FORT ASSINIBOINE – Hundreds of endurance athletes ran thousands of kilometres at Fort Assiniboine's Sandhills Wildland Provincial Park in the Klondike Ultra June 7.
This is a multi-distance trail running event featuring a challenging mix of sand dunes, ancient wagon trails, and boreal forests stretching along the Athabasca River and Clearwater Creek.
“The Klondike Ultra weekend came and went with huge success! We had 140 participants that came from across Canada competing in five different distances,” said Monty McNeice, organizer of the event.
Several of the participants came from the local communities that surround the area, including Whitecourt, Barrhead, Athabasca, and Neerlandia.
There are five separate marathons: The Klondike Ultra at 100 kilometres, The Little Klondike at 50 kilometres, The Dead Horse at 27 kilometres, The Klondike Rush at 10 kilometres, and The Klondike Kids at six kilometres.
The females in the 50-kilometre, 27-kilometre, and 10-kilometre races absolutely crushed the day, said McNeice.
They broke course records and Claudia Blandford came in first overall in the 50-kilometre distance.
Only one female, Sarah Johnson from Okotoks, finished in the 100-kilometre marathon.
The top male winners in the 100-kilometre marathon were Dan VanSloten from Edmonton in first place, Andrew Haley from Spruce Grove in second place and Brenden Maisonneuve from Fort Saskatchewan in third place.
In the Little Klondike event the top male winners were William Ngai from Grand Prairie, Eoin Clancy from Edmonton and Shane Harling from St. Albert with Wilf Ouimet from Gunn placing fourth.
Julien Van Heukelom from Woodlands County placed sixth.
The top female winners in the Little Klondike were Claudia Blandford from Frank, Morgan Green from Calmar, Heather Kuzyk from Edmonton.
In the Dead Horse event the top male winners were Greg Baker from Edmonton, Jeffery Popoff from Edmonton, and Ken Clarke from Fort Nelson.
Ethan Crispell from St. Albert placed seventh and Aaron Lee from Barrhead placed 13th in the Dead Horse event.
The top female winners in the Dead Horse event were Stephanie Masur from Edmonton, Sarah Phillips from Vegreville and Tess Owen from Edmonton with Taylor Sheppard from Athabasca placing fifth.
Isabelle Jean from St. Albert placed seventh and Chandra Sheppard from Athabasca placed tenth in the Dead Horse event.
In the Klondike Rush event, the top male winners were Mike Blennerhassett from Edmonton, Ben O’Rourke from Edmonton and Randy Wierda from Barrhead with Brant Derudder from Barrhead placing fourth.
William Styrdhorst from the County of Barrhead placed seventh and Henrik Asfeldt from Athabasca placed eighth in the Klondike Rush event.
Anders Lundell from Athabasca, 13 years old, placed tenth.
The top female winners in the Klondike Rush were Leslie Quilter from Spruce Grove, Shelley Bender from Calgary and Tania Melbourne from Morinville.
Cassandra Krikke from the County of Barrhead finished in sixth place, Nicole McCracken from St. Albert finished seventh and Haley Wierenga from the County of Barrhead finished in sixteenth place.
The weather was perfect for trail running with the temperature sitting around 23 degrees Celsius.
Runners welcomed the light breeze.
It had rained for a few days prior to the race, firming up the sandy trails.
“The trails were ready for a course record breaking kind of race day,” said McNeice.
Race Results can be viewed here: https://klondikeultra.com/gallery-2/
The next Klondike Ultra is scheduled for June 6, 2026 with registration opening Oct 1.
McNeice thanked Henry and Margaret Wierenga for their hospitality and generosity.
Wildland Sports Inc. applies for and is granted a Letter of Authorization for the annual trail maintenance within the park.
Earlier in the spring they organized a large group of individuals that took on removing all the deadfall off the trails.
Each year there are around 25 volunteers that participate for the day, using hand tools and power saws, keeping the trails in shape and making for a great Klondike Ultra race day experience.
There was $620 raised for Little Warriors with a 50/50 draw and barbecue.
