Sacramento Running News

Apparently, in Davis, a half marathon is only 12.2 miles. Well, maybe if it is the Change of Pace’s Davis Moonlight Half Marathon.

If you ran this race, hopefully you hadn’t been training for a long time for this distance and were just out there for laughs. Otherwise, you might be a little irritated.

Short races, cancelled races, and preventable screw-ups are all pet peeves of mine. However, I do give Change of Pace credit for taking responsibility and trying to make amends (from their letter to participants) :

Saturday night, as you know, the half marathon course was significantly off due to runners being mis-directed at an intersection that what we now feel should have been less confusing and better monitored. The wrong turn omitted runners from heading back to the finish line and completing mile six.

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Alberto Zanelli of Italy running the 3rd leg of the 4x100 relay.

After a 10-day run, the curtain has come down on the 2011 World Masters Athletics Championships.

Was it worth the hype? Was Sacramento a worthy host? Was it fun?

Yes, yes, and yes!

What About the Weather?

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Something we all enjoy.

Like mushrooms after a summer rain, signs are popping up on the Parkway announcing upcoming closures and detours.

The first one is actually on the Sacramento River, just up-stream of Old Sacramento and the I Street Bridge.

There is a bit of erosion encroaching on the trail and an unguarded drop off along the river side. This is posted to be closed starting on July 13 and be re-opened on July 17th. We’ll try to keep you posted.

The detour for this part of the trail is (from Downtown) to head up I Street as though you are crossing the I Street Bridge and turning right down Jibboom Street. This will actually carry you up and over the work-site.

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The Czech delegation for the World Masters Champs checks out Old Sacramento.

I took advantage of the beautiful weather today to enjoy a running commute to my office in downtown Sacramento.

As I passed through Old Sacramento on my way to downtown, I noticed it was overrun by a friendly army of foreign athletes here for the World Masters Athletics Championships.

As I ran by the Railroad Museum, I was flagged down by a gentleman by the name of Jaroslav Hovorka.

Jaroslav Hovorka, it turns out, is here from the Czech Republic to compete in the throwing pentathlon.

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I’ve written here about the doping controls for masters athletes at the Worlds Masters Athletics Championships, realizing this may be the only time that many of us, as athletes, are faced with the specter of mandatory drug testing.

While this may seem intimidating to us amateurs, the reality of the on-going testing required of many elite athletes is significantly more daunting.

Tom Fordyce, a writer for BBC Sports, agreed to be subject to doping control under the UK Anti-Doping In Sport program. He writes about his experiences in a recent blog post.

Does my privacy feel invaded? You’d think so. My girlfriend is banging on the bathroom door, desperate to use the toilet. I have had my genitals examined at short range by a man I have only just shaken hands with. It is early in the morning, and I would rather be asleep.

It’s an interesting read.

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The Army doesn't want to see your toes.

The minimalist and barefoot running blogs are atwitter with righteous indignation over the US Army’s recently announced ban on “toe shoes.”

All Army Activities message 239/2011 states:

THERE ARE A VARIETY OF MINIMALIST RUNNING SHOES AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE AND WEAR. EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, ONLY THOSE SHOES THAT ACCOMMODATE ALL FIVE TOES IN ONE COMPARTMENT ARE AUTHORIZED FOR WEAR. THOSE SHOES THAT FEATURE FIVE SEPARATE, INDIVIDUAL COMPARTMENTS FOR THE TOES, DETRACT FROM A PROFESSIONAL MILITARY IMAGE AND ARE PROHIBITED FOR WEAR WITH THE IPFU OR WHEN CONDUCTING PHYSICAL TRAINING IN MILITARY FORMATION.

There are limits to freedom, apparently.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote here about drug testing for the upcoming World Masters Athletics Championships that will be held this month in Sacramento.

It was nice to see in this morning’s Sacramento Bee, Sam McManis giving it the full treatment. McManis does an excellent job of picking through the various facets of the issue.

The money quote from elite masters runner Pete Magill:

“Like it or not, the perception of drug use among all athletes is out there,” he said. “It’s important that, as a group, we submit to drug testing to fight that perception. Any time now anyone has a great performance, the first thing people think is not, ‘That’s a great performer.’ They think, ‘That guy has a great pharmacist.’ “

I couldn’t agree more. It’s a definite “must read.”

There’s a new kid in town that I think you’re going to like.

Now that you’re sitting on your butt recovering from that epic run at Western States, or maybe sitting at your desk day-dreaming about the trails, you’ve got a great new website just brimming with candy for your ears.

It’s called Ultrarunner Podcast.com and it’s just chock-full of interviews of your favorite ultrarunning celebrities, pioneers, trainers, and coaches.

Imagine yourself, sitting at work staring blankly at an spreadsheet. It’s a picture of middle-class existential ennui until you plug in a discreet set of ear buds and switch on an interview of Kami Semick, Hal Koerner, Tim Twietmeyer or even Christopher McDougall. Suddenly, while still staring blankly at that spreadsheet, you are miles away pounding down a trail somewhere, living the dream.

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Here’s a nice video from the Wall Street Journal about interval training.

The dust has finally settled on the Western States Trail. The runners are done with this race until the next time they are “lucky” enough to pin on a Western States 100 race number. The volunteers, many as tired as the runners, have packed up and gone home.

Three hundred and ten runners crossed the finish line at Auburn’s Placer High before the 30-hour time clock ran out. Some were elated. Some were satisfied. Some were disappointed. Another 65-runners called it a day somewhere before they made it to the end.

The reasons for dropping are endless, but doing so is always painful–sometimes physically, sometimes mentally, and usually both.

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