Sacramento Running News

Running news and gossip from in and around Sacramento
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Local Masters and Seniors Dominate at Humboldt Half

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

sequoia sempirvirensThere is a magic place, up on the top of California, where majestic giant redwoods tip-toe down the hillsides to peek at the Eel River as she lifts her skirts and dances out to the Pacific Ocean.

And every year, Northern California’s finest runners, and a bunch of the rest of us, line up there under the canopy of redwoods for the Humboldt Redwoods Marathon and Half Marathon.

The half marathon is part of the PAUSATF road grand prix, so many of Northern California’s top road racers make the long trek up to the great green north for this out-of-the-way event.

If you make the drive to the Humboldt Marathon and Half Marathon, or its spring-time sister race, the Avenue of the Giants, don’t expect cheering crowds or convenient lodging. But you can expect a fast and scenic run through one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

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Fab 40s 5K

July 28, 2013 By: John Blue Category: General Running News, Masters Runners, Road Races

Kevin Cimini gets chased to the finish by Carol Parise. (SRN photo)

Kevin Cimini gets chased to the finish by Carol Parise. (SRN photo)

As I sat through the long awards ceremony after the Fab 40s 5K, the question that kept running through my mind was “Where are all these fast people coming from?”

For a 5K in flat-as-a-pancake Sacramento, it’s a somewhat challenging course–not just because it starts and finishes on the highest hill in Sacramento.

There are deceptive, rolling hills on that East Sac course, and yet, Saturday’s times were still quite fast.

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Independence Day Races

July 08, 2013 By: John Blue Category: General Running News, Road Races

July 4 finish

Runners finishing five miles in the heat. (SRN photo)

One of the longest-running traditions in the Sacramento running community is the Free Fourth of July 5 Miler. The race through River Park, hosted by the Buffalo Chips, has been celebrating America’s freedom with free running for the past 37 years.

This year, despite the heat, nearly 1,000 hardy souls showed up to take part–including representatives of most of the area’s running clubs and training groups.

This is a low-budget affair so there is no chip timing–just good old fashion stop watches. Here are the top finishers:

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Locals Shine at Redding NorCal 10

March 03, 2013 By: John Blue Category: General Running News, Masters Runners, Road Races

The Rebels' Marcelo Lerda works for the Masters win. (Photo by Sean Dulany)

The Rebels’ Marcelo Lerda works for the Masters win. (Photo by Sean Dulany)

The first race of the Pacific Association USATF Road Race Grand Prix took place this past Saturday in Redding, with the running of the  John Frank Memorial NorCal 10 Mile.

The race is a hilly and scenic out-and-back along the Sacramento River, finishing at Lake Redding Park. (If you ever figure out where the lake is at Lake Redding Park, let me know.)

The overall winner was the Aggies’ Phillip Reid, of San Luis Obisbo, who clocked an impressive 50:18 on this challenging course.  Finishing second was West Valley Track Club’s Alex Varner, of San Francisco, with a 50:28. Varner’s WVTC teammate, Malcolm Richards, also of San Francisco, finished third in 50:47.

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Race for the Arts 5K

August 25, 2012 By: John Blue Category: General Running News, Masters Runners, Road Races

I fell in love with the Race for the Arts 5K when it was run downtown from Crocker Park and along the Sacramento River, on a Friday evening in late summer.

Over time, originally because of construction issues, the race was moved to Land Park–but still run in the evening.

Now, it’s just another Saturday morning 5K in Land Park, but still a good time and still a local favorite. The course is flat and shaded. There is plenty of grass to set up a team tent or run your kids around on after the event.

In today’s race, local speedster Kevin Pool ran alone for the win in 15:13. Following him in for 2nd and 3rd were Hector Miranda in 15:52, and Camron Shahmirzadi in 16:15.

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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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Weekend Race Wrap-Up

September 19, 2011 By: John Blue Category: Cross Country, Masters Runners, Road Races

Runners are off at the Run to Break the Silence (Photo by Randy Wehner)

This last couple of weekends have been crowded with races!

The biggest (and most competitive) local event this past weekend was easily Saturday evening’s Run to Break the Silence 5K.

Folsom’s Camron Shahmirzadi was the big winner there, in 16:30. He was followed in by Chad Worthen, of Sacrmento, in 16:43, and Jason Harne, of Folsom, in 16:45.

The first woman was Gina Dayton, of Sacramento, in 20:11. Hot on her heels was Karen Jeffers, of Wheatland, in 20:17, and finishing up in a close race for third was Kelly Wisnicky, of Fair Oaks, in 20:37.

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Susan B. Anthony 5K: Still Running Strong After 30 years

August 15, 2011 By: John Blue Category: General Running News, Masters Runners, Road Races

The Start of the 2011 Susan B. Anthony 5K (Photo courtesy of Craig Newport)

If you were in River Park on Saturday morning, you were in for a treat as the Susan B. Anthony 5K, one of Sacramento’s oldest running traditions, showed it is as important as ever.

The Buffalo Chips have been hosting this race for 35 years, and Race Director Carol Parise has been at the helm for the past several of those years. This experience showed and the race continues to be a popular first race for many women in the region.

“We were really overwhelmed by the response for this year’s race,” said Race Director Carol Parise. “Our numbers were up significantly from last year’s event, so clearly, there is a demand for a well run, supportive, women’s race in Sacramento.”

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Locals Shine at the Humboldt Half Marathon

October 20, 2010 By: John Blue Category: Masters Runners, Road Races

Each fall, I make an enjoyable visit to the Humboldt Redwoods for another go at one of my all time favorite half marathons.

This past Sunday’s aptly named Humboldt Redwoods Marathon and Half Marathon is the nearly identical twin (the stereoisomer really) of the Avenue of the Giants Marathon (AKA “The Ave”) with one major difference. The Humboldt Redwoods Half Marathon is part of the PAUSATF Grand Prix and therefore draws a very fast crowd. (Also, The Ave is run in April.)

This is how a small race that starts in a little turn-off of Highway 101 has 33 finishers under 1:20 and a woman running 1:18:19 comes in 2nd.

The weather was perfect. The race was well organized. And this year, they replaced the usual terrible cotton shirts with pretty nice technical ones.

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