Sacramento Running News

Running news and gossip from in and around Sacramento
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California International Marathon 2013: The Cold Year

December 15, 2013 By: John Blue Category: General Running News, Road Races

coldWhile I am not one of those crazy CIM “streakers,” this year I marked my 11th CIM finish, and 13th start. Many of them were cold–especially at the start–but none were as cold as this one.

How cold was it? It was so cold that some of the buses at the starting line were capped with snow–snow that wasn’t melting despite the buses’ heaters running.

It was cold enough to ice over the Power Aid in the paper cups at the aid stations.

And it was also cold enough for the spilled water and electrolyte drink to freeze on the ground, turning the road along the aid stations into crazy, jostling ice rinks.

I’m sure RD Michelle LaSala has added “road salt” to the aid station supply list, something no previous race director has ever had to worry about.

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Folsom Blues Half

October 24, 2013 By: John Blue Category: General Running News, Road Races

running manBy John Schumacher

Amid the sounds of Johnny Cash, Turlock’s Miguel Nuci and Auburn’s Jane Kibii earned individual honors Saturday in the inaugural Folsom Blues Breakout Half Marathon.

The race, sponsored by the Sacramento Running Association and presented by the city of Folsom, attracted 3,000 runners on a mild, pleasant fall morning.

Cash’s presence was everywhere, from the view of Folsom Prison and the recording of him talking about the grand old flag at the start on Folsom Lake Crossing Bridge to the bands playing his music along the course to the James Garner Johnny Cash cover band at the finish.

Nuci, who runs for the Sacramento Running Association’s Elite Team, took the lead five miles into the 13.1-mile race and pulled away to win the men’s title in 1 hour, 9 minutes and 42 seconds. Auburn’s Brad Poore finished second in 1:09:59 and Rocklin’s Charlie Brenneman, another SRA Elite Team member, grabbed third in 1:10:48.

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Buffalo Stampede on American River Drive

September 12, 2013 By: John Blue Category: General Running News, Masters Runners, Road Races

Laura Matz hams it up for the camera. (Photo by Abe Underwood)

Laura Matz hams it up for the camera. (Photo by Abe Underwood)

Braving unseasonably warm weather–some might even say it was hot–several hundred runners gathered for the 39th annual Buffalo Stampede and the 18th annual Parrott Migration, this past Sunday.

The Stampede is the race and the Migration is a fun-run, which starts an hour earlier to give the slower runners more time to finish the course.

Starting and finishing at Rio American High School, the flat, ten-mile course winds through one of the region’s better neighborhoods, and includes some short out-and-back sections where you can see who’s in front and who’s behind you.

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2011 Road Race Wrap-Up: Grand Prix Edition

December 28, 2011 By: John Blue Category: General Running News, Masters Runners, Road Races

The end of 2011 is upon us so it’s time to check out the results of the major road race series/grand prix that local runners compete in.

Local

We’ll start with Sacramento’s own Buzz Oates RunSac Race Series. This year-long series of local races is a points competition with over $7,000 in prize money and bonuses. Points are earned based on age-graded performances in more than a dozen top Sacramento-area road races. There are awards for team and individual competition, and in 2011, there were several hundred individuals and eight local teams vying for the prize money.

The top placing individuals for 2011 were Janice Kesterson, 57, running for the Buffalo Chips, and Terry Baucom, 54, running for Fleet Feet Racing.

Second and third individual women were Karen Jeffers, 48, with the River City Rebels, and Stacey Worthen, 38, running for Fleet Feet Racing.

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Locals Look for Olympic Trials Qualifying Time at CIM

November 28, 2011 By: John Blue Category: General Running News, Masters Runners, Road Races

Your last chance for an OT qualifying time

Next weekend’s California International Marathon is pretty much the last chance for runners to earn an Olympic Trials Qualifying time.

Today’s Bee includes some pretty decent coverage of local marathoners gunning for this magic time at next weekend’s CIM.

Dec. 11 is the last day to qualify for the 2012 Trials – scheduled for Jan. 14 in Houston – which means those attempting to qualify at the CIM most likely will be taking their final shot. The men’s standard is 2:19; the women’s is 2:46.

Check out the article, it’s definitely worth the read. In the Sports Section, no less!

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Twin Cities Update

October 03, 2011 By: John Blue Category: General Running News, Road Races

Folsom’s Kevin Pool, 28, ran a personal best at the Twin Cities Marathon on Sunday  but his 2:19:34 finish time was a tantalizing few seconds shy of the sub-2:20 Olympic Marathon Trials qualifying time he was looking for.

It was good enough for a 12th place overall.

Auburn runner Brad Poore, 33, was also a top finisher, coming in 17th overall with a 2:22:05.

Rumor has it that local running empresario Michelle La Sala also ran a personal best at Twin Cities, in 3:06:31. La Sala is better known to many of you as the Race Director of the SacTown 10.

La Sala was the fastest Sacramentan listed in the results.

The overall race winners were Kenyan Sammy Malakwen in 2:13:11, and Ethiopian woman Yeshimebet Bifa with a 2:28:24.

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Ultrarunners Dominate at the San Francisco Marathon

August 03, 2011 By: John Blue Category: General Running News, Road Races, Ultrarunning

Strictly speaking, the San Francisco Marathon isn’t a local race–but a lot of locals run it. For that reason, I’ll usually poke through the results to see if I recognize any local runners.

While I didn’t spot any familiar locals among the top finishers, I did notice something peculiar. There were a lot of ultrarunners in the top men and women.

The overall winner was Michael Wardian, who was only a few weeks off his 3rd place finish at Badwater.

Chris Knorzer, in 5th place, has also dabbled in ultrarunning and had run the Tahoe Rim Trail 50K on July 16th. (Actually, Knorzer can’t be a real ultrarunner because he doesn’t have a blog.)

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Weekend Races: Napa Marathon and Redding’s NorCal 10

March 06, 2011 By: John Blue Category: Road Races

Saturday morning’s early rain showers let up long enough for runners of Redding’s NorCal 1o-Mile race to enjoy fairly warm conditions on that beautiful, if hilly, course along the Sacramento River.

The NorCal 10 is the first race of the Pacific Association USA Track & Field 2011 Grand Prix, and typically sees a highly competitive field. This year was no exception. There were 37 runners finishing the ten mile course in under an hour, including women’s winner Jane Kibii, of Kenya/Auburn, who ran 57:15!

The men’s winner was Mario Mendoza of Bend, Oregon, who finished in 51:53. Tim Tollefson of Roseville, at 3rd overall in 52:24, was the top area man, and 50-year-old Iain Mickle, of Sacramento, was the top Masters finisher in 55:57.

Jenny Hitchings, of Sacramento, was 4th woman and 2nd master, with a 1:02:40.

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Run to Feed the Hungry

November 28, 2010 By: John Blue Category: Road Races

Kevin Pool wins at Run to Feed the Hungry (Photo by Hector Amezcua, Sacramento Bee)

On an icy Thanksgiving morning, thousands of runners who were not me lined up on J Street for Sacramento’s annual Run to Feed the Hungry.

While there is no longer big prize money drawing runners from across the country and around the world (especially Africa), there were some impressive times and this race easily remains Sacramento’s premier 10 Km road race. (In 2008, there were four finishers under 30-minutes.)

Kevin Pool, of Folsom, took the overall win with a spectacular 31:15. Brad Poore of Auburn and Alan Jackson of Sacramento finished 2nd and 3rd in 31:22 and 31:26.

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