Like most runners, Brian Miller gets sponged down at Michigan Bluff (SRN Photo)
The Western States Endurance Run was last weekend (June 29-30), and if I was a lazy reporter (and I often am) the race could be generally summed up like this:
Barbara Miller running strong (SRN photo)
On an uncharacteristically cool Memorial Day morning, several hundred runners and walkers lined up in Land Park for another running of the No Excuses 5K.
No Excuses is Sacramento’s original opportunity for fast young men to get their clocks cleaned by older, fast women and pre-teens in the age-graded results–a race within a race, so to speak.
In the age-graded results, winner Barbara Miller, 73, of Modesto continues to dominate by continuing to run pretty darn fast–age graded or not.
Second woman finisher Tera Dube navigates the trails. (Photo by Sean Dulany/Freeplay Magazine)
As we crowded up on the levee near the start line for the 2013 running of the American River 50 Mile Endurance Run, two things were dominating conversations of the old timers: the temperature and the crowd.
It was warm, and it was also humid and still. I spotted a few trash-bag wearers, but most people were lightly dressed—at least for 6:00 AM on an early April morning. It always unnerves me when it’s unseasonably warm at the start of an ultra.
The crowd was huge. There were around 1,100 registered runners in the field, which is much larger than in previous years, and makes this race one of the country’s largest.
Kim Conley on the way to the win (Photo by Sean Dulany/Freeplay Magazine)
By John Schumacher
Defending champion Tesfaye Alemayehu pushed hard from the start, daring anyone to stay with him in the third annual Credit Union SACTOWN Ten-Mile Run.
Olympian Kim Conley treated the race as a strength workout, taking a longer-term view as she prepares for an upcoming track season she hopes earns her a spot on the U.S. World Championship team.
Both strategies worked well on a mild, sunny Sunday morning, with Antioch’s Alemayehu and West Sacramento’s Conley winning individual titles in an event that serves as USA Track & Field’s Pacific Association 10-Mile Championship and helps raise money for Children’s Miracle Network.
Now that doping controls are a fact of life at the major, big money races, it looks like the new doping strategy is to run a lot of small money races where there are no controls.
ESPN’s Edurance Blog tackles this issue in a story built around Kenyan Jynocel Basweti’s recent sanctioning for doping.
Basweti was not a big name in marathoning, but ESPN reports that he has won 17 mid-market marathons in the US since 2006, with prize money of up to $10,000.
Sadly, as long as there’s even a little money on the table, cheaters will cheat. Hopefully, some lower-cost drug testing will come along soon so we can get back to not worrying about this.
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.
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.)
Meghan Arbogast on her way to the win. (Photo by Sean Dulany/Freeplay Magazine)
While Jed Smith is the opening day of the NorCal ultra-running season, the Way Too Cool 50K is undoubtedly the opening day of the ultra trailrunning season. It is the first major trail-ultra in the region and the day folks get to test their fitness and see the trails after hiding out in the cold winter months.
Old friends get an excuse to hang out and visit, and rivals get to check out the competition.
There is a soft spot in my heart for this race, as it was the first ultra I ever ran–way back in 2000. It’s grown a lot over the years, and is a lot harder to get into, but still feels like a local event. The organization is tight and the volunteers are beyond outstanding.
On Sunday, Folsom’s Kevin Pool was supposed to just be running a “training run” in advance of April’s Boston Marathon.
I’m curious at what point he decided to go ahead and push for the win at the 35th Annual Kaiser Permanente Napa Valley Marathon, because at some point he had to have decided to pass and then stay in front of all those other people out there on the course.
On the other hand, San Francisco’s Michelle Meyer, 25, had reportedly set a goal of running a fast time, and possibly earning the women’s win.
At the end of the day, both of them emerged victorious and were crowned Road Runners Club of America National Marathon Champions because the race served as the Road Runners Club of America’s 2013 National Marathon Championship.
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.
