Sacramento Running News

Dan Weintraub chases Marie Sample to the finish line.

It’s been a week since the marathon and it seems like a good time to  finally wrap up the news on the event. Hopefully it was worth the wait as we’ve got a bucket-full of fun facts for you!

The weather was close to perfect for this time of year. Although the streets were wet from the previous night’s deluge, the rain quit before the start and waited to resume until later in the afternoon.

Dylan Wykes, a Canadian, led wire-to-wire for the win in 2:12:39. Ethiopian Buzunesh Deba, the defending women’s champion, was first woman in 2:32:13.  Read what the Bee’s John Schumacher has to say about it.

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The Western States Endurance Run lottery was held today and some 200 “lucky” runners now have plans for the next seven months.

I see some familiar names on the list. Is yours one of them? Full lottery results are here.

Hopefully it won't be too rainy for us!

Looks like it might rain.

The Sacramento Bee promises “start to finish” coverage of the event. Evidently, they are tired of getting scooped by the Sacramento Running News.

This year, the California International Marathon is offering “Live Results” and athlete tracking. If you are spectating or supporting  a loved one, you can use this feature to minimize the amount of time you’ll be spending in the rain.

The CIM has posted the list of runners, relay teams and race numbers here. If you are spectating, be sure print out the list so you can shout out the names of random runners as they come up the street. It confuses them. This is good. It can take their minds off the pain and get them wondering about something other than “What was I thinking?”

Also, be sure to check out CIM’s spectator information.

Whether you are running or not, be sure to check out the CIM Expo. They usually have some deals and fun merchandise to check out. As an added bonus, you can meet me at the Buffalo Chips booth this afternoon, where I’ll be weighing in the Clydesdale and Athena runners.

Good luck if you are running tomorrow! I look forward to seeing all of you on the starting line.

If you’ve been reading race reports here you’ve noticed I am constantly amazed by the racing dominance of a handful of local masters women.

Sam McManis profiles these local speedsters in today’s Sacramento Bee. The article is titled: 40-It’s the new fast. Be sure to check it out! Try not to be intimidated.

I have been known to gently tease the fans of barefoot running, and wearers of minimalist shoes. However, I’m not against running barefoot, but in fact believe it can be a helpful training tool.

As part of my training for CIM, I ran a mile or so barefoot on grass a couple of evenings a week. I gave it up when the days got shorter and it was too dark after work to spot the dog-doo.

A non-running friend of mine told me about a coworker sharing his devotion to barefoot running, saying that we’d evolved to run barefoot. My friend wondered if maybe we had evolved to invent shoes.

Let’s just say I’m a bit skeptical about the hype. Barefoot running zealots claim that running barefoot will cure almost any running related ailment. If you are injured while running barefoot, they say, it is because you are doing it wrong.

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Yesterday, I stumbled on this rather startling interview of Marion Jones on the Daily Show.

You may remember Marion Jones from the 2000 Olympics, where she was an unstoppable and glamorous force for the US team, winning the hearts of Americans and five medals.

That summer, there was a whiff of scandal as we learned her shot-putter husband, C.J. Hunter, had tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. (In his case, I think “doped to the gills” was the actual, scientific term used.)

By 2004, when Jones came to Sacramento for the Olympic trials, rumors related to the BALCO doping scandal were swirling and she was a pale imitation of  the runner we’d seen in Sydney.

While it seemed everyone around her was tainted, it wouldn’t be until 2006 that Jones failed a doping test (for EPO). However, the “B” sample tested negative and Jones went back to competition.

During the federal investigation of BALCO, Jones was finally boxed into a corner and she admitted to perjuring herself, and to using steroids during training for the 2000 Olympics.

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Under rainy and slippery conditions, Leor Pantilat of San Carlos earned the win with a 3:54:29 this week at the 28th running of the Quad Dipsea. Leor joins Erik Skaggs and Carl Anderson in a very small club of runners who have ever broken four hours on this course.

ALSO women’s winner Caren Spore, of Davis, makes history by setting a new course record of 4:38:33!

The Quad Dipsea is a Northern California self-abuse tradition, based on the “more is better” philosophy of ultrarunning and  takes existing, difficult trail runs–Dipsea and Double Dipsea–and makes them longer.

The official course description reads: Read the rest of this entry →

Kevin Pool wins at Run to Feed the Hungry (Photo by Hector Amezcua, Sacramento Bee)

On an icy Thanksgiving morning, thousands of runners who were not me lined up on J Street for Sacramento’s annual Run to Feed the Hungry.

While there is no longer big prize money drawing runners from across the country and around the world (especially Africa), there were some impressive times and this race easily remains Sacramento’s premier 10 Km road race. (In 2008, there were four finishers under 30-minutes.)

Kevin Pool, of Folsom, took the overall win with a spectacular 31:15. Brad Poore of Auburn and Alan Jackson of Sacramento finished 2nd and 3rd in 31:22 and 31:26.

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As with last month’s PAUSATF Grand Prix half-marathon in Humboldt, locals dominated at Clarskburg in both individual and team results.

This year, the traditional 30Km PAUSATF race was dispensed with, but there were still a boatload of overlapping races associated with this event. There was a 20-miler, a half marathon, a 5 Km, and a kids half-mile. With the half-marathon being the PA (i.e., faster) event and starting just 20 minutes after the 20 miler, half-marathon runners enjoyed the special thrill of weaving through the endless, and often clueless, ranks of slower 20-mile runners.

I was pleased to see locals–Kevin Pool of Folsom and Lindsay Nelson of Roseville–get the win in this PA race–both with solid times. Pool’s 1:07:56 would, in a typical local race, give him a commanding lead. Here, however, runner up Sergio Reyes was only seconds back in just over 1:08. In fact, there were eight men under 1:10!

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One of many exciting starts

Folsom High School’s Willow Hills cross country course saw some heavy action at this weekend’s sectional championships.

There was laughter, there were tears. There were thrills and spills. There were zillions of volunteers.

Under perfect running conditions, Granite Bay Girls and Davis Senior Boys took the Division I titles.

It should be noted that Granite Bay has the seed of a dynasty in that their freshman Clare Carroll posted the fastest girl’s time of the day in 17:55.

Results and more on ESPNRISE.

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