Sacramento Running News

Kim Conley at the SacTown 10 (Photo by Sean Dulany/Freeplay Magazine)

By John Schumacher

Olympian Kim Conley returns to the international stage hoping for a breakthrough. Daniel Tapia eagerly awaits his first chance to wear a USA jersey.

The two Sacramento Running Association standouts head into the IAAF World Championships in Athletics beginning Saturday in Moscow, Russia ready to build on recent successes.

Conley, a former UC Davis standout, used an SRA training grant to step back from her duties as an Aggies assistant coach and focus more on her training. The result: a dramatic third-place finish in the women’s 5,000 meters at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials and a trip to the Olympic Games in London, where she recorded a then personal-best 15:14.48 to finish 12^th in her heat.

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There has been a lot of news coming out of the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, but here is my favorite story so-far: Jenny Simpson (formerly Jenny Barringer) coming off injuries and a so-so year, is not even mentioned by the announcers as the runners assemble at the starting line.

Then she runs a beautifully tactical race, avoids some mid-race carnage, and goes on to win the championship.

The last time an American woman was world champion in the 1500 was in 1983 when Mary Decker bested three Soviet runners in the final.

Here is Jenny’s race (after the jump):

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