Sacramento Running News

The start of the men's race at last year's Willow Hills XC race

If you have fond memories of the cross country races  you ran back in high school, and are maybe getting a little tired of pounding out 5Km races on city streets, you might be happy to learn that the Sacramento area will be hosting two (Two!) adult cross country races this fall.

The first is the Buffalo Chips hosted Willow Hills Cross Country Open, which will be held next weekend (October 9th) at Folsom High School.

The second, hosted by Golden West is the Ancil Hoffman Challenge, which will be held at Ancil Hoffman Park (naturally) on November 6th.

Making this even better, both of these races are part of the Pacific Association USA Track and Field‘s Cross Country Grand Prix.

For years, if you wanted to run any of these prestigious grand prix races, you had to drive all the way to the Bay Area. Last year, the Chips added in Willow Hills and the race was a tremendous success and there were huge showings by local teams. Based on the success of that event, Golden West stepped up to host the Ancil Hoffman Challenge, and, rumor has it, the Chips tried unsuccessfully to bring the championships race here as well. Alas, the championships will once again be held in Golden Gate Park (Yeah! Polo fields!).

Even if you’ve never run cross country before or you haven’t run cross country since white tube-socks were the norm, you’re bound to enjoy these races. They’re broken up into three events: women, open men, and masters men so that you’ll be running against your peers and you’ll have the opportunity to spectate as well as race.

They also hearken back to the simple races of yore (Remember the tube socks?) when frills were minimal, timing was done by hand, and entry fees were low. Be sure to check them out!

A complete PAUSATF cross country grand prix schedule can be found here.