Modesto's own Jon Olsen runs another for the record books

Modesto's own Jon olsen ran 100.17 miles in 12:29:37 to become the second fastest American to run 100 miles on the track.

He did so in the Desert Solstice Track Race, Dec. 15-16, in Phoenix.

That's 100 miles in less than 12 1/2 hours for a 7:29 pace.

The record for 100 miles on the track is 12:27:00.7, set by Bernd Hienrich in 1984.

"This is history in the making, a truly special moment in American ultrarunning," according to the Facebook page of Aravaipa Running, which hosted the race.

Olsen, a teacher at Prescott Middle School, is an international ultra-marathon runner, having been part of the U.S. team that took silver in the World Ultra Running Championships earlier this year in Italy.

He's already qualified for the 2013 U.S. National 24 Hour Team, which will participate in the 2013 International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) 24-Hour World Championship in Steenburgen, Netherlands, May 11-12, 2013.

In addition, Olsen won the Modesto Marathon in 2010 and 2011 and nearly missed a three-pete this year.

Barbara Elia goes for 100th marathon

Modesto's Barbara Elia, who turned 68 in October, will be going for her 100th marathon Dec. 2 at the California International Marathon (CIM) in Sacramento.

Elia has been compared to the Energizer Bunny in that she just keeps going and going and going.

She can be seen logging miles on the roads around Modesto during the summer's heat or the winter's fog.

Elia is an accomplished ultra-marathoner, having completed three times the Badwater Ultra, a 145-mile run through Death Valley during the heat of summer.

She also is a veteran of several Western States 100-mile endurance runs as well as CIM.

Good luck Barbara.

New York mayor the king of flip-flops

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg should be crowned the king of flip-flops.

After super storm Sandy slammed the Big Apple , Bloomberg announced the ING New York City Marathon was still on for Nov. 4.

During the week, criticism began rolling in, especially from Staton Island residents, who still were without power.

They wondered why the mayor was allotting all of those resources to mostly out-of-town runners when locals were still struggling.

The New York Road Runners Club, which produces the event, said they had already made contingencies and that no resources would have been diverted from the storm survivors.

Nevertheless, Bloomberg did an about-face Friday, Nov. 2, cancelling the marathon. In a joint statement issued by the city and the Road Runners, he said the race was supposed to be a unifying event but was turning divisive.

Thousands of runners were already in the city and had already picked up their bib numbers. They had spent millions just traveling to the city, since getting to New York is no cheap matter.

Now Bloomberg is facing their wrath. Most runners said cancelling the marathon was the right call. But they were upset about the timing, since the mayor initially said it was on and they had adjusted their plans accordingly.

(Big deal, Bloomberg probably thinks. Most of these runners are out-of-towners and won't be voting in my re-election bid.)

What Bloomberg should have done was cancel the marathon immediately after Sandy rather than waiting.

This would have allowed entrants to cancel their airline and hotel reservations and at least get some of their money back.

(Most airlines were not charging their usual $150 fee for East Coast flights affected by Sandy, so runners would not have been out all that much.)

Now they're stuck in the Big Apple and out the $250-plus marathon entry fee. Like nearly every other running event, the New York City Marathon has a clause in the fine print saying no refunds whatsoever.

You also have to wonder why Bloomberg cancelled the marathon yet allowed the NBA's Knicks-Heat game go on Nov. 3 and the NFL Giants' football game Nov. 4.

Could it be the NFL and NBA bring in more money throughout the season than one marathon?

Or is Bloomberg like most politicians: no brain, no pain?

Another Rock N Roll event pops up

Kind of like the plants in the Little Shop of Horrors, the Competitor Group continues to gobble up races, spitting them out as Rock N Roll events.

The latest is the U.S. Half Marathon 2, which had been held in the spring in San Francisco since 2010.

It now will become the San Francisco Rock N Roll Half, scheduled for April 7, 2013.

Amazingly, the registration for this rebranded event is only $80 through Nov. 30 and $90 through Feb. 15, 2013.

Modesto lobbies for Amgen bike tour leg

The city of Modesto has begun lobbying the owners of the Amgen Tour of California, the Anschutz Entertainment Group, to once again be a host city for the multi-stage bicycle mid-May race.

The city hosted it from 2008-11, but was passed over as a stop last year.

As part of its efforts, the city has created a Website that points out why it should be chosen.

The city submitted a bid before the Aug. 17 deadline.

Last year, race organizes announced host cities in early November and unveiled the route in February.

Race organizers the past few years have followed a trend of asking new cities, such as Sonora, to submit bids. Sonora's proximity to Modesto was the reason Modesto was not chosen last year.

Sonora, as well as Turlock, have also submitted bids for the 2013 race.

AEG, which also owns the Los Angeles Kings and Staples Center, is up for sale, and it is unknown what effect that will have on the Amgen race.

Half-marathons continue to lead race growth

Since 2003, half-marathons have been the fastest growing road race distance, and 2011 was no exception.

Of the 100 largest timed U.S. road races, half-marathons comprised 42 percent, according to figures from Colorado Springs, Colo.-based Running USA.

And the Competitor Group, producers of the Rock 'n' Roll series, had 15 of them.

The top 100 races had more than 1.6 million finishers, and five road races had more than 40,000 timed finishers each.

That compares to 922,500 total finishers in 2000.

The 100th race in 2000 had 3,600 finishers. In 2011, the 100th race had more than 8,000 finishers.

Here are the top 10 timed races:

1. Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race 10K, 55,077

2. Lilac Bloomsday Run 12K, 51,303 (Spokane)

3. Dick's Sporting Goods Bolder Boulder 10K, 49,213

4. ING New York City Marathon, 47,133

5. Zazzle Bay to Breakers 12K, 43,954 (San Francisco)

6. Bank of America Chicago Marathon, 35,755

7. Cooper River Bridge Run 10K, 34,789 (Charleston, S.C.)

8. Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10K, 33,365 (Richmond, Va.)

9. Zappos.com Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Half-Marathon, 33,257

10. Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8K, 32,442 (Chicago)

View the full list and other statistics at Running USA.

Is German Fernandez going to run for Nike?

Shortly after competing in the1,500 finals at the Olympic track and field trials in Eugene, Ore., last month, former Riverbank, Calif., High School running phenom declared he was turning pro.

Now rumors have it that he's joined Nike and the Oregon Track Club to train.

After graduating from Riverbank High School, Fernandez spent four years at Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, running cross-country and track.

Although he's graduated, Fernandez still had a full outdoor season of eligibility left because of red-shirting.

He won the 1,500 at the NCAA track and field championships as a true freshman in 2009. But he has since said he believes the 5,000 may be his best event.

Stay tuned.

Area runners take silver at Junior Olympics

A team of four girls from Modesto's Central Valley Roadrunners youth track club took second in the 4x800-meter relay, July 26, at the Junior Olympics in Baltimore.

Team members were Juliette Acosta, Nicole Warwick, Victoreya Maravilla and Meagan Warwick. (Nicole and Meagan Warwick are twins.)

The Roadrunners Youth Girls' team ran 10:04.68, placing behind the gold medal team from Oak Hill Racing, Sacramento, which ran 9:46.17.

Age is no hurdle for this runner

You're never too old to run.

Just ask Joe LoBianco, who at 84 years old, continues to dominate the 80-plus age group.

You may say he wins his age group because there are few other runners over 80. That may be true.

But when you look at Joe's times, you'll see that he continues to beat runners several decades his junior.

Joe lives in the Bay Area, but he has his favorite races in the Central Valley that he'll run year in and year out. HIs most recent was the Escalon Park Fete 2-miler, July 15, where—you guessed it—he won his age group.

Joe is always quick with a smile or a joke. Maybe it's the running that keeps him so young.

Area runners fail to advance in Olympic 1500 trials

Neither former Riverbank High School star German Fernandez nor former Modesto High runner Matt Maldonado advanced in the 1500-meters semi-finals at the Olympic trials in Eugene, Ore., June 29.

Both had run fast enough times to advance from the prelims into the semis.

There were two semi heats, and the top five in each heat, plus the next two fastest times, advanced to the finals.

Maldonado, a junior at Long Beach State, ran in the first heat, clocking 3:52.95. He was 10th in the heat.

Fernandez, who graduated this spring from Oklahoma State University, ran in the second and faster heat. He ran 3:43.78, finishing 11th in the heat.

The 1500-meter finals will be run July 1.

Records fall at Western States 100

Blessed with unusually cool conditons, Timothy Olson of Oregon blasted through the 100.2-mile course from Squaw Valley to Auburn to set a new Western States 100 course record, June 23-24.

Olson ran 14:46:44, eclipsing the old course record set by Geoff Roes of 15:07:04 in 2010.

Olson is a former drug addict who turned to ultra-running for therapy. Read his story by clicking here.

Setting a new women's course record was Ellie Greenwood of Canada with 16:47:19.

She broke the long-held record of 17:37:51 set by Ann Trayson in 1994.

These are the results for Central Valley participants:

• Mike Bohi, 94 (bib number for tracking). Finished in 28:10:05.

• Jeanne Kysar-Carey, 252. Finished in 28:46:16.

• Karen Lozano, 124. Dropped at Rucky Chucky near, about 70 miles into the race.

• Jon Olsen, 298 (Olsen was recently recognized by the state Legislature for his performances at the world ultra-running championships and his 24-hour run. He ran more than 158 miles in 24 hours. Read more about him on Multidays.com.) Finished 21st male in 18:23:12.

• Nile Sousa, 360. Finished in 27:42:07

View the complete finishers list at Western States 100.

Read about an accompanying research study of ultra-marathoners' gates and their impact on muscle damage in the Sacramento Bee.

Modesto's Jon Olsen tackles24-hour endurance event next

Modesto's Jon Olsen is on a roll, having finished seventh at the world ultra-marathon championships in Italy April 22.

Now he goes for a win at the North Coast 24-Hour Endurance Run.

 No, the event isn't on California's North Coast. It's in Cleveland, Ohio, on the north coast of the Lake Erie, May 5-6.

 The winner is the runner who covers the most miles during the 24-hour time limit. The course is roughly a 1-mile loop.

There is no pacing, either, because the race is sanction by USA Track & Field, which doesn't allow pacing by non-registered runners.

 From the looks of the website, it's doubtful they're going to have live runner tracking or live event updates. The question was even posed on the event's Facebook page without a reply.

 After Cleveland, Olsen has the Western States 100-mile Endurance Run on his calendar, June 23-24, on his calendar.

You can follow Jon on his blog, http://olsenjon.blogspot.com.

Watch AR 50 finishers live this Saturday

Even if you can't be at the finish line up near Folsom Reservoir this Saturday, you can still watch runners finish this 50-mile endurance race, thanks to modern technology.

A camera set up at the finish line will stream continuous live video of runners coming across the line.

To access the feed, visit http://www.ustream.tv/channel/americanriver50. The show begins about 11:30 a.m., Saturday, April 7.

The ultra-marathon begins at 6 a.m. at the Guy West Bridge near Sac State and finishes up near Newcastle.

For more information, visit http://www.ar50mile.com/.

Buena furtuna a Jon Olsen in Italy

Congratulazioni to Modesto's Jon Olsen for being named to the U.S. World Cup Team running in the IAU World 100K Championships, April 22, in Seregno, Italy.

For non-metric types, 100K is about 62 miles.

The announcement came less than a week after Olsen narrowly missed three-peating in the Modesto Marathon.

Olsen was more than 6 minutes behind the leader and eventual winner Clyde Behunin of Utah at the marathon turn-around.

Olsen made up time and was only 2 minutes behind just before the over-crossing with less than 2 miles to go.
He lost to the eventual winner by just 15 seconds, clocking a 2:33:01, a new PR for Olsen.

Behunin won with 2:32:46.

Olsen also plans to run Western States 100-mile Endurance Run June 23-24. The race starts in Squaw Valley, goes over the Sierra and ends in Auburn, Calif.

Adventuring must be in their genes

The two sons of Adrian Crane, the man who has never met a mountain he didn't like, have their own claim to fame when it comes to adventuring.

Chris and John were part of the four-person Team Epoch that rowed across the Atlantic Ocean.

It took them 56 days to row the boat, dubbed Limited Inteligence, from the Canary Islands to Barbados.

They landed on terra firma on Jan. 31, greeted by father Adrian.

Adrian, by the way, will be attempting to summit Mt. Everest a year from now. Twice before bad weather turned him away before he reached the top.

Read more about the Crane brothers in the Modesto Bee.

Computer error aside, Modesto's Jon Olsen wins100-mile Rocky Road

If you were following Modesto's Jon Olsen online at the Rocky Road Endurance Run, you would have thought he went from first to fourth during one of the laps of the six-lap race.

Blame a computer error on Olsen losing a lap in the Southern California race.

He actually took the lead early in the Coto de Caza race and maintained it until he finished in 13:14:44. That's roughly a 7:56 pace for 100 miles of hilly terrain.

The 13:14:44 also is one of the fastest times on record for a 100-mile trail run.

Recently Olsen received word that he gained entry into the Western States 100-mile Endurance Run, kind of the Super Bowl of ultra-runs.

Olsen, a middle-school teacher, also is defending champion of the Modesto Marathon, having won it the past two years. The marathon is March 18.

Valley Sporting Goods calls it quits

The economy and increased competition finally caught up to Valley Sporting Goods, an institution in the Modesto area for more than 65 years, closed its doors at the end of 2011

The sporting goods store had been located in McHenry Village since 1994 until mid-2011, when it moved out on Carpenter and Kansas roads.

The move to a smaller store with cheaper rent was prompted by Capter 11 bankruptcy filings.

In addititon, several suppliers have file suit against the owners, Darren and Crystal Daily, for failure to pay bills, according to court records.

The couple had purchased the store for $1.5 million in 2007, before the economy went south.

Since then, Dick's Sporting goods has moved into town, and Sports Authority has waged an aggressive campaign to lure customers.

Read the complete article in the Modesto Bee.