Sacramento Running News

The dust has settled and USATF has reinstated Gabrielle Grunewald as the indoor 3000 meters National Champion.

In my admittedly inexpert opinion, based on repeated viewing of the available video, Grunewald didn’t deserve a DQ. Track–particularly indoor track–is a physical sport. Elbows are thrown and minor jostling is commonplace.

Truthfully, I can’t really fault Salazar for protesting or even appealing the initial dismissal of his protest. It’s pretty normal for a coach to advocate on behalf of his athlete, even to the point of obnoxiousness. What was disturbing to me (and many other observers) was that there seemed to be an extra-legal process that led to the disqualification, and that Salazar got deferential treatment.

If Grunewald had simply been DQed, there would have been complaints. There would have been accusations of favoritism, but if it appeared the rules had been followed the disturbance would have passed. But instead, the protests grew in volume. “USATF corruption” was a trending hashtag on Twitter.

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Hanna (left) and Pommier lead the pack. (Photo by Joe McCladdie)

There is a certain appeal that has kept one of the regions oldest ultras going year after year. While some races tout scenic or difficult routes, the Jed Smith Ultra Classic, hosted by the Buffalo Chips, is where ultrarunners go to be fast.

The race features two ultra distance races–50 mile and 50 km–as well as a 30 km and new 13.1 mile “fun run.” All of these are run on a 4.9 mile loop course along the American River, between Watt Avenue and the Guy West Bridge at CSUS.

This year, despite being early February, the weather was more like fine spring day, which made for pleasant running, spectating, and volunteering.

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If you can think of any ultrarunners who have enjoyed the level of domination that Ann Trason experienced at her prime, please share because I cannot think of any.

She won the Western States 100 an astonishing fourteen times.

She won the Comrades Marathon (South Africa) and turned around and won Western States a couple weeks later–twice (96 and 97)

While many lesser runners have gone on to make money with endorsements and public speaking events, Trason has largely avoided the public eye. For this reason, this interview of Trason on Ultrarunner Podcast is a real treat.

If you want more, check out Meghan Hicks’ article and interview about Trason at iRunFar.

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