Sacramento Running News

Starting before sunrise, runners make their way up the hill from Squaw Valley in the 2010 race. (Photo courtesy of Kerina Blue)

I woke up this morning at 7:30 and thought to myself, “The guys running Western States have already been running for two-and-a-half hours!”

I do this every year I’m not running. Then I turn on the computer and check out the live webcast.

Dave Mackey was the first into Talbot Creek (13 miles), but now Kilian Jornet is the first into the Poppy Trailhead aid station! Exciting isn’t it?

It’s a little less thrilling than when ABC’s Wide World of Sports covered the event wire-to-wire and had cameramen in helicopters capturing the race. Those were the good old days.

Of course, by the time it was aired, the race was long over and the result was well known by all who cared.

USA Track and Field Champs:

If you are sitting at home with the computer, you should also be checking out the US National Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The live feed can be watched here.

The sad thing is that USATF sold the rights to broadcast many of the premium events to ESPN, so they aren’t being broadcast live. Fortunately, these events seem to be available for viewing on-line after ESPN has had it’s way with them.

Amy Weissenbach gets something for the mantel.

Recently, I wrote about Harvard-Westlake School junior Amy Weissenbach’s phenomenal, nation-leading run in the 800 at this spring’s California Interscholastic Federation Track and Field State Championships.

This evening, Gatorade just named her the National Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year. Sweet!

And when you tell your children that they should be more like Amy, be sure to note that besides running like the wind, she “maintains a 4.23 weighted GPA in the classroom.”

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Hundreds of runners, as well as countless support crews and volunteers, are already congregating in Squaw Valley for this weekend’s 38th running of the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run.

Weather forecasters are predicting cool temperatures and the race is being run on a modified “snow year” course, which replaces some technical (i.e., rocky and slow) parts of the trail with some fast fire roads–including some pavement.

Add to this the stellar field being assembled and you can expect blazing fast times and an exciting race.

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You’ve probably heard by now that a certain Illinois high school senior became the 5th American high school student to ever run a sub-4:00 mile.

His name is Lukas Verzbicas and he’ll be running for Oregon (surprise!) next year.

There was a heavy weight of expectation on Verzbicas after he’d broken the American high school record in the two-mile a week earlier at the Prefontaine Classic.

Running under nasty conditions, he pulled it off in 3:59.71.

ESPN’s Jeff McGregor waxes poetic about how Lukas Verzbicas is the antidote to LeBron James.

LeBron James as we know him is the four-color quarterly report of our disappointments and therefore a very precise instrument for calibrating my own cynicism.

Turns out the antidote to all of which is Lukas Verzbicas.

It is very much worth the read.

 

If you are planning to run in this summer’s World Masters Athletics Championships, you should be aware that there will be dope testing.

While reporting on last summer’s National Masters Championships, as national and world records fell like rain, I started to wonder about the lack of doping controls.

I felt bad for the clean athletes who might be setting records. The lack of controls made me questions the results, and I know I’m not alone on this point.

Fortunately, this year’s World’s Masters Championships will have doping controls. Read the rest of this entry →

Lea Wallace earned All American in the 800

Hornets senior Lea Wallace wrapped up her collegiate running career this weekend with a 9th place finish in the 1500, and placing 6th and earning All American in the NCAA Div I Outdoor Championships 800.

In Friday evening’s 800, Wallace finished in 2:04.56 and, according to Sac State, she recorded the highest finish by a Hornet woman since Marisa Avendano placed second in the 10,000 in 1997.

Multiple, lengthy weather delays frustrated the athletes and event organizers this weekend. According to CSUS: Read the rest of this entry →

Jenny Hitchings after the 2011 Eugene Marathon

Local speedy master, and Buffalo Chips Race Team coach, Jenny Hitchings gets the Age Group Ace treatment in the June issue of Running Times magazine.

Check it out!

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Lea Wallace at the Big Sky Conference Championships

On Wednesday, we learned that Lea Wallace had won her heat in the NCAA 800 semi-finals.

Today, Wallace came in 6th place in the 2nd heat of the 1500. Fortunately, the 2nd heat was a lot faster than the 1st heat and she advanced on time.

Wallace’s 4:17.65 was the sixth fastest of the semi-finals.

Of Wallace racing in both the 800 and 1500, Hornet’s coach Scott Abbott says, “This is a very tough double and she is finding out how tough it is, but she is handling everything very well.”

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If you read this website regularly, you’ll know that while I do like to make fun of barefoot running zealots, I’m actually supportive of some amount of barefoot running.

What I’m nervous about is the lack of solid science about what it’s good for and what it’s not going to help.

Thankfully, in large part due to the enthusiasm engendered by Christopher McDougall’s Born to Run, there is a growing body of science regarding the ins and outs of barefoot versus shod running.

There is also a growing body of medical anecdotes about injury rates and barefoot running zombies who are ready to shout down any nay-sayers. (Of course, there are also anti-barefoot running zealots, too.)

The New York Times Well blog has a nice wrap-up of current science. Here’s the money quote: Read the rest of this entry →

Here’s a quiz: Why won’t we be seeing America’s fastest female student-athlete at this week’s NCAA Championships?

Is she injured? No! Thanks goodness!

Is she ineligible? Getting warmer–but probably not what you think.

It turns out that Amy Weissenbach, who ran a nation-leading 2:02:04 for the 800 meters this past weekend at the State Champs in Clovis, has another year of high school remaining.

Weissenbach, a junior at Harvard-Westlake High School in North Hollywood, broke the existing national high school record of 2:02:90 that had been set by Chanelle Price of Pennsylvania in 2008.

You shouldn’t be surprised that Weissenbach successfully defended her title from last year’s Champs and finished five-seconds ahead of 2nd place finisher Savannah Camacho.

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