Sacramento Running News

Second place woman Sara Hall and Charlie Brenneman are nearly to the finish of the Sactown 10. (SRN photo)

By Ellen Moore

After setting event records for money raised and runners registered for Sunday’s Credit Union SACTOWN Run, past champions Jordan Chipangama and Jane Kibii kept the momentum going by besting strong elite fields to win 10-mile individual titles and claim the $2,000 first prizes.

As an added bonus, Kibii, a 31-year old Kenya native who has lived in Auburn, set the women’s course record by nearly a minute to take home an additional $500 course record reward.

The SACTOWN event, organized by the Sacramento Running Association and sponsored by credit unions from California and Nevada, raised more than $200,000 for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, which includes UC Davis Children’s Hospital.

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Jane Kibii breaks the tape! (Photo courtesy of SRA)

By John Schumacher

After Timmy Brown and Angela House supplied the early energy for Sunday’s Credit Union SACTOWN Five- and Ten-Mile Run, Jordan Chipangama and Jane Kibii kept the momentum going by besting elite fields to win 10-mile individual titles.

Brown, a 5-year-old brain cancer survivor, ran in the Miracle Mile to start the festivities on a gorgeous day at the state Capitol.

House, a 13-year-old leukemia patient, sang the national anthem before the five-mile run.

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Jane Kibii takes 2nd! (Photo courtesy of Erik Aguilar/Painani.org)

By John Schumacher

Volha Mazuronak’s surge down the stretch produced a women’s course record and Jacob Chemtai’s late move delivered a personal best en route to individual titles on a cool, fast Sunday at the California International Marathon.

Mazuronak, from Belarus, pulled away from Colfax’s Jane Kibii in the final seven miles to win the women’s race in 2 hours, 27 minutes and 33 seconds, shattering the 15-year-old course record of 2:29:21 set by Australian Nickey Carroll.

Chemtai, a Kenyan living in Santa Fe, N.M., dropped Zambia’s Jordan Chipangama and Kenyan Kiplangat Terer in the closing miles to win the men’s race in 2:11:57, the eighth-fastest time in the race’s 32-year history.

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By John Schumacher

A strong group of international runners heads the men’s field while a talented American runner looks like the favorite on the women’s side for the 32^nd annual California International Marathon on Dec. 7.

Kenyans Julius Koskei, Eliud Ngetich and Jacob Chemtai, Ethiopia’s Tesfaye Alemayehu and Zambia’s Jordan Chipangama all appear capable of winning the men’s race and the $10,000 first prize on the 26.2-mile course from near Folsom Dam to the state Capitol.

Koskei, the 2013 CIM runnerup, owns a 2:10:14 personal best, the fastest time in the men’s field. Alemayehu, who lives in Antioch, has run 2:11:18, owns two top-three CIM finishes and is a two-time Credit Union SACTOWN Ten-Mile Run champion.

Ngetich ran 2:11:59 in 2013 and Chemtai delivered a 2:12:39 performance earlier this year. Chipangama also stood out in 2014 with a 2:12:22 effort.

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