Rae Clark pacing at CIM
If you are a local runner, the odds are good you’ve met Rae Clark at a race or expo. You can’t miss the mustache, and his easy-going nature seems like it would make him great company on a run. Not surprisingly, he’s been a pacer for CIM for years.
If you look at his bio, you’ll see it modestly includes these nuggets:
Marathon PR of 2:28
Masters men lead pack at Willow Hills XC (Photo by Craig Newport)
While you are no doubt aware there are thousands of dedicated road racers in the area, you may not realize there is also a smaller group of dedicated cross country runners churning up the turf at local and regional cross-country races.
For adults in Northern California, the major cross country grand prix is organized by the Pacific Association of the USA Track and Field. These are extremely competitive races–particularly in the open divisions.
In the 2011 Pacific Association’s Cross Country Grand Prix, the River City Rebels men remained a force in the region with many in the top ten.
The end of 2011 is upon us so it’s time to check out the results of the major road race series/grand prix that local runners compete in.
We’ll start with Sacramento’s own Buzz Oates RunSac Race Series. This year-long series of local races is a points competition with over $7,000 in prize money and bonuses. Points are earned based on age-graded performances in more than a dozen top Sacramento-area road races. There are awards for team and individual competition, and in 2011, there were several hundred individuals and eight local teams vying for the prize money.
The top placing individuals for 2011 were Janice Kesterson, 57, running for the Buffalo Chips, and Terry Baucom, 54, running for Fleet Feet Racing.
Second and third individual women were Karen Jeffers, 48, with the River City Rebels, and Stacey Worthen, 38, running for Fleet Feet Racing.
Your GPS isn't always right.
Your friend has just run the Shamrock’n Half Marathon and you ask her how it went. “I was a few minutes slower than I was hoping,” she says. “But the course was a little long. My Garmin shows 13.3 miles so if I take off that extra two-tenths of a mile, I’m exactly where I should be.”
This, of course, is nonsense. Every race, and every race day, has its own idiosyncrasies. While your GPS watch may be a wonderful training tool, and amazingly accurate, what it shows during a race cannot be used to check the accuracy of the course measurement.
Although it will happen occasionally that a course is measured inaccurately, or marked incorrectly on race day, most are remarkably close to their specified distance.
You’ve only got a couple days left to pick up that last gift for a running friend. Here’s a suggestion.
This Saturday, in Balboa Park in San Diego, Roseville’s Karlie Garcia earned a 5th place finish at the Footlocker National Cross Country Championships with a 17:36 finish.
Garcia, who placed 15th at the nationals in San Diego in 2009, decisively won this year’s West Regional girls championship at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut on December 3rd in 17:46.
Coming in a bit back at the Nationals, but still quite respectably, was Vista Del Lago’s Clare Carroll in 27th position, at 18:18 on the hilly 5k course.
Complete results for the girls is here. The boys results are here.
Around this time every year, folks gather in the auditorium at Placer High School in Auburn to watch names get pulled out of a Gatorade jug.
The “prize” is an entry into the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run, held on June 24-25.
Did you go? Did you get in?
Here’s the list so-far.
Hitchings nearing the finish at the Rocket City Marathon in Huntsville
This morning, Sacramento’s Jenny Hitchings won the Huntsville, Alabama Rocket City Marathon.
After a near miss earlier this year in Eugene (2:46:10), Hitchings was aiming for an Olympic Trials qualifying time at last weekend’s CIM.
Fairly early in the race, she was off pace and knew it was not going to happen, so she dropped at the half-marathon point. Later that day, she joked a bit with me about finding another marathon to run the following weekend, before the qualifying window closes.
Nice place to visit, but don't drink the water!
I have heard it said that there is no such thing as bad publicity. Is this still true?
Last weekend’s Las Vegas Zappos.com Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon is getting a lot of press and discussion on the boards this week, but it’s probably not the kind of news they were hoping for.
There were complaints of mayhem and confusion at the finish line, runners possibly getting sick from the aid station water, and my favorite, allegations of cheating in the half-marathon by the CEO of Competitor Group (the race management/promotion company).
Sounds like good times!
The place to be on the Friday afternoon before CIM is the Convention Center. There is something magical about being at the Expo when it is only filled with volunteers and vendors. It’s fun seeing the booths decorated, and bib numbers and goody bags being set out in expectation of the crush of nervous runners that will begin pouring in when the doors open.
Good luck everyone! It looks like its going to be a perfect day.
Vendors get ready for the big rush.
A hardworking Expo staffer.
