Registration for this year’s Klondike Road Relay opened at 8 a.m. this morning.

The big news this year is that the race will start in Skagway again after a two year break. The start date for the race is Sept. 9. Organizers are calling this the 39.5-year anniversary, and are planning on celebrating the 40th anniversary in 2023.

John Tonin, communications, marketing and web design coordinator for Sport Yukon, said there are other changes this year as well.

“It’s just for the past two years, because of COVID, that the Klondike Relay has not been able to start in Skagway. But to other notable changes – one of the big and exciting ones that we are able to pilot is called Half-Legs. Before, adults never had the option to just start in Carcross and do legs six through 10 into Whitehorse Rotary Park, so we’re trying Half-Legs, and it’s hopefully to give adult runners the confidence to eventually do the full leg and so this is just going to follow the same route as the youth and the walkers. That’s a big one.

“There’s not going to be a banquet this year, or an after-race dance, which a lot of people like but we’ve got something fun planned. It’s called the Party in the Park and ... we’re hoping for a beer garden. There’ll be food and music and (a) wellness centre, so it’ll be a good time. It will keep everything contained at Rotary Peace Park and that’s also where awards will be given out.”

The Party in the Park is scheduled for Sept. 10 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

“The other big change is money that’s extra after race expenses is gonna be donated to the Kids Recreation Fund, which is another Sport Yukon initiative,” Tonin added.

“Those are the big, exciting ones. There’s a few smaller ones, like Checkpoint 3 is going to be moved up the road a little more for safety reasons and that’ll keep runners on the same side of the road ... so this slight change will mean they don’t have to cross, making it a little bit safer.

“Those are the ones the runners will notice the most.”

Tonin said Sport Yukon is expecting a good response to the return to the traditional race route.

“We’ve had good feedback when we announced that the race would be going back to Skagway. There was a lot of excitement generated. So we’re confident that we’re gonna hit that 700 number which we need, which is kind of like our break-even point to run the race. The hope is 700 runners committed by June 5, and that means – it’s not like 700 registered and paid. We just need team captains to register the team, hold that spot, so it’s 70 teams of 10, so we need that number but we’re very confident that we’re going to hit that point, because there’s been a lot of excitement around this.”

When asked what happens if they don’t have 70 teams registered, Tonin replied “by June 5? There’s no race in 2022.

“We need that commitment. After the two years – we did a virtual race and last year was the ‘Kinda (Klondike), which began just after Carcross. We need to see that commitment from the running community to hold the race in 2022. If we don’t get that, we’re still gonna come back and hold the best race we can in 2023 and celebrate the 40th anniversary properly.”

When asked what the general feeling at Sport Yukon is about the race going back to the regular format, Tonin responded, “hopefully, it’s definitely going back to the regular format! And we’re excited. We’re very excited that we’re taking a chance and trying to hold the race in its original form. It was something that was really important to Sport Yukon.

“With that said, if the COVID situation changes, like, we are going to be flexible and we are still gonna do this as safely as we can, so if the COVID situation changes, we will have to move it back to the Canadian side, potentially but we’re planning for the best and we’re very excited to be back in Skagway to see our American friends. Skagway’s a huge part of this race. Alaska’s a huge part of this race, because it really brings Alaska and the Yukon together, so we’re excited to be able to deliver that again.”

As for how Alaskans are feeling about it, “I think they’re excited as well,” said Tonin.

“I think any feedback on our social media platforms from Yukoners and Alaskans – both (are) excited to do the race, so we hope we get a good turnout of Alaskans as well.”

The usual COVID-19 precautions will be in place for the race.

“We are going to follow the guidelines that are there, so it’s going to be the runners’ responsibility to get across the border safely. There’s no vaccination rules anymore but if you’re going to be running on the American side of the border, you have to make sure that – it’s your responsibility that you can get across and back in. Other than that, it’s the guidelines of the day,” related Tonin.

Of course, racers crossing the border will have to have their ArriveCan sorted out.

“The runners that will be crossing the border and their support vehicles will have to have their ArriveCan and any possible documentation that goes with that, like their proof of vaccination.

“Closer to race time, we’ll be sharing the latest news on what are the requirements to get across the border and then it’s the runners’ responsibility to follow that and make sure they do get across,” explained Tonin.

He added, “we hope everybody comes out and registers. We’re really excited to be holding this race and I think there’s a lot of fun things to offer and we’ll see you on the road.”