麻豆社区

Orienteers criss-crossed the terrain in Riverdale last night, working their minds and legs during the Yukon Championships Sprint event.

Fifty-six participants took part in the event, choosing one of the four courses offered, ranging in difficulty from novice to expert.

The sprint championship was based out of Christ the King Elementary School, and saw competitors traverse a mix of school grounds, residential areas and nearby forest, in distances ranging from 1.6 to 3.1 km.

Forty-year-old Forest Pearson earned victory in the expert division with a time of 15.45, holding off two athletes with younger legs and lungs to complete the 14-control route first.

Lee Hawkings (16.11) and Trevor Bray (16.22) finished second and third, respectively.

Beating the two youngsters took Pearson by surprise, he admitted.

"I've been running well this last year, but I'm not very fast,鈥濃�圥earson told the Star. "I have a lot of experience, so the technical part in the forest, I tend to do quite well in.

"The sprint is very much about speed, so I was not expecting anything special. It's not my strength at all.鈥�

In the expert women's division, Kendra Murray placed first in 17.24, followed by Katherine Sheepway (17.55) and Jennifer MacKeigan (22.53).

Pearson said every second counts in sprint orienteering.

"It's a game of seconds,鈥� he explained. "A second here, a second there ... it adds up. Maybe I was just a little straighter and picked a little bit better routes.鈥�

The Yukon Orienteering Association will host two more championship meets in the coming weeks.

The Middle Distance Championships will be held next Wednesday in the Lewes Lake area, followed by the Long Distance Championships June 18 on the Magnusson ski trails.

Organizer Ross Burnett said the association has traditionally held its championships early in the season to give the territory's top young stars a chance to get ready for events including the national championships.

"It helps our more competitive members in their training and preparedness for other Outside races that may be coming up,鈥� Burnett explained.

For instance, the Canadian championships will occur in Whistler,鈥圔.C. in August.

Interest in orienteering continues to be high in the Yukon,鈥圔urnett added.

"We tend to not like the analogy of a treasure hunt, but there is a certain element of that to it,鈥� he said. "It gives you a purpose to go out running and I think people just like getting out in the natural

environment and challenging themselves mentally.

"It just gives it a bit more of a purpose.鈥�

Pearson said it's the variety that keeps him interested in the sport.

"Sometimes, I say it's like Christmas,鈥� he said. "You turn over the map and it's like 鈥楽urprise!鈥圱his is what you get.'

There's something new every time, and then you have to figure it out. And then it's dealing with uncertainty really fast.

"It's like doing a sudoku while running as fast as you can. You don't want to be standing around looking at the map.鈥�

The orienteering season opened in the Yukon on May 7 with 81 people attending the meet on the Fish Lake Road.

Pearson also won the expert category in the season opener, edging out Brent Langbakk by more than a minute, while Logan Roots won both the intermediate and advanced categories.

Savannah Cash won the novice event by more than three minutes.

The season will continue with meets held regularly into September.

Top results from the sprint championships were as follows:

Expert (3.1 km)

1. Forest Pearson (15.45)

2. Lee Hawkings (16.11)

3. Trevor Bray (16.22)

Advanced (2.5 km)

1. Jeremy Johnson (18.43)

2. Barbara Scheck (20.15)

3. Nate Wood (20.41)

Intermediate (2.1 km)

1. Judith van Gulick (20.37)

2. Jennifer Line (21.04)

3. Darcy Olesen (21.09)

Novice (1.7 km)

1. Nicholas and Victoria Spicer (25.23)

2. Maura Glenn (25.34)

3. Pearson group (30.00)