The region’s biggest, and arguably the most important, sporting event is only a couple of weeks away, and good tickets are still available!
Sac State’s Hornet Stadium will be host to the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships, June 22 – 25.
The Sacramento Sports Commission has a pretty good website with event details and useful information for visitors.
Will I see you there?
This is going to take a while. (SRN photo)
The paved trail along the north-ish side of Lake Natoma (below the Orangevale Bluffs) has been closed now for the past six months, due to multiple, large debris slides during this past winter’s record rains.
If you’ve been waiting with anticipation for the day you’ll once again be able run or ride your bike through here, expect to wait another several months.
Apparently, it won’t be as simple as running a front-end loader down there and scraping up the debris.
Jane Kibii breaking the tape in here debut win in 2015. Sunday was her third consecutive win at SACTOWM (File Photo courtesy of SRA)
This past Sunday, American Aaron Braun, 29, and returning champion Jane Kibii, 32, bested a strong elite field to win the SACTOWN 10-mile race and claim the $2,000 first prizes.
The SACTOWN event, organized by the Sacramento Running Association and sponsored by credit unions from California and Nevada, raised more than $250,000 for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, which includes UC Davis Children’s Hospital.
The race, which emulates the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run held in Washington, D.C. on the same day, has raised more than $1.1 million in the last five years.
Top 50-mile finishers (L to R: Zach Bitter, Scott Trummer, Rich Hanna) (SRN photo)
When you report on the running of the American River 50-mile race, you have a couple of choices.
You can get to the start, in the darkness before the dawn, and then spend the day jumping in and out of your car, bouncing along spectating points, and watching the race develop through the day.
Or, you can sleep until sunrise wakes you up. Go for a nice long run, shower, have a leisurely breakfast as you check the race on the live feed, and finally wander to the finish in time to catch the hopefully exciting finish.
This year, I chose the latter, arriving at the Auburn Overlook shortly before noon. I laced up my trail shoes, threw on a pack with camera and notebook and jogged down the road to look for the leaders.
By Ellen Moore, SRA
For the elite American runners in this year’s California International Marathon field, there is an added incentive to run fast – a $5,000 incentive to be exact.
The Sacramento Running Association, organizers of the California International Marathon, added an American Performance List bonus to its $50,000 prize purse for the 34th annual CIM on Dec. 4 and the result has been early commitments from many top U.S. runners.
Standout Stephanie Rothstein Bruce and 2012 CIM winner Daniel Tapia were among the first elite athletes to enter the race and headline the deep American fields.
“I chose CIM because the course, the weather in Sacramento in December and the passion of the city can’t be beat,” said Bruce. “The bonus structure that CIM implemented is a great step forward in encouraging Americans to elevate their performance in the marathon and strive for fast times.”
Earlier today, I found myself in the midst of a mild Facebook debate regarding whether known dopers should be considered for the Baseball Hall of Fame.
“Nothin’ you can do about it. Dopers always one step ahead of detection,” I was told.
I am not willing to go along with that line of reasoning, because it pretty much means the end of competitive sports.
Also, the history of state-sponsored doping programs shows that turning a blind eye toward chemical cheating leads to a growing pool of victims: the clean athletes who can’t compete with the doped ones, and the children run through dope-fueled, government-operated sports programs.
Gary Blanco (left) and Chris Knorzer, racing in the Rebels’ special holiday singlets, battle it out for ROUS points at Thursday’s Run to Feed the Hungry 5K. (Photo courtesy of Randy Wehner Photography)
Nicholas Spector, 24, of Sonoma, and Lindsay Tollefson, 31, of Mammoth Lakes, were the big winners in the Run to Feed the Hungry 10K, on Thursday.
The annual race, benefiting the Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services, has grown to be one of the largest road-races in the country and typically features some of the region’s fastest running times of the year.
Charlie Brenneman (left) and the author show off their Urban Cow trophies. (SRN photo)
If races have seasons, then we’re definitely in the middle of road half marathon season. October has already seen the Urban Cow, Humboldt Redwoods (part of the PAUSATF Road Grand Prix), and Folsom Blues Breakout.
Next weekend, you have a choice between the Clarksburg Country Run, or the new Run the Parkway Half, hosted by the Sacramento Running Association.
It’s hard to imagine that SRA isn’t directly targeting the Clarksburg events since they are offering similar 20 mile and 5 km distances alongside a more competitive half marathon.
Matt Porter, in white, sits in 3rd at 16 miles. (SRN photo)
Matt Porter, of Fresno, overcame the early leaders to win the innagural Pony Express Marathon in a time of 3:06:43.
Sophia Chen, of Pacifica, was the women’s winner, with a finish time of 3:18:12.
In the half marathon, Carmichael’s Angela Escay was the overall winner in 1:24:36. The second woman, Erynne Jones was also second overall, in 1:26:43.
Second place woman Sara Hall and Charlie Brenneman are nearly to the finish of the Sactown 10. (SRN photo)
By Ellen Moore
After setting event records for money raised and runners registered for Sunday’s Credit Union SACTOWN Run, past champions Jordan Chipangama and Jane Kibii kept the momentum going by besting strong elite fields to win 10-mile individual titles and claim the $2,000 first prizes.
As an added bonus, Kibii, a 31-year old Kenya native who has lived in Auburn, set the women’s course record by nearly a minute to take home an additional $500 course record reward.
The SACTOWN event, organized by the Sacramento Running Association and sponsored by credit unions from California and Nevada, raised more than $200,000 for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, which includes UC Davis Children’s Hospital.
