Sacramento Running News

Iain Mickle (#241) leads the Masters Men’s race. (Photo courtesy of Sean Dulany/Freeplay Magazine)

In Saturday’s first Pacific Association race–the women’s 5K–Lindsay Tollefson made it three years in a row with her win at Rebel’s XC Challenge, at Granite Park.

Tollefson, 28, of Roseville, took first with a 17:34 over Tanya Ferreira, 24, of Watsonville, who finished second in 17:58.

The third woman finisher was Madeline Kramer, 26, of Oakland, who brought it home in 18:00.

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I’ve added dozens of races to the fall calendar over the past few days. Be sure to check them out!

All you Race Directors need to get your 2014 dates up so I can start including those, too.

Eye in the sky. (Photo by Dkroetsch)

There may be a drone at your next race.

Runners World has the scoop.  As an occasional race director, I love the idea of using this to catch people cutting the course. No word yet whether they’ll be equipped to drop you a bottle of water or gel.

(Thanks to Tim T. for the tip!)

The email came out of the blue: “Running shoes aren’t the only thing necessary for running,” it read. “It’s important for runners to also protect their eyes with quality, high-performance, activity-specific sunglasses. Avid runners need quality gear.”

We get this kind of email from time to time, and generally ignore them. But this time, the email came from Oakley.

I have to admit I was an easy mark, as I’ve been a big fan of Oakley sunglasses for many years and already own three different pairs. I’ve long used them because the optics are fantastically sharp and the frames fit my face. They also don’t slide down my nose when I run.

My old friend Richie played an important part in my enthusiasm for eye protection and quality lenses. It started in the summer of 1974 when Richie got a Wrist Rocket slingshot for his birthday. When we weren’t busy terrorizing (but never successfully hitting) squirrels throughout the neighborhood, we were busy using it to break things.

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You may still have a chance to get in!

By John Schumacher

The California International Marathon reached its 8,000-runner cap more than three months before the race and has closed general registration.

The race, founded by the Sacramento Running Association, has filled in each of the last five years. This year’s event, set for December 8th, hit its registration limit over the weekend.

But runners still have two ways to gain a spot in the field.

There are 300 charity entries available at $250 each, with 100 percent of the money going to the SRA’s youth fitness programs. Part of the entry fee ($120) is tax deductible.

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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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