Sacramento Running News

Jane Kibii breaking the tape in here debut win in 2015. Sunday was her third consecutive win at SACTOWM (File Photo courtesy of SRA)

This past Sunday, American Aaron Braun, 29, and returning champion Jane Kibii, 32, bested a strong elite field to win the SACTOWN 10-mile race and claim the $2,000 first prizes.

The SACTOWN event, organized by the Sacramento Running Association and sponsored by credit unions from California and Nevada, raised more than $250,000 for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, which includes UC Davis Children’s Hospital.

The race, which emulates the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run held in Washington, D.C. on the same day, has raised more than $1.1 million in the last five years.

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Top 50-mile finishers (L to R: Zach Bitter, Scott Trummer, Rich Hanna) (SRN photo)

When you report on the running of the American River 50-mile race, you have a couple of choices.

You can get to the start, in the darkness before the dawn, and then spend the day jumping in and out of your car, bouncing along spectating points, and watching the race develop through the day.

Or, you can sleep until sunrise wakes you up. Go for a nice long run, shower, have a leisurely breakfast as you check the race on the live feed, and finally wander to the finish in time to catch the hopefully exciting finish.

This year, I chose the latter, arriving at the Auburn Overlook shortly before noon. I laced up my trail shoes, threw on a pack with camera and notebook and jogged down the road to look for the leaders.

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Gary Blanco (left) and Chris Knorzer, racing in the Rebels’ special holiday singlets, battle it out for ROUS points at Thursday’s Run to Feed the Hungry 5K. (Photo courtesy of Randy Wehner Photography)

Nicholas Spector, 24, of Sonoma, and Lindsay Tollefson, 31, of Mammoth Lakes, were the big winners in the Run to Feed the Hungry 10K, on Thursday.

The annual race, benefiting the Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services, has grown to be one of the largest road-races in the country and typically features some of the region’s fastest running times of the year.

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Erin Wachter enjoying the perfect trail conditions. (Photo courtesy Erin Wachter)

What’s the recipe for course records and fast times on a long-running trail race? Perfect conditions and and a stacked field, clearly.

Sadly, I wasn’t able to be out there in person for this year’s Way Too Cool 50K, but as the results were coming in via text and Twitter, it was immediately apparent that something special and amazing had taken place.

First off, Patrick Smyth’s winning time of 3:04:48 is insane. That is a sub-6:00 pace over a hilly trail run, and a four minute improvement over Max King’s record 3:08:50 that was set in 2013.

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Three of the region’s top masters runners (L to R): Terry Baucom, Midori Sperandeo, and a cheering Rich Hanna. (Photo courtesy of Randy Wehner Photography.)

If you had been at the first Run to Feed the Hungry, you’d hardly recognize the massive event it’s grown into during the last two decades.

Ballooning from several hundred to 27,000, it’s become one of the largest races in the country and probably the largest Thanksgiving race period.

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Tim Tollefson powers up the hill for the win. (Photo by www.painani.org)

The Pacific Association’s cross country series started last weekend in Santa Cruz, but the first local race of the season was at Ancil Hoffman on Saturday.

Runners at the 4th Annual Rebels XC Challenge–hosted by the River City Rebels–enjoyed picture-perfect weather and a classic turf and trail course through the rolling hills around Ancil Hoffman Park.

As usual, the PA series event included three races: women, masters men (40+), and open men.

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Tim and Lindsay Tollefson before the 2012 Trials (Photo courtesy Tim Tollefson)

By John Schumacher

Tim and Lindsay Tollefson headed into the 2013 California International Marathon hoping to record qualifying times for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials.

The couple might have achieved something else last December during the 26.2-mile race from Folsom to the state Capitol: a Guinness World Record.

The Tollefsons’ combined time of 5 hours – he ran 2:18:29, she finished in 2:41:31 — appears to be the fastest marathon run by a married couple in the same event. Guinness lists Kenta and Norika Soto of Japan as the current record holders for fastest married couple, aggregate time, with a 5:28:23 mark.

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Asics Aggies’ Reyes and SRA’s Kibii prevail at the NorCal 10

The PAUSATF Road Grand Prix kicked off with the NorCal John Frank Memorial 10-Mile today in Redding. For the men, Sergio Reyes, 32, from Los Osos, out-kicked the field to win in an impressive 48:51. Meanwhile, Auburn’s Jane Kibii, 28, won handily amongst the women with a 58:42 finish.

The top local man was Lincoln’s Tim Tollefson, 28, who finished 3rd overall in 51:21.

Full results are here. (more…)

While I am not one of those crazy CIM “streakers,” this year I marked my 11th CIM finish, and 13th start. Many of them were cold–especially at the start–but none were as cold as this one.

How cold was it? It was so cold that some of the buses at the starting line were capped with snow–snow that wasn’t melting despite the buses’ heaters running.

It was cold enough to ice over the Power Aid in the paper cups at the aid stations.

And it was also cold enough for the spilled water and electrolyte drink to freeze on the ground, turning the road along the aid stations into crazy, jostling ice rinks.

I’m sure RD Michelle LaSala has added “road salt” to the aid station supply list, something no previous race director has ever had to worry about.

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Iain Mickle (#241) leads the Masters Men’s race. (Photo courtesy of Sean Dulany/Freeplay Magazine)

In Saturday’s first Pacific Association race–the women’s 5K–Lindsay Tollefson made it three years in a row with her win at Rebel’s XC Challenge, at Granite Park.

Tollefson, 28, of Roseville, took first with a 17:34 over Tanya Ferreira, 24, of Watsonville, who finished second in 17:58.

The third woman finisher was Madeline Kramer, 26, of Oakland, who brought it home in 18:00.

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