Sacramento Running News

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: (more…)

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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What can Plato do for American running?

There was much hope and expectation riding on Dathan Ritzenhein‘s run at the New York Marathon this past weekend.

While Ritz ran faster than anyone I know personally, after his American Record 5K last summer the expectation was something closer to the win, maybe something under 2:10.

Immediately after the race, armchair critics, of course, piled-on and ridiculed Ritz, Salazar, Nike, and anyone who was a) associated with the Nike Oregon Project, and b) not themselves.

Much of the hype was built around Nike’s investment in Ritz’s training and the famed Alberto Salazar’s remaking of Ritz’s running form. The New Yorker has a marathon-length article on Salazar, running form, and Ritz.

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A couple of hapless victims.

In case you’ve been sorta thinkin’ about running that crazy 100 mile race from Squaw Valley to Auburn, California, the day to actually “step up” and enter the lottery is upon you.

Is this the year you put your life on hold, alienate your family and your normal friends, tempt injury and snake bites, and spend all your weekends grubbing along the trails around Foresthill? Of course it is.

Sign-up here and wait anxiously until the names pop out of the computer on December 4th.

The “Lake Loop” will be considerably longer than 11-miles if you run it this weekend, as the Hazel Bridge will be closed.

You should still be able to cross Hazel on the South side of the river. Check here (PDF) for more information and plan accordingly!

Several years ago, I ran in the Heritage Oaks Bank Paso Robles 10Km, which was at the time the US masters’ national championship. I was struggling after a season of trail ultras and barely kept it under 40-minutes.

In that same race, Eddy Hellebuyck was having the race of his life (as a masters runner) and set a new American Masters record for the road 10Km. Finishing in an astounding 29:05, Hellebuyck was so far ahead of the 2nd place runner, they had a separate lead motorcycle for him.

A short while later, I was not surprised to hear that Hellebuyck had failed a doping test for EPO. Disappointed, but not surprised.

The December Runners World has an excellent article by John Brant wherein Hellebuyck finally comes clean about the doping allegations and gives some insight into why he did it.

The story left me with an uneasy mix of feelings about this runner. He cheated and stole other runners’ prize money. He’s also coming clean without being compelled to do so. If confession truly is good for the soul, there are many other prominent athletes out there who would do well to follow his example.

A year ago, Pat Sweeney, the owner of Fleet Feet on J  Street, had his very expensive bike stolen out of his SUV right before he was headed to Hawaii to compete in the Ironman.

Believe it or not, you may again see Pat tooling around in his Orbea tri-bike thanks to alert Sacramento County Sheriff’s detectives.

I’ve learned a few things from the Bee’s article about the recovery of Pat’s bike:

1. If you buy a $9,000 bike, write down the serial number. You’ll be wanting that when the bike gets stolen.
2. If you steal a bike, don’t steal a $9,000 (or$15,000) bike. People will notice you if you don’t look like the kind of person that should be riding a $9,000 bike, and yet, are. And finally,
3. Cops use Google, too!

Sheriff deputies have been busy and caught the suspect in a recent string of auto burglaries along the parkway.

Numerous vehicle burglaries recently occurred at William B. Pond in the Arden /Carmichael area. Sheriff Detectives tracked and located and arrested a suspect in a local hotel. Detectives have identified the suspect as being responsible for more than 50 vehicle burglaries. The suspect has a long history of theft and narcotic usage. Detectives have recovered a lot of stolen property including purses, guns, credit cards, driver’s licenses and checks.  Detectives will be working with victims early this week.

A good reminder: Deputies were able to connect the numerous thefts and establish a pattern aiding in the capture of the suspect because the victims reported the crimes. Even if you doubt you’ll ever recover anything you’ve lost, it is a good idea to report the theft.

And don’t leave your wallet or purse in your car!

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