Sacramento Running News

Jen Pfeifer on her way to the win at the Half Moon Bay Marathon (Photos by Cary Craig)

A couple months ago, I was running with Jen Pfeifer, who told me that they were putting a marathon together that would run through the neighborhood she grew up in.

It was to be the Half Moon Bay International Marathon, and she was really looking forward to running it.

This past Sunday, the race was on and Pfeifer ran it in grand style–winning the women’s race and finishing 6th overall in 3:05:57.

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BAA just announced that registration is closed for 2012. Read the announcement.

I hope you got in.

Regular readers of this website should be aware that the Boston Marathon revised their registration process to make it easier for faster runners to get a bib.

The early registration is already underway for the faster runners.

From the website:

Registration will occur on a “rolling admission” schedule, beginning with the fastest qualifiers. On the first day of registration for the 2012 Boston Marathon, those who are eligible for entry by having met the qualifying standards for their age and gender group by 20 minutes or more will be able to enter on September 12 at 10:00 a.m. (ET).  On September 14 at 10:00 a.m., (if space remains) registration will open for those who have met their qualifying standards by 10 minutes or more. On September 16 at 10:00 a.m., (if space remains) registration will open for those who have met their qualifying standards by five minutes or more.

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Alberto Zanelli of Italy running the 3rd leg of the 4x100 relay.

After a 10-day run, the curtain has come down on the 2011 World Masters Athletics Championships.

Was it worth the hype? Was Sacramento a worthy host? Was it fun?

Yes, yes, and yes!

What About the Weather?

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Kevin Pool winning the 2010 Run to Feed the Hungry

Folsom’s Kevin Pool finished 9th overall in this morning’s 2011 Dodge Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego Marathon, running a personal best 2:19:52!

As of the time of this post, the only results I can find are the leaderboard, and individual tracking at Competitor.com.

Pool is also the director of the CIM Relay.

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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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This coming July, Sacramento will be hosting the Masters World Athletics Championships (AKA Masters Track and Field World Championships).

If you had a chance to watch or run in last year’s Masters National Championships you know what a great event this should be.

While it may seem a bit early for me to be writing about a July event, registration closes on April 24. You can register online now, and event management says that more than 900 athletes had already registered as of March 23rd.

For track and field, a masters athlete is anyone over 35. There are events from the 100 meters to the marathon, plus the field events, and the venues will be centered around California State University Sacramento.

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It looks like Lance Armstrong has finally decided to take this running thing seriously and hire a coach.

And, I guess if you are Lance Armstrong and you want a running coach, you can get trained by Alberto Salazar.

Lance’s goal for the marathon? He wants to run 2:50 to 2:55–in an Ironman Triathlon.

It seems the endless stormy weather is impacting yet another northern California race. This week, Big Sur International Marathon organizers announced:

On March 16th a forty foot section of Highway One collapsed making the road impassable between Carmel and Big Sur. We have created an alternate “out and back” course similar to what we did in 1998 for the Marathon, Relay and 21-Miler.

If you have questions about how this will affect your run at Big Sur, you should check their Course Q&A Page.

Believe it or not, it will eventually be spring and then soon enough we’ll be complaining about the oppressive heat of summer. Until then, be strong.

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Plan ahead!

It may be hard to believe, but registration for the California International Marathon opens up on March 21st.

It seems awfully early, but the race does sell out and they are offering a significantly cheaper rate for those of you willing to commit to a marathon well before you start to train for it.

The $85 rate is good until June 1st, when it goes up to $105.

Last year’s race filled up in October and there is no reason this year will be much different. However, the CIM folks are hinting of some alternative entry process. A recent email from the race says, (more…)