Let's keep underwear UNDER running clothes

I'm all for making 5K runs fun and putting a different twist on something that could be mundane.

After all, the Undy 5000 sounds a lot more fun than Run Against Colon Cancer.

The Undy 5000 is a nationwide series of 5Ks put on by the Colon Cancer Alliance to bring attention to colon cancer. It's similar to the Arthritis Foundation's Jingle Bell Run franchise. 

And I have no problem with drawing attention to colon cancer, which is one of the largest killers of U.S. residents.

But when people literally run around in their underwear in an event sponsored by a laxative manufacturer, that's where I draw the line. 

The Undy 5000 in Sacramento, Calif., wasn't just bordering on being tasteless. It was totally tasteless.

Back when school kids actually played on the playground, there was a chant, "I see London, I see France, I see someone's underpants."

Showing one's underwear was a no, no back then, and it should still be now.

Everywhere you looked around Land Park, March 3, were people wearing their undies on top of black running tights. Sure there were boxers. 

I'm sorry, but seeing people trot around in tighty whities (a.k.a. Jockeys) or lacy bikini panties is way overboard.

On top of it, the event was sponsored by a laxative.

If you're a regular runner (pardon the pun) and eat the recommended five to seven servings of fruits and vegetables every day, you're anything but constipated. 

In fact, runners suffer from the other extreme at times dubbed "runners' trots." A laxative is the last thing on their minds.

And who wants to wear a commemorative piece of clothing from an event sponsored by a laxative? Maybe a proctologist.

As its name implies, underwear is made to wear UNDER clothing. I think the Undy 5000 should keep it that way.

Regional USA Track & Field honors two Modesto runners

Jon Olsen (right) receives the PA USATF male ultra-runner of the year award.

Much like they do in their respective races, Modesto residents Jon Olsen and Barbara Miller have been on a tear, this time on the awards circuit.

Olsen was named the Pacific Association of USA Track & Field's male ultra-runner of the year at its awards ceremony, Feb. 19, in Berkeley.

Among Olsen's accomplishments during 2012 were placing seventh overall at the IAU World 100K Championships in Seregno, Italy; winning the North Coast 24-hour Endurance Run and setting a pending 12-hour track record at the Desert Solstice Track Race, Dec. 15, in Phoenix.

In Italy, Olsen also was the second U.S. finisher, covering the 100K (about 62 mile) course in 6:48:51, or about 6:35 per mile.

Olsen recently was selected as one of six members of the USATF National 24-Hour Team, which will compete at the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) 24-Hour World Championship, May 11-12, in Steenburgen, Netherlands.

PA USATF honored Miller for the best age-graded performance among PA women last year. She age-graded 96.76% with her 1:47:38 at the Clarksburg Half-Marathon in November.

Age grading is a formula that takes into account your time and age to project what you would have run if you were in your prime—your 20s and sometimes into your 30s, depending on the distance.

Miller also was reocognized as the top woman within USATF nationally in the 70-74 age group with her time of 23:47, run in the Women's Fitness 5K last summer in Sacramento.

Merced Road Running Series:A group of sweet races

There's a new race series in the valley.

Actually, it's not super new—it started last year, but it's still relatively new.

The cool thing about this three-race series is it has the state-of-the-art technology of big races but the friendliness of local events.

The second annual Honey Bun Run 5K and 10K, held Feb. 10, took runners through the streets in and around downtown Merced.

Traffic control was right on, with more than 160 volunteers—mostly Buhach High School students and their parents—directing runners and keeping cars off the course. Merced police also patrolled the route.

The course itself was well marked with cones delineating the route. Yellow safety tape also stretched across a few intersections that possibly could have confused runners.

Timing involved chip timing using the Chronotrack B-tag, the thin RFID tag on the back of the bib. Results were posted promptly.

A person near the finish line announced runners on the PA system as they approached, just like in big races.

How did he do that? He'd call out the bib number to a computer operator next to him, who would read out the runner's name.

To show the small-town friendliness, people cheered on the last few runners as they crossed the line. There also were snacks, homemade breakfast burritos and an awards ceremony for medal winners.

The Honey Bun Run was the first in the Merced Road Running Series.

The Livingston Feet for a Cure is April 14, followed by Storm the Castle in Atwater a few months later. They all have both 5K and 10K courses and benefit local groups.

Turlock resident wins the Super Bowl...10K run, that is

Only hours before one of Turlock's most celebrated sports stars took the field, another Turlock athlete was collecting her bling.

 

Turlock runner Kimberly Cloud won the women's division of the Super Bowl Sunday 10K run in Sacramento, Feb. 3, with a chip time of 38:18.4.

 

Not far behind her was Trish Frisella of Modesto, who ran 39:52.8, good enough for first in the female 25-29 age group and sixth female overall.

 

View an interview with the team from Turlock on Channel 10 news. (You have to wait for the commercial before the actual news clip begins.)

Market will dictate which half marathons will survive

Everywhere I look, there’s a new half-marathon popping up.

The event has been billed as the fastest-growing distance in the United States, and it seems like that growth has hit the Central Valley.

But with the proliferation of 13.1-milers, have we reached a saturation point?

The Avenue of the Vines in Lodi was one of the very first 13.1-mile races in the Central Valley six or seven years ago.

Shortly after, the Eye-Q, now Two Cities Marathon, added a half distance.

Four years ago, the Modesto Marathon unveiled both a half and a full marathon distance.

That’s when the flood gates seemed to open.

And some race promoters evidently believe that the Central Valley can handle a few more.

Take a look at Rina’s Run, which traditionally had been a 5K and 10K in May. This year, it’s a 5K and half marathon.

The inaugural Peace Officer’s Memorial Run in Modesto in September 2012 will be repeated agains this year.

The St. Joseph’s Half in October in Stockton is now in its third year, and Exeter added the Hell of a Half.

Then there’s the Pleasanton Half, Waskally Wabbit Half, End of the Trail Half and Eye Q California Classic Weekend Half. I'm sure I forgot a few.

That doesn’t even count any of the half marathons in Sacramento, San Francisco or along the coast.

Half marathons cost more to produce and therefore, charge more for registration.

In this economy, runners are being very judicious with their money. There's a finite pot of dollars to go around.

With more half-marathons chasing the pot, it will be diluted out.
 

As in any capitalistic society, market forces will dictate. Runners will vote with their registration dollars.

The popular and fiscally strong events will survive, and the less popular ones, such as the Modesto Midnight Half, will disappear.

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.