Sacramento Running News

Kim Conley at the SacTown 10 (Photo by Sean Dulany/Freeplay Magazine)

By John Schumacher

Olympian Kim Conley, a former UC Davis standout who competes for the Sacramento Running Association’s Elite Team, finished fourth Sunday in the women’s 5,000 meters at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Des Moines.

Conley’s 15 minute, 37.80-second effort left her just behind winner Jenny Simpson (15:33.77), runner-up Molly Huddle (15:35.45) and third-place finisher Shannon Rowbury (15:37.27). Former Davis High School standout Chelsea Reilly finished fifth in 15:38.50.

A top-three finish would have earned Conley an automatic berth in the World Championships on Aug. 10-18 in Moscow. But Conley, who owns a 15:09.57 best, would still make the World team if Simpson sticks to her plan of skipping the 5,000 and defending her world title in the 1,500.

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Be careful out there!

This morning’s Sacramento Bee once again takes up the issue of conflicts on the Parkway, noting that increased use leads to increased conflict.

There is more information here about the County’s plans for restoring order, and I’m struggling to argue with any of it.

This does seem rather basic. Basic physics, perhaps? (more…)

This is worth protecting. (SRN photo)

If you read the Sacramento Bee, you’ve probably noticed the spate of articles on the Sacramento County Park Rangers’ plans to crack down on speeding cyclists.

There was the original article, which has over 470 comments, (450 of them by idiots), which I responded to here, and the Bee’s follow-up Can’t We All Just Get Along? editorial  from yesterday—plus many, many letters to the editor.

The comments and letters have centered on the visceral “cyclists are jerks vs. runners are idiots” and vice versa.

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Be careful out there!

In 2010, a man trying to achieve King of the Mountain (or KOM) status on Strava, died in a bike crash while racing down a steep descent in Berkeley’s Tilden Park.

The family of cyclist William “Kim” Flint II sued Strava for encouraging his dangerous riding.

On June 3, San Francisco Superior Court judge Marla Miller granted a motion for summary judgment, stating that Mr. Flint had “assumed the risks of bicycling.”

According to a press release by Strava: (more…)

Huh?

A Duluth woman gave birth while training for Grandma’s Marathon.

She claims to not have known she was pregnant.

Really?

“It was like a dream,” the new father said of the odyssey he and his wife have experienced in the past two days. “I wanted to make sure it was real.”

Read the “complete story” in the Duluth News Tribune!

Watch out for rangers with radar!

Today’s Bee includes an article about how Sacramento County Parks Rangers are saying they are going to start cracking down on cyclists who break the posted 15 mph speed limit on the American River Parkway.

I was asked to provide comments for the story and I prefaced them with my usual “There is room for everyone,” which naturally didn’t make the story.

There is room for everyone. We all just need to behave ourselves. All of us.

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Sure they’re purty, but are they running down the planet? (SRN photo)

Last week, there was a flurry of stories on the environmental impact of a pair or running shoes.

The UK Guardian’s headline of Running shoes leave large carbon footprint, study shows, was pretty typical.

The MIT study found that the manufacture of a pair of Asics Gel Kayanos produces 30 pounds of CO2 emissions.

The study also found that most of these emissions came from the manufacturing process rather than the sourcing of the materials. Since billions of running shoes are sold each year, there is certainly reason and room to improve.

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On Sunday, Folsom’s Allison Maxson, 27, ran away from the field at the Kaiser Permanente Women’s Fitness Festival 5K, winning in a solid 17:19.

Her nearest competitor was Folsom’s Erin Wachter, 26, who came in second with a 18:03.

Rounding out the top three was Juliet Wahleithner, 35, of West Sacramento, who finished in 18:32.

The mother-daughter team of Stacey and Chase Worthen won the mother-daughter team competition with times of 19:14 and 21:47, respectively.

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On Saturday, Cordova High School senior Nia Dorner won the 400 meter dash in 53.0 seconds at the CIF State Track and Field Championships to become the first ever girls sprint champion in Sacramento-area, and Sac-Joaquin Section history.

Her 53.0 time was a new personal best and is currently the second fastest national time.

The current national leader in the high school 400 is Ana Holland of Regis in Aurora, Colorado, with a 52.49.

Nice!

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