Sacramento Running News

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.

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Be careful out there!

This morning’s Sacramento Bee once again takes up the issue of conflicts on the Parkway, noting that increased use leads to increased conflict.

There is more information here about the County’s plans for restoring order, and I’m struggling to argue with any of it.

This does seem rather basic. Basic physics, perhaps? (more…)

This is worth protecting. (SRN photo)

If you read the Sacramento Bee, you’ve probably noticed the spate of articles on the Sacramento County Park Rangers’ plans to crack down on speeding cyclists.

There was the original article, which has over 470 comments, (450 of them by idiots), which I responded to here, and the Bee’s follow-up Can’t We All Just Get Along? editorial  from yesterday—plus many, many letters to the editor.

The comments and letters have centered on the visceral “cyclists are jerks vs. runners are idiots” and vice versa.

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Does a 200,000 square foot office building belong here?

The Bee weighed in today on the proposal to build a gigantic office building adjacent to the Nimbus Fish Hatchery.

They point out that the other sites being considered are superior in every way (cheaper, safer, consistent with existing land use, etc.).

These sites include an existing building at Mather Field (the building would need to be expanded and improved), as well as a property at Kilgore Road and Sunrise Boulevard.

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At the beginning of this past Saturday morning’s long run along the Parkway, I was greeted by a low smoke sitting along the river and a couple of trucks worth of fire fighters cleaning up a small grass fire just upstream from River Bend Park.

I didn’t realize that it was only one fire of many (nine reportedly) being set along the river that day.

According to the Bee, authorities are looking for an adult, white male with short hair, wearing gray pants and shirt, “riding a 10-speed-type bicycle.”

Looks like the firebug was out there again yesterday. Read about it in today’s Bee.

Keep your eyes open!

Every year, around late June, I begin noticing a special kind of cyclist on the American River Parkway. Their typical equipment is spotlessly new or, as often, coated with a year’s worth of garage dust.

These riders are strangely intense–hitting curves at speeds testing their abilities, their faces in full grimace. Runners, leisurely cyclists, and elderly bird watchers are often shouted off the pavement as these frenzied cyclists whoosh past.

Usually, after several encounters with these strangely intense riders, I slap my head in remembrance. Eppies! Of course.

And probably adding to their intensity is each day’s installment of Le Tour, waiting at home on the DVR.

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Something we all enjoy.

Like mushrooms after a summer rain, signs are popping up on the Parkway announcing upcoming closures and detours.

The first one is actually on the Sacramento River, just up-stream of Old Sacramento and the I Street Bridge.

There is a bit of erosion encroaching on the trail and an unguarded drop off along the river side. This is posted to be closed starting on July 13 and be re-opened on July 17th. We’ll try to keep you posted.

The detour for this part of the trail is (from Downtown) to head up I Street as though you are crossing the I Street Bridge and turning right down Jibboom Street. This will actually carry you up and over the work-site.

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The World Masters Athletics Championships (AKA World Masters Track and Field Champs) are a little more than a month away and there is excitement in the air. It’s a little like you’re a kid waiting for Christmas, except maybe you’re hoping that Santa Claus is going to bring you that massive track meet you’ve always wanted!

(I suppose I should task the interns with rounding up some better metaphors.)

Most of the venues are pretty easy to figure out. One world-class track is pretty much the same as another. The critical question for most of the events is: What’s the weather going to be like? (It’ll be July in Sacramento so the odds are good it will be warm and sunny.)

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If you are planning to run on the American River Parkway this Saturday, you should probably avoid the area within six-miles of William Pond. The Parkway Half Marathon will be starting there at 7:15, and the Parkway is otherwise “closed” in this area until noon.

Remember that the Parkway Half is actually two out-and-back races, with walkers going upstream from William Pond and the runners going downstream.

Plan accordingly!

This morning, I took a run through Discovery Park to see if the trail was clear of water at last.

There was still the carcass of a large salmon, somewhat worked over by scavengers, lying on the grass near the archery range. It seemed an ominous sign.

Between the 0.5 and 1.o mile marks, there was a large, smelly pond lying across the trail–but there was a narrow strip of asphalt showing along one edge of the trail.

Bicyclists could pass easily, but would be happiest with fenders. Runners could jump across with maybe one shoe getting soaked with dank water.

By tomorrow, I expect there will be a ribbon of dry pavement to run across.

That being said, the county is stating that Discovery Park will remain closed until April 30th so the parks folks can clean things up. (The park itself is still a disgusting mess.)

Other than that, the parkway is now clear, for runners and cyclists, all the way from downtown to Folsom Lake. Start running!