thinks they might exceed 5.5 hours, they should consider opting for the early start at 7:00 a.m. The extra 1.5 hours should give them enough time to complete the course safely, and allow the volunteers to get home at a reasonable time after putting in a long day,” said Thaxter.

Besides the Yukon, currently several runners from Alberta, B.C., Saskatchewan, and Ontario are registered. As well as several from Alaska, a couple from Connecticut and even one man from Slovakia.  In the past runners from all over he world including Sweden and Germany have participated in the marathon.

Over the history of the marathon, the number of participants in the half marathon seems to grow each year. Also, in 2007 we had over 60 per cent female runners.

People can register online at http://www.yukonmarathon.com till midnight on July 30th. The cost is $55 per person for all events. The race fee covers the costs of a ‘take home’ tech-shirt (retail value $50), medals for half and full marathon participants, bibs and pins, on-course food, insurance, sound systems, tents, and a myriad of other items that make the race both fun and safe.

“We are sometimes asked why the fee is the same for marathoners, half-marathoners, and relay runners. The reason is simple: our costs are the same regardless of the distance you run.”, said Thaxter. 

People are encouraged to register early. We only offer tech shirts for the first 250 registered runners and assign sizes based on registration date First come, first serve