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A year after finishing second to another Whitehorse team, Ladies Worth Freezin' For took the women's title with a fine performance at the Klondike Trail of '98 International Road Relay on Saturday.

The team of nine Whitehorse women snatched the crown from Cougars鈥�It's business time by turning in a top time of 14:29:26 in the 176.5-km relay that stretches between Skagway and Whitehorse.

"This is just the second year we have this team together,鈥� captain Piia Kukka told the Star Saturday night. "Last year, we did OK, and this year there was changes. We got some amazing runners on our team this year like Denise McHale, Colleen Latham and Jody Eikelboom as well.鈥�

The team would shave more than an hour and a half off their 2012 time.

Kukka and Kerrie Paterson put the team together last year, finishing second to Cougars鈥�It's business time.

"We knew there was a lot of excellent female runners in Whitehorse, but there's never really been a competitive team,鈥� Kukka explained. "So we decided we would start contacting other female runners, even if we didn't know them, and start to get people together for a team.鈥�

The captain admitted they are attempting to model their success after Scarecrow, the territory's top male team, who has won the relay for the last four years.

"We would like to get there eventually,鈥� said Kukka, 34. "We're not there quite yet, but that would be ideal. We have a pretty amazing 10 runners now, but Whitehorse is such an athletic community, there's lots of excellent runners.

"There's definitely space for two competitive teams in Whitehorse.鈥�

Kukka said at this point, the team remains semi-competitive, not putting too much thought into strategy or choice of race position.

The championship team was made up of Paterson, Lauren Whyte, Katherine Scheck, Kukka, Latham, Amelia Fraser, McHale, Line Pelletier, and Eikelboom.

McHale ran two legs for the team 鈥� seven and eight.

The 40-year-old incurred a five-minute penalty on Leg 7, but made up for it on Leg 8 by reaching her team's top speed of the day at 14.3 km per hour.

McHale, a resident of Carcross, is a well-known ultra runner and won the female side of the Trail Marathon in Whitehorse this summer. It was her first official race since having a baby boy and purchasing the Caribou Crossing Trading Post last year.

"It's just a great race because there's such a wide variety of people, with different abilities and age ranges,鈥� McHale said of the annual road relay. "You get so many people who just come off the couch and do this one race a year, which is really painful I think.

"It's a well-run event and it was fun this year to run with an all-women's team,鈥� she said. "It's an awesome group of girls, and fast runners.鈥�

Approximately 1,350 runners participated in the 31st annual road relay, the major fund-raiser for Sport Yukon.

The 10-leg relay began in Skagway Friday night and ended at Rotary Park in Whitehorse Saturday.