Sacramento Running News

Dakota Jones and Joelle Vaught set new course records on a muddy Lake Sonoma 50 Mile, yesterday.

Dakota Jones, of Durango, Colorado, ran 6:17:27, beating Hal Korner’s course record of 7:08:20 that was set in 2010. In fact, the field was stacked with so many ultra-talented ultrarunners, the top seven men, including the 4th place Hal Korner, were under the old course record.

On the women’s side, Joelle Vaught, of Boise, Idaho, set a new course record of 7:52:44, knocking more than 30 minutes off the 8:26:53 set by Devon Crosby-Helms in 2010. As with the men, the top women in this field were throwing down and six of them went under the old course record!

Tyler Stewart, of Novato, was the second woman with 7:56:30. You might remember that Stewart was the women’s winner in her ultrarunning debut at last month’s Way Too Cool 50K.

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Ellie Greenwood is all smiles after 40 miles. (SRN photo)

This past Saturday, under ideal conditions, some of the best runners in the world gathered in Sacramento for one of North America’s largest ultras.

This was the first time in several years that the American River 50 Mile Endurance Run was not part of the Montrail Cup. As a result, the depth of talent at the front of the race was not quite as robust as we’ve come to expect and yet there were still some extraordinary times.

Although the race was won by New Zelander Vajin Armstrong in a respectable time of 5:53:32, the star of the show was the Scottish/Canadian Ellie Greenwood.

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Yesterday, I made a brief mention of the passing of ultrarunning ambassador Micah True (AKA Caballo Blanco). I felt like there really needed to be more said about this famous but not fame-seeking runner.

Brian Metzler wrote a great tribute for True that is now up on Runners World online.

“Many people have been saying that ultrarunner Micah True died doing what he loved to do most. That’s correct, but in reality, he lived most of his life doing what he enjoyed most and on his own terms, not just the final moment.”

It’s definitely worth a read.

Try to remember what is important.

Like many of you, I heard about Micah True going missing via Facebook and I prepared myself for the worst.

It looks like the worst has come to pass as his body was found Saturday evening in New Mexico’s Gila National Forest. No news yet as to the cause.

The ultrarunner Micah True was also known as Caballo Blanco and was introduced to the world in Chris McDougall’s bestselling book, Born To Run.

The lead pack after 8-miles: Gary Gellin, Rich Hanna, Shaun Martin and Sam Robinson

This past weekend featured two of the regions most popular races.

On Saturday, over 700 ultrarunners, including some of the top names in the sport, lined up near the Cool Firehouse for a go at the remarkably dry Way Too Cool 50K.

This was the second running on a new and designed to be faster course. For last year’s debut of the new course, mud was the theme of the day and thigh-deep stream crossings kept a lid on the pace.

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The Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run lottery is now open until midnight November 26th.

Cross your fingers and click here. You know you want to!

The actual lottery drawing takes place  9:00 AM on December 10th, at Placer High School in Auburn.

Things have changed for women runners!

There are a couple of recent articles about women runners of note that are delightful in their juxtaposition, in what they say about women’s running.

First off was a New York Times article about women’s running pioneer Dr. Julia Chase-Brand.

On Thanksgiving Day, Dr. Julia Chase-Brand, 69, plans to run a 4.75-mile race in Manchester, Conn., where the presence of women will be plentiful and unremarkable. Fifty years ago, when she and two other women ran there the first time, it was a widely publicized act of civil disobedience that became a pioneering moment in female distance running in the United States.

Not only was she pushing against the AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) prohibitions against women competing in road races, she was fast. Starting a block behind the rest of the runners (to avoid race officials), she still managed a 33:40 for that run.

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Jen Pfeifer on her way to the win at the Half Moon Bay Marathon (Photos by Cary Craig)

A couple months ago, I was running with Jen Pfeifer, who told me that they were putting a marathon together that would run through the neighborhood she grew up in.

It was to be the Half Moon Bay International Marathon, and she was really looking forward to running it.

This past Sunday, the race was on and Pfeifer ran it in grand style–winning the women’s race and finishing 6th overall in 3:05:57.

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Lukas Temer nabs the win in his first 100 mile race. (Photo by Agnès Pommier)

Every summer, a million words are spilled in honor of the big, local hundred mile race: The Western States 100. Under the shadow of so much reporting, it would be easy to miss the region’s other, smaller, long-standing hundred mile race: The Rio Del Lago 100.

This race had been Norm Klein’s baby for many years, and last year he passed the baton to new Race Director Molly Sheridan.

This year, Sheridan reconfigured the course significantly—eliminating the loop around Lake Natoma, and replacing the lost mileage with a repeat out and back from Twin Rocks to Cardiac. “This part of the course is so cool that we wanted you to experience it again!” says the race website.

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Jesse Barragan took 3rd in the 50K despite a bad stumble that had him walking the last mile or so. (Photo courtesy of Scott Sandow)

Sunday’s Run on the Sly trail races continue a long tradition of August trail racing along Jenkinson Lake in El Dorado County. This year, more than 600 runners completed the various races.

In the 50K, Palo Alto’s Cameron Berg ran away with the overall win in a smoking 3:57 on that hilly course.

The next three in were locals. These were Lincoln’s Michael Fink, finishing in 4:17 (only a couple minutes off his age group course record), Folsom’s Jesse Barragan, with 4:30, and the women’s winner Jen Pfeifer, of El Dorado,  in 4:33.

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