Sacramento Running News

Running may protect that knee.

If you are like me, I’m sure you’ve had more than one person–often a relative, sometimes my mother–tell you that running is going to ruin your knees.

There have been many studies over the years debunking this myth, with most showing the major risk factor for knee pain in adults is knee injury in youth.

Christie Aschwanden, at the Washington Post, writes about yet another study looking for, and failing to find, increased rates of osteoarthritis among runners.

“People think the joint is just a static, inert hinge that wears down, but it’s actually a dynamic, living thing that can respond to stress and adapt and get stronger,” he says. Rather than wear down cartilage and other joint tissue, running appears to strengthen them, Hutchinson (Sweat Science) says.

It’s definitely worth a read if for no other reason than to reassure my mother that my knees are going to be fine.

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Don’t procrastinate!

The trend for marathons these days is to fill up and fill up early.

It seems that the local, popular California International Marathon is no different.

The race filled up last year by August 22nd, and race management is reporting fewer than 1,000 of the total 8,000 entries remain available.

I guarantee you it will fill to capacity, so if you are planning to run the race–register soon.

This is a far cry from the good old days when we could sign up for the race at the expo!

If you are a faster runner (approximately able to meet Boston qualifying standards), there will be an additional window for registration between October 1st and October 15th for runners who can meet the Guaranteed Entry Standards.

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Ramona Sanchez (center, white shirt, bib 320) and others line up for the start of the 2013 SBA 5K (Photo by Steve Barbour)

On Saturday morning, nearly 400 women lined up for the start of this year’s Susan B Anthony 5K in River Park.

Now on it’s 38th year, the Susan B. Anthony 5K, hosted by the Buffalo Chips Running Club, is the region’s longest-running women’s race.

Racing in picture-perfect weather (for August), Ramona Sanchez, 36, of Sparks, Nevada, dominated the field to win with a speedy 17:23 finishing time.

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Kim Conley at the SacTown 10 (Photo by Sean Dulany/Freeplay Magazine)

By John Schumacher

Olympian Kim Conley returns to the international stage hoping for a breakthrough. Daniel Tapia eagerly awaits his first chance to wear a USA jersey.

The two Sacramento Running Association standouts head into the IAAF World Championships in Athletics beginning Saturday in Moscow, Russia ready to build on recent successes.

Conley, a former UC Davis standout, used an SRA training grant to step back from her duties as an Aggies assistant coach and focus more on her training. The result: a dramatic third-place finish in the women’s 5,000 meters at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials and a trip to the Olympic Games in London, where she recorded a then personal-best 15:14.48 to finish 12^th in her heat.

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Big news in track!

Rumors are flying about Sacramento hosting the 2014 USATF Nationals.

The Sacramento Business Journal has an article  about the possibility of a Sacramento event.

The Letsrun discussion includes a few “I spoke with a USATF official” comments confirming Sacramento as the chosen location.

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Jenny Capel

Special report by Gordon Ainsleigh

Monday, July 29, 2013

WHILE WE WERE SLEEPING… sweet Jenny Capel was running, and running, and running.

Starting at Tahoe Rim Trail Echo Summit trailhead on US 50 at first light on Saturday, she started the weekend off by getting lost for an hour or so in Desolation Valley Wilderness.

Jenny called out “Hi Gordy,” to me as she ran through Tahoe City at about 2 PM, looking like she had run about 10 miles (as I was airing up some tubes to float the Truckee River).

So all Saturday, and Saturday night, and Sunday, and Sunday night, and all of this morning, Jenny and her pacers were running, and running and running.

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Plan to age like these guys: Ronald Gross (R) and Gary Hollinger were 1st & 2nd in the M 75-79 division at the Fab 40s 5K. (SRN photo)

A recent nationwide study of seniors showed a striking disconnect between people’s expectations of health and what they are doing about it.

When asked: “How confident are you in your ability to maintain a high quality of life throughout your senior years?” Eighty-six percent of seniors (60+) nationally and 90% of seniors in Los Angeles replied “somewhat or very confident.”

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Kevin Cimini gets chased to the finish by Carol Parise. (SRN photo)

As I sat through the long awards ceremony after the Fab 40s 5K, the question that kept running through my mind was “Where are all these fast people coming from?”

For a 5K in flat-as-a-pancake Sacramento, it’s a somewhat challenging course–not just because it starts and finishes on the highest hill in Sacramento.

There are deceptive, rolling hills on that East Sac course, and yet, Saturday’s times were still quite fast.

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Alan Abbs on the Bench of Despair. (Courtesy Alan Abbs)

A couple of months ago, I was talking to Alan Abbs and he was jokingly urging me to join him for his run of the Last Annual Vol State Road Race, a race across the State of Tennessee.

Having been in Tennessee in July, I wasn’t feeling a strong urge to take him up on the suggestion, but it sounded kind of fun.

“I’m doing it unsupported,” he said. “So a lot of it is figuring out how to get all the aid you need from mini-marts.”

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Your author feeling a little worked after passing the “baton.” (Photo by Abe Underwood)

Each summer, about the time it gets really, really hot in Sacramento, I start to wonder where all these crazy bicyclists on the Parkway have come from. Then someone usually reminds me that Eppies Great Race is around the corner.

Eppies bills itself as “the worlds oldest triathlon.” I can’t tell you if this is true, but I can tell you it is easily the oldest in the area. Non-swimmers love it and traditionalists loathe it because instead of swimming, contestants must paddle a kayak (or some other boat) down the American River from Sunrise to River Bend Park (6.35 miles).

You can do the race as a relay team or “ironperson” style and competitors range from elite to “just off the sofa.” Some individuals and teams come back year after year, for decades on end.

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