Sacramento Running News

Running around Lake Natoma is going to be tricky for a couple of weeks while the county installs retaining walls along the north side of the lake.

Managers at Folsom Lake State Recreation Area announced that the paved bike path along the north side of Lake Natoma will be temporarily closed due to construction activities along the trail from January 24-27 and January 31-February 3, 2011. The trail closure will be in effect on those days from 7:00 AM until 4:30 PM. The specific section of the trail to be closed is the portion of the trail along the Orangevale Bluffs, from the intersection of the Main Avenue access spur to Negro Bar.

It appears that the trail will be open during the weekend. Here is a map of the closures.

You can still run between Hazel Avenue and Beals Point by using the south side trail and crossing the  Historic Truss Bridge in Historic Folsom.

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After years of solid performances in shorter, regional races, local speedster Iain Mickle knocked out a really fast marathon at Rock and Roll Arizona last weekend.

Mickle’s 2:38:54 was good enough for 19th overall, first in his age group, and a life-time personal best. He just turned 50. The Bee’s Bob Shalit gives him a shout-out in the business section.

For weeks now, my copy of California Track & Running News has been languishing in the bottom of the old Gatorade bucket where all the bills go after the postman shoves them through the mail slot of the Sacramento Running News world headquarters. When I finally dug through the layer of Final Notices to retrieve it, I was delighted to see Joey Bonfiglio’s photo gracing the front cover and again on page 16.

Bonfiglio is not so local now that she is living and tearing up the roads around San Diego, but for a while there she was abusing the Sacramento running scene and even kicking me down in the last 400 meters of the 2008 Buffalo Stampede. (Not that I’m bitter or anything.)

Apparently, she is running the XC circuit for Team BSK/Running Center–whatever that is–and won the City College 10K, took 3rd at the Bonita Stampede 8K, and won the Cougar Challenge 5K.  Nice!

While I don’t think that LaLanne was really a runner, he certainly was ahead of his time with regard to promoting the value of a healthful diet and exercise.

Rather linking to a news article about his passing, I thought I’d share a couple of clips from his show. Here he is, sometime in the late 50s or 60s, ranting about diet and exercise as the fountain of youth and happiness.

As previously noted here, there may not be very much in the way of actual scientific evidence to support the technology of high-tech running shoes.

Now, similar questions are being asked about orthotics regarding both their value and the science behind how they are designed.

In other words, if a given runner were to go to several different practitioners and have a custom made orthotic built to correct their particular mechanical “issues,” will the practitioners build similar orthotics? (Spoiler: Probably not.)

Their may be some science to back up the use of orthotics to treat certain transient injuries, but not so much for your personal, fundamental, biomechanical oddities.

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Glassy water on Lake Natoma

For all my rowing friends!

The Pacific Association of the USA Track and Field has posted a reminder of the new requirement for teams competing in their Grand Prix events.

As of March 1, 2011 PA/USATF clubs are required to have a minimum number of certified USATF officials (with an LDR/XC specialty) on their club roster to score team points on the PA Road and Cross Country Grand Prix circuits.

This only applies to teams with 25 or more athletes competing, which is pretty much all the big local clubs.

Clubs fielding 25 to 49 runners need one official. Clubs fielding 50 to 99 need two, and 100 or more need three. Details of the requirement are posted here (PDF).

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John is sad because he waited too long to register for AR50.

If, like me, you’ve been pondering whether or not to sign up for the American River 50, well then you may want to make other plans.

It’s just a few days into the new year and already the race is filled to capacity.

There is a handy wait list you can get on–where I now sit at #7, only two back from Anton Krupicka.

Rock pile on the AR50 trail

Most of us spend so much time on the river below Folsom that it is easy to forget there is a beautiful world just upstream from the Folsom Dam.

This photo was taken this afternoon, just a couple of miles from the end of the paved bike path at Beals Point. You should check it out some time.

Don't call me a jogger!

On only his second day as “California Governor 2.0,” Jerry Brown does what many of you do: he went for a run. The Bee has the photos to prove it.

The writer (Hector Amezcua, I believe) does seem geographically challenged, since this appears to be near Old Sacramento along the Sacramento River but the photo caption says:

Gov. Jerry Brown jogs along the American River bike trail near the I Street Bridge

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