Sacramento Running News

If one were thinking of running a half marathon and wondering where one might find a race to place well (AKA “cherry picking”), one might think that a trip to the little valley town of Lodi might do the trick.

You could imagine the pleasant farming folk setting down their hoes, or parking their combine harvesters for the morning, lacing up some jogging shoes and trotting out an easy 13.1 miles. Then they might gather around a jug of fresh squeezed lemonade to chat about the new livestock auctioneer they’d seen at the county fair last summer. Or something like that.

Then you might actually run Lodi’s Avenue of the Vines Half-Marathon, or just look at the results, and notice that local running impresario Rich Hanna ran a 1:13:29 and still finished over four minutes behind winner Jose Morales, of Turlock, who ran 1:09:17!

To put that in perspective, imagine that you were running a 5:37/mile pace. Even if you were running that pace, the winner (i.e., Jose Morales) would be done and sipping on some of that fresh-squeezed lemonade and you would still have over a half-mile to run.

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It’s unseasonably cold outside and you’re looking for motivation to go for a run.

You could bust out that Sweatin’ to the Oldies DVD. Or, you could entertain yourself by watching cats run on a treadmill.

Suit yourself!

It must be spring! Not only am I sneezing every 30-seconds, it seems as though we were overwhelmed with races and tasty results to report on.

In track and field, Stanford was host to the 2011 Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational, where the Hornets’ Lea Wallace turned out the 2nd fastest Division I 1500 of the year. Wallace, in her first 1500 of the season, ran 4:11.31. The only collegiate athlete ahead of her is Jordan Hasay (Oregon), who ran 4:10.28 in the same race this weekend. Letsrun.com has an excellent write-up about the event.

Up in Oregon on Sunday, Sacramento’s Jenny Hitchings ran a PR 2:46:10 in the Eugene Marathon–just 11 seconds shy of the Women’s Olympic Trials Marathon qualifying time. Hitchings was 5th woman overall, and 2nd masters behind Bend’s Kami “The Machine” Semick.

Speaking of close calls, at the Quicksilver 50K in San Jose, Jen Pfeifer, of El Dorado (former of Folsom), was reportedly in the lead until the final mile of the race where she went off course and picked up several extra minutes. While lost, Pfeifer was passed by a more attentive Adona Ramos, of San Jose. Ramos took the win with only about 15-seconds to spare.

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In the very popular book Born To Run, author Christopher McDougall describes how humans were evolved to hunt by simply outrunning the animals they were hunting. In the book, he tells of a researcher who was able to join a hunter gatherer tribe and run down wild game in Africa.

Sadly, this has never been duplicated in the US, even though it would likely be the premise of a wickedly popular reality television program. This could be because of inadequate hunting and tracking ability on the part of those individuals who have tried. It could also be because the runners weren’t hungry enough.

In this month’s Outside Magazine, they describe the experience of a group of very fast marathoners attempting to chase down a pronghorn in New Mexico.

Entertaining reading. You should check it out!.

The World Masters Athletics Championships (AKA World Masters Track & Field Championships) are coming to the good old USA this July, for the first time since 1995.

As exciting as that is, you should be thrilled to pieces to know that they will be held right here in River City! (Right here!)

I know what you’re saying: “But I’m only 37! I’m too young to be a masters athlete!”

Well, fortunately for you, you sprightly younger person, for purposes of the Masters Track & Field World Championships, a masters runner is anyone 35 or older!

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The world of sports lost one of its true champions today in the passing of marathon great Grete Waitz.

I can’t think of a runner today who enjoys the stature of Grete Waitz in her heyday. Only in the rarest of individuals does one ever find her combination of incredible talent, indomitable spirit, and humility.

In 2007, I had the pleasure of hearing Grete speak at the Boston Marathon Expo. She told of her first run of the New York City Marathon. She was warm, engaging and funny. She charmed the audience with a tale, not of the unbreakable champion, but of the incredible naif. Out of her depth. Overwhelmed by the experience, and difficulty of the marathon, she somehow emerged an unlikely champion.

In 1978, Greta Waitz was the world record holder in the 3000 meters and, as she told the story, her husband thought they should use that to get a free trip to visit America from their native Norway.

The race director of the New York Marathon was the first race to take them up on this, thinking that she would make a good rabbit to help speed the elite women to a fast time.

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The sun will come up tomorrow, and the village of Hopkinton‘s population will swell to triple its usual number, the streets of Boston will ring with the rubber tread of the shoes of tens of thousands of runner, and the women of Wellesley will be screaming their heads off and making even the most mediocre of runners feel like a rock star, if for only about 300 meters.

If you are there, well done. If not, chances are you’d like to be.

In either case, Competitor.com has an entertaining video of a Training Day With Ryan Hall. You can see what Ryan does for his final pre-Boston big workout.

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They are probably already staging porta-potties in Hopkinton for the 2011 Boston Marathon.

Unlike most every other marathon in America, the Boston Marathon is held on a Monday that is not Labor Day. They run it on Patriot’s Day.

Patriot’s Day is a New England holiday celebrating the battles of Lexington and Concord. In Boston, this holiday is generally observed by running from the town of Hopkinton to Boston, or by screaming at people who are running from Hopkinton to Boston.

This year’s Boston Marathon includes one of the deepest women’s fields in event history and two American women with a legitimate shot at a podium finish: Kara Goucher, who was 3rd in 2009, returns this year, and Desiree Davila, of the Hansen-Brooks Distance Project makes her Boston debut.

For some reason, Desiree Davila toils away as a rather unknown runner, but her 2:26:20 at the Chicago Marathon makes her the fourth fastest women in American history.

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By now, I think we can all agree that exercise is key to good health and aging well. If you’re reading this website, I’ll assume that you’re a runner. As runners, we all face motivation that ebbs and flows. We have training days that are hard. Mornings that are cold and dark. Workouts where we’re the only one that shows up.

Some days our muscles are still sore from the prior day’s workout.

There are days we feel fat, hungry, cranky, lazy, and sleepy. Some days our shoes hurt our feet. Some days our feet just hurt. Some days everything hurts.

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This coming July, Sacramento will be hosting the Masters World Athletics Championships (AKA Masters Track and Field World Championships).

If you had a chance to watch or run in last year’s Masters National Championships you know what a great event this should be.

While it may seem a bit early for me to be writing about a July event, registration closes on April 24. You can register online now, and event management says that more than 900 athletes had already registered as of March 23rd.

For track and field, a masters athlete is anyone over 35. There are events from the 100 meters to the marathon, plus the field events, and the venues will be centered around California State University Sacramento.

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