Sacramento Running News

Erin Wachter enjoying the perfect trail conditions. (Photo courtesy Erin Wachter)

What’s the recipe for course records and fast times on a long-running trail race? Perfect conditions and and a stacked field, clearly.

Sadly, I wasn’t able to be out there in person for this year’s Way Too Cool 50K, but as the results were coming in via text and Twitter, it was immediately apparent that something special and amazing had taken place.

First off, Patrick Smyth’s winning time of 3:04:48 is insane. That is a sub-6:00 pace over a hilly trail run, and a four minute improvement over Max King’s record 3:08:50 that was set in 2013.

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I know we all wish we had an underwater treadmill to use when we’re coming back from an injury, or building up to high mileage.

Buddha was a rescue cat that weighed in at 30+ pounds.

Mason Myers deserved a fist bump for his masters win in 2:41:26.

Local Men Dominate

By Mark Winitz

NAPA, Calif. — Two-time Kaiser Permanente Napa Valley Marathon winners Chris Mocko and Devon Yanko ascended the winners platform yet again at today’s 37th Annual Kaiser Permanente Napa Valley Marathon.

Mocko, age 28, of Folsom, who previously won the race in 2011 and 2012, emerged victorious in the men’s race with a time of 2 hours, 23 minutes, and 6 seconds.

Yanko (née Crosby-Helms), 32, of San Anselmo, dominated the women’s field after previously emerging victorious at the Napa Valley Marathon (NVM) in 2007 and 2012. The winners headed a sold-out field of 3,000 entrants who were greeted by blue skies, little wind, and ideal temperatures in the low-40s rising to around 60 degrees by the 6-hour finish cut-off time.

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A few weeks ago, every non-running friend and relative sent me some version of this story: Fast Running is as Deadly as Sitting on the Couch!

I was immediately suspicious since the findings of this most recent study: 1. Don’t mesh with a ton of other studies, and 2. Don’t seem to mesh with my personal observations.

They report: “A study of 1,098 runners found that those who ran the fastest were nine times more likely to die prematurely within 12 years than those who enjoyed a more sedate pace of around 5mph for two or three times a week.”

Wow! If this were reflected in the world around me, then I’d have a lot fewer people to race than I do.

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Iain Mickle named Athlete of the Year.

Iain Mickle Earns Athlete of the Year Honors

By John Schumacher

Sally Edwards, co-founder of the California International Marathon and Fleet Feet Sports, headlined a group of six inductees joining the Sacramento Running Association’s Hall of Fame Saturday night.

Edwards, talented ultramarathoner Bill Finkbeiner, legendary Jesuit High School coach Walt Lange, Jesuit distance aces Eric and Mark Mastalir and former Masters running standout Jim O’Neil were honored at the SRA’s third annual Hall of Fame and Annual Achievement Awards dinner at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Sacramento.

Standout Masters runner Iain Mickle was honored as the SRA’s Athlete of the Year.

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Lauren Wallace reacts to the win.

On Saturday, UC Davis grad and SRA Elite Lauren Wallace scored an upset win in the 1000 meter Indoor Nationals, winning in a time of 2:40.42.

Check out the video here.

It’s definitely worth the three minutes.

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