Sacramento Running News

Unlike other major, big city marathons, the LA Marathon is not steeped in history, known to be particularly fast, or to draw the excitement of top national and international talent.  But like so much of LA it is simply bursting with an excess of excess.

There was the new world record set for the heaviest marathon finisher. (Although, with a 9:48 finish time, I can’t really call it “running” the marathon. Most marathons have packed up well before then.)

They are celebrating the “McRunner” who ran a 2:36 after training on a 100% McDonald’s diet. Maybe all those running nutrition books aren’t worth their weight in oat fiber.

Los Angeles is supposed to be warm and sunny. Why were thousands of runners evaluated for hypothermia, with two dozen being hospitalized?

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It was a glorious time for the sport, and for American running, as Joan Benoit ran away with a dominating win at the first women’s Olympic marathon. Her race that day in Los Angeles remains a thing of beauty and inspiration.

In case you don’t know, Joan Benoit Samuelson ran in the 2008 Olympic Marathon Trials as a 50-year-old and finished in 2:49:08. (Coincidentally, she finished a few seconds behind local runner Midori Sperandeo, which gave Midori a lot of t.v. time.)

Enjoy!