Sacramento Running News

Tesfaye Alemayehu on his way to victory in 47:34. (SRN photo.)

There was a time in the not too distant past, where 60-minutes for a ten mile run was the demarcation line between serious and non-serious runners.  The local Buffalo Stampede 10 mile race would produce a bushel of sub-60 minute finishes, and the Stockton’s California 10 wouldn’t even give you a shirt unless you broke 60-minutes.

While local races still usually deliver a few speedy times, the crowd is pretty thin when you get under six minutes per mile.

As I’ve written before, a little prize money goes a long way. Now, with this year’s $15,000 prize purse and PAUSATF grand prix status, the Sactown 10 delivers as a serious, competitive race.

Today’s winning times of 47:34 for Tesfaye Alemayehu, and 56:53 for Jane Kibii are impressive in themselves, but what’s worth noting is the depth of the men’s and women’s field.

This year’s SacTown 10 saw 85 runners under that magic 60-minute mark, including seven women. Even more impressively, there were seven men finishing under 50-minutes–that’s ten miles at a sub-five minute per mile pace!

On the men’s side, Tesfaye Alemayehu, an Ethiopian currently living in Antioch, led from the wire to win in 47:34. He was followed in by Carlos Trujillo of Middleton, Idaho, who was second with a 48:04.

Palmdale’s Sergio Reyes was third in 48:25.

In the women’s race, Jane Kibii, a Kenyan living and training in Auburn, broke away from Mill Valley’s YiOu Wang after running together for the

Nicole Camp (in black) and Lindsay Nelson (in pink) battle for 3rd with 400 meters to go. (SRN photo)

first seven miles, and took the win with a 56:53 finish. Wang came in second in 57:27.

Nicole Camp of Willowick, Ohio, out-kicked Roseville’s Lindsay Nelson in the home stretch to finish third in 58:31. Nelson finished two seconds back in 58:33.

Lindsay Nelson was the top local female and the top local male was Folsom’s Kevin Pool, who brought it home in 50:20.

The top masters finishers were Lisbet Sunshine, 48, of Larkspur in 59:44, and Jamey Harris, 40, of Aptos, in 53:45.

Complete results can be found here.

This year’s race drew over 1,000 runners and raised approximately $140,000 for the Children’s Miracle Network through donations from credit unions in the western U.S. and through a runner’s pledge program.