
Story submitted by Trena Irving
This year’s Southern Lakes Yukon GranFondo (SLYGF) saw some amazing participation and great weather.
The iconic road relay cycling race pedalled off on June 1. The annual race is a loop consisting of five legs:
Leg 1: McClintock Bay to Jakes Corner 42 Km
Leg 2: Jakes Corner to Tagish 21 km
Leg 3: Tagish to Carcross 32 km
Leg 4: Carcross to Kookatsoon Lake 45 km
Leg 5: Kookatsoon Lake to McClintock Bay 33 km
The day started off sunny with some head wind while leaving the McClintock Bay Resort and heading south toward Jake’s Corner.
The day ended with a strong tail wind on the Carcross Road (for some parts) and on the Alaska Highway from the Carcross Corner back to Swan Haven.
The age spread of the riders was nine years old to 63. There were 63 males participating, and 24 females.
For the first time in more than 10 years, we had a para-cyclist, Darryl Tait, competing. He went hard and felt strong on his ride.
Darryl was getting ready for a para-cycling race in Alberta and has his eyes set on the Canada Games in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2025, where para-cycling makes its debut.
On the younger side of things, there were three nine-year-olds competing, and they all did amazingly well on a dual family team with their dads.
There was one youth team entered with seven participants with an age range of 10 through 13.
The solo men’s division had the most participants, with 27 men registered.

The one result that really stands out is Heron Land-Gillis’s time of five hours and nine minutes. Heron is only 16 years old and although he came sixth overall, he was the youngest by far in the category and showed that he can hold his own on his first Solo SLYGF.
The winner of the men’s category was Michael Marceau with a time of four hours and 55 minutes. Michael also won the event last year and the year before that. In second place was Ian Parker, and Jesse Martin took third.
In the women’s solo category, Jane Hollengerg finished first with a speedy time of five hours and 25 minutes. She was followed by Frederique Prince in second place in five hours and 43 minutes and Morgan Brown in just over six hours.
Although Arlene Yeulet did not finish the 173 km, she told me as we rode together she was aiming to “just do 100 km.” Arlene is 63 and an example for all of us of staying fit and reaching big goals no matter what the age.
In 2 Person Mixed, MarcEmma took first place, S+G second place and Road Bag Swag 3rd place.
In 2 Person Female, Emily Macht and Amanda Smith had a time of six hours and 21 minutes.
2 Person Male saw another very impressive result from the youth with 15-year-old teammates Nicolas Giangrande and Reid Sandiford coming in first in a time of five hours, 34 minutes. Turbo Team came second in six hours, 45 minutes and Just Jedd and Sean came in third in six hours, 50 minutes.

In 3-8 Person Mixed, Sigma Squad took first in six hours and six minutes. ‘What Fresh Hell’ came second in six hours, 40 minutes and United Pedals of GECANZIA checked in third in six hours and 50 minutes. They also had three of the youngest racers, at nine years of age, on this family team.
The sole entry in “Youth Teams” was U Kon Youth Riders, and their time was six hours and 35 minutes, with their youngest rider being 10. The others were 11, 12 and 13.
Finally, a new category was created this year, a para category. Teams were required to have at least one para rider. U Kon Para Rider was the sole entry in the para team category with a time of six hours and 45 minutes.
This year, the SLYGF celebrated its 16th year. The founders of the event are Peter Heebink and John Streicker. Peter has been involved in organizing this event for years.
In the past, Simi Morrison was the head organizer and put on some fantastic events that encompassed the different communities of Tagish, Carcross, Mt. Lorne and Marsh Lake along the way.
Much gratitude to Peter, Simi and John for starting this fun event and to Peter for ensuring it continues.