Sacramento Running News

Things have changed for women runners!

There are a couple of recent articles about women runners of note that are delightful in their juxtaposition, in what they say about women’s running.

First off was a New York Times article about women’s running pioneer Dr. Julia Chase-Brand.

On Thanksgiving Day, Dr. Julia Chase-Brand, 69, plans to run a 4.75-mile race in Manchester, Conn., where the presence of women will be plentiful and unremarkable. Fifty years ago, when she and two other women ran there the first time, it was a widely publicized act of civil disobedience that became a pioneering moment in female distance running in the United States.

Not only was she pushing against the AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) prohibitions against women competing in road races, she was fast. Starting a block behind the rest of the runners (to avoid race officials), she still managed a 33:40 for that run.

(more…)

The sun is out, the trees are blooming, the birds are chirping, and there is a buzz of excitement around here as 6,000 runners prepare to take on a couple of the area’s largest events.

Tony Lafferty and Rory Bosio take a break from volunteering at registration to check out a map of the new WTC course.

This year’s  Way Too Cool 50K will be run on what is anticipated to be a faster, new course featuring around 1,000 feet less climbing and no more two-way traffic.  (Sorry folks, it’s still 50Km.)

With nearly 700 registered runners, this will easily be one of the largest trail ultras in the country, and the

(more…)

The Western States Endurance Run lottery was held today and some 200 “lucky” runners now have plans for the next seven months.

I see some familiar names on the list. Is yours one of them? Full lottery results are here.

A couple of hapless victims.

In case you’ve been sorta thinkin’ about running that crazy 100 mile race from Squaw Valley to Auburn, California, the day to actually “step up” and enter the lottery is upon you.

Is this the year you put your life on hold, alienate your family and your normal friends, tempt injury and snake bites, and spend all your weekends grubbing along the trails around Foresthill? Of course it is.

Sign-up here and wait anxiously until the names pop out of the computer on December 4th.

Local runner and writer Sam McManis has an article in today’s Bee about ultrarunner Karl Meltzer’s planned 45-day run of the 1,840 mile long Pony Express Trail.

I know some folks would think this is crazy (my mother, for example), but I’d love to take on something like this! It would be hard to think of something more fun than spending days on the run.

He can do this, of course, because he’s being sponsored by Red Bull in this adventure. I’m not sure who would underwrite the undertakings of a mid-pack runner such as myself. Sadly, I’m not as good looking as Dean Karnazes or as fast as Karl Meltzer.

(more…)

Once again, my wobbly stomach didn’t allow me the glorious finish I’d hoped for this year’s Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run. However, Alaskan Geoff Roes managed to bang out a course record 15:07 on a modified “Snow Year” course. There have been criticisms that this record should have an asterisk next to it due to the modified “snow year” course being a bit faster than the standard course. But having personally slogged through the several miles of snow before and after the “easier” section, I’m not sure the overall course was appreciably faster. Also, if we’re going to go down that road, we need to consider the fact the old course record set by Scott Jurek in 2004 was set on a modified course that was created after the devastating Star Fire of 2001.

The race was impressive in that it was really a race. Roes won, but only by a few minutes over Anton “200 miles a week” Krupicka who ran 15:13.

The top two women were also only a few minutes apart, with Tracy Garneau besting Meghan Arbogast in 19:01 and 19:15, respectively.

(more…)