Sacramento Running News

This is not a running story, per se, but it’s a great story about a local runner doing a good deed, for a, er, steed.

Jack Meyer, an ultra-marathon runner from Foresthill, Calif., went beyond the call of duty, when the Tevis volunteer rescued a black Anglo-Arab mare that had fallen into a ravine. Christoph Schork’s 9-year-old Castle Country Karahty (“Kat”), ridden by David Shefrin, slid from the Western States Trail July 24 during the horse and rider’s attempt to complete the 100-mile Tevis Cup ride.

Read the whole story in, where else, The Horse.com.  I’m proud to know you, Jack!

It’s not even August and now you need to make that critical decision: Register for the marathon now (before August 1st) and Pay $80, or wait until you’re sure you’ll be running and pay $100.  Relay team prices go up from $100 to $160.  You may as well bite the bullet and register now since registration closes for sure by November 1st, and they are on track to sell out in advance of that date.

It seems like just a couple of years ago, registering at the Expo was still an option!  Get the details at the California International Marathon website.

Masters Winners Ed Randolph and Mary Coordt

The past couple of years, I’ve used this race as my “kick-off” 5K to start the fall road racing season.  It’s local, well-run, and well attended.  The course is reasonably fast, and good for figuring out my fitness and dialing in my training.  This year there was a new angle:  I’m not sure what governing body designated this race the “City of Sacramento 5K Championship” but that’s what the medal says.

Here are your City of Sacramento 5K Champions:

Women
(more…)

Is there a footwear fad that American can’t get behind?  A couple of months ago, I started seeing them everywhere: those funny sneakers with the rounded bottoms.  They were otherwise normal looking people wearing some really odd looking shoes. Even Chuck Norris was getting into the act, hawking these shoes on television. (Okay.  Maybe Chuck’s not the best example of “normal” but bear with me here.)

Like so many fitness fads that have come before, the reports of danger come following after.  The Boston Globe reports:

Day two, and the world records continue to fall like rain.  This time, it was the steeplechase.  The USATF  reports:

Lisa Valle set the W40 world masters 2,000m steeplechase record when she crossed the finish line in 6:51.92, after setting the previous world record two weeks ago of 6:52.6. “I had it stuck in my head that I wanted to break my record, so I guess I barely made it,” she said. “I just tried to stick to my pace and it worked out. I thought I could’ve broken 6:50, but I’m happy with it here in the heat. It was a good run.”

And it was also the 400 meters!  Again, from USATF:

In women’s 400m finals action, Suzy MacLeod won the W75 age group with her world record time of 1:25.40, which is faster than the previous listed world record of 1:27.17 set last year by Margaret Peters of New Zealand. Her time also bested the previous W75 American record of 1:27.41 set by Audrey Lary at the 2009 USA Masters Outdoor Championships in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

(more…)

The USA Track & Field 2010 Masters Outdoor Track and Field Championships kicked off this morning and already we have a new world record!  Oneithea “Neni” Lewis set a new world age-group record in the women’s hammer throw, getting 55.46 meters (181′ 11″) on her final throw to win the competition easily.  Amazingly, after fouling the first throw, her next five all bested the existing American Record and her final throw sailed well beyond the eight-year old world record of 51.73 meters (169′ 8″)!

In the 5,000 meters, Rick Blecker of Club Northwest set a new American record with his win in the M55 age group with his time of 16:14.55, and Mary Harada of West Newbury, Massachusetts, set the American W75 age-group record when she finished first in 26:55.11. Her performance bettered the previous American Record of 27:10.76 set by Algene Williams in 1991.  Look for more, because Harada, who lowered the W75 mile American Record twice last month, is also entered in the 800m and 1,500m!

While no locals set any records, many did earn bragging rights.

(more…)

Women line up for the start of the mile at the Western States Masters International Invitational. Photo by Abe Underwood

Don’t forget the USA Track & Field 2010 Masters Outdoor Track and Field Championships start tomorrow morning at Sacramento State’s A.G. Spanos Sports Complex at 7:00 AM.

The day kicks off with one of my favorite track events: the 5,000 meters.   The women’s (age 30 to 49) 5,000 meters in particular will showcase some of the area’s top women road racers.

The photo (right), taken at the Western States Masters International Invitational track meet in Davis two weeks ago, shows some of these women testing and honing their track skills in the lead-up to the Masters Championships.  Tomorrow’s 5000 meters includes locals: Mike Gottardi, Michael Fadling, Mason Myers, Randy Anderson, Iain Mickle, John Nichols, James Young, and Jeffrey Adkins for the men; and Jaymee Marty, Midori Sperandeo, Kirsten Schneider, Rae Whitten, Jenny Hitchings, and Desiree Love for the women.  Who will come out on top?   Be sure to check it out!

(more…)

If you have a few minutes to spare, check out this “Running Voices” web feature the New York Times put together in the lead up to last year’s New York City Marathon.  In it, 25 different runners talk (for about 90-seconds) about why they run and about their running life.  It is obviously not new, but I just stumbled on it yesterday and found it compelling enough that I wanted to share.  What would you say?

Local runner Bruce LaBelle sent me this really interesting article from the New York Times about how merely the taste of carbohydrates can improve your performance.  According to the article, “Exercise scientists say they have stumbled on an amazing discovery. Athletes can improve their performance in intense bouts of exercise, lasting an hour or so, if they merely rinse their mouths with a carbohydrate solution. They don’t even have to swallow it.”

These findings seem to help explain earlier research that showed significant performance improvement (in cyclists) from drinking carbohydrate beverages during short bouts of exercise.  The short duration of exertion would not allow the absorption of usable fuel–but somehow athletes benefited.  It seems that even the taste of carbohydrates (not sweet) was enough to “trick the brain.”

This study appears to be reinforce the idea that your brain is really the limiting factor in your running performance.  “Think of a runner who is bonking, takes in some gel or soda, and perks up immediately.  How many calories really could have gone into their stomach and intestines, get adsorbed into the bloodstream, and then transferred into the muscles or the brain in the time it took for them to feel better?” asks LaBelle.  “Note that the observed effect of carbohydrate-specific receptors affecting the brain has interesting parallels with the hypotheses by Noakes and his colleagues on the Central Governor Model of exercise in which the brain dictates to a surprising extent how hard we can run.  It helps explain how we can be reduced to a plod for hours, then see the “One Mile to Go” sign and perk up and be able to run again.”

(more…)

According to the County Parks District, the Guy West bridge at CSUS will be closed from July 18 to August 24.  The bridge is to be closed while the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completes levee improvements on both sides of the river.  While the levee road will be closed, the Parkway trail beneath the bridge on the north side (near University Avenue) will remain open.  The nearest alternate river crossings are the J Street bridge (downstream) and the Howe Avenue bridge (upstream).  Plan your run accordingly!