Sacramento Running News

On Sunday morning, under perfect running conditions, more than 6,000 runners lined up at Raley’s Field in West Sacramento for the start of the 9th Annual Blue Diamond Shamrock’n Half Marathon.

Fresh off his win at the Napa Marathon, Kevin Pool, 30, of Folsom, bested all comers to win in a solid 1:08:23.

Coming in second was Ryan Delgado, 26, of San Francisco, with a time of 1:10:05, and Wesley Szehner, 25, of Sacramento, was third in 1:10:29.

The first woman was a speedy Chantelle Wilder, 27, of Los Gatos, who took it home in 1:17:15.

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You may have heard there was a marathon in Los Angeles, yesterday.

I only mention the LA Marathon in this Sacramento publication because a lot of locals run it.

There are a few interesting things to report:

Deena Kastor, running her first marathon as a masters runner, finished third in 2:32:38. She was bested by Aleksandra Duliba, 27, of Belarus, who finished first in 2:26:07, and Zemzem Ahmed, 28, of Ethiopia, who finished second in 2:30:31.

Kenyan men swept the top three positions. Erick Mose, 26, was the winner in 2:09:43. Mose was followed in by Julius Keter, 24, in 2:10:30, and Nicholas Chelimo, 30, who finished in 2:10:42.

The top local man appears to be Christopher Malenab, 33, of Sacramento, who finished in 3:12:14. Curt Casazza, 41, of Cameron Park, who finished in 2:55:34. (Editor’s note: Multiple people contacted me to let me know that Curt Casazza was the first local finisher. We apologize for the error. This is not to take anything away from Christopher Malenab who ran a 20+ minute PR and should be very proud of himself.)

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