麻豆社区

Twenty-three more names were added to the Senator鈥檚 Cup following the Klondike Road Relay last weekend.

Among them were seven Yukoners. Amy Riske, Bailey Staffen, Brenda Dion, Bryan Craven, Lee Malanchuk, Sarah Crane and Sierra Van Der Meer can now all say that they鈥檝e run 175 kilometres from Skagway to Whitehorse.

The Senator鈥檚 Cup, which was donated to the race in 2010 by Yukon Senator Dan Lang, recognizes participants who have run each of the 10 legs in the road relay.

Since the race is usually split up into 10, it can take a decade of work to get your name onto the Senator鈥檚 Cup.

According to the Klondike Road Relay鈥檚 website, Lang donated the Senator鈥檚 cup 鈥渢o celebrate the accomplishment of those who have successfully completed all 10 legs.鈥� He 鈥渇elt that participants receive very little acknowledgement or recognition of their commitment鈥� to the annual event.

Since the early 1980s, athletes have made the pilgrimage to Skagway to begin the gruelling task of climbing 1,000-metres over 175 kilometres along the highway.

Each leg presents its own challenges. Starting in waves, runners leave downtown Skagway, passing down the iconic Broadway Street before starting the climb up the White Pass.鈥圱hey hand off the figurative baton to the leg 2 runners.

At nine kilometres, leg 2 is the shortest a runner can do, but the steepest as they pass the White Pass Summit, an elevation of 1,004 metres.

Leg 3 runners take on a mostly flat 12.5K course, passing through customs on their way.

At 21K, leg 4 is third longest route and for many, it is dark when they wind through the rolling terrain, past steep mountains and lakes.

Leg 5 follows the shoreline of Tutshi Lake before tackling a steep uphill. But runners on this 22.2K leg are then rewarded with a downhill leading in to the next checkpoint

At 25.6K, leg 6 is the longest of the relay. It ends at Carcross.

Leg 7 runners may be running as the sun starts to rise. They pass the world鈥檚 smallest desert en route to hand-off to their next teammate.

Leg 8 runners hit a course that鈥檚 19.8 kilometres long with gentle rolling hills and sections of flat.

Leg 9 finished at the Carcross Cutoff, but not before 17.6K of rolling hills and curves, passing Kookatsoon Lake.

Leg 10, the final leg of the road relay enters the Alaska Highway and then turns off onto the Miles Canyon Road where runners are rewarded with views of Grey Mountain across Schwatka Lake before heading into the final stretch along the Millennium Trail to the finish at Rotary Peace Park.

To date, 241 names have been added to the Senator鈥檚 Cup.