Sacramento Running News

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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Tesfaye Alemayehu on his way to victory in 47:34. (SRN photo.)

There was a time in the not too distant past, where 60-minutes for a ten mile run was the demarcation line between serious and non-serious runners.  The local Buffalo Stampede 10 mile race would produce a bushel of sub-60 minute finishes, and the Stockton’s California 10 wouldn’t even give you a shirt unless you broke 60-minutes.

While local races still usually deliver a few speedy times, the crowd is pretty thin when you get under six minutes per mile.

As I’ve written before, a little prize money goes a long way. Now, with this year’s $15,000 prize purse and PAUSATF grand prix status, the Sactown 10 delivers as a serious, competitive race.

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It is one of my core beliefs that very few runners ever achieve all they are capable of.

There are many reasons for this, but often it’s simply that people don’t realize that they are capable of doing more and going faster.

Running is one of the few things in life that consistently and generously rewards you for diligent, and intelligent effort.

Of course, no matter how hard you train, to be an elite runner you need to have some talent. But how will you know whether you have the talent unless you push yourself a bit?

There are many exciting stories coming out of the Olympic Trials Marathon, but this has to be one of my favorites.

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