Saori Imamura races for the win, while Mario Sanchez cheers. (SRN photo)
A big crowd of speedy women (and a few men) lined up in River Park this morning for the Buffalo Chips’ Susan B Anthony 5K.
The race, founded in 1976, is the region’s oldest women’s race.
Over the years, the times have waxed and waned, but this year the top times were pretty brisk.
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.
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.
The Rebels’ Marcelo Lerda works for the Masters win. (Photo by Sean Dulany)
The first race of the Pacific Association USATF Road Race Grand Prix took place this past Saturday in Redding, with the running of the John Frank Memorial NorCal 10 Mile.
The race is a hilly and scenic out-and-back along the Sacramento River, finishing at Lake Redding Park. (If you ever figure out where the lake is at Lake Redding Park, let me know.)
The overall winner was the Aggies’ Phillip Reid, of San Luis Obisbo, who clocked an impressive 50:18 on this challenging course. Finishing second was West Valley Track Club’s Alex Varner, of San Francisco, with a 50:28. Varner’s WVTC teammate, Malcolm Richards, also of San Francisco, finished third in 50:47.
The Start of the 2011 Susan B. Anthony 5K (Photo courtesy of Craig Newport)
If you were in River Park on Saturday morning, you were in for a treat as the Susan B. Anthony 5K, one of Sacramento’s oldest running traditions, showed it is as important as ever.
The Buffalo Chips have been hosting this race for 35 years, and Race Director Carol Parise has been at the helm for the past several of those years. This experience showed and the race continues to be a popular first race for many women in the region.
“We were really overwhelmed by the response for this year’s race,” said Race Director Carol Parise. “Our numbers were up significantly from last year’s event, so clearly, there is a demand for a well run, supportive, women’s race in Sacramento.”
