VFACers shine at the California Intl Marathon in Sacramento

This past weekend VFAC shone on the international marathon scene with many great performances at the California International Marathon, also known as the “Fastest Course in the West”. Although the “Governator” wasn’t spotted, the cool and sunny weather conditions turned out to be ideal for the race from Folsom (home of the famous Folsom Prison, for all you Johnny Cash fans) to Sacramento. With the slight net downhill, the course winds its way through some nice semi-rural neighbourhoods on the outskirts of Sacramento before finishing downtown in front of the State Capitol Building. Paul Krochak led the VFAC charge, clocking an impressive 2:38:12 (6:02 pace) to finish right behind the 2nd and 3rd overall women in 39th place overall. Joel Werner ran a steady race to finish 58th overall clocking 2:44:57 (6:17 pace), very close to a personal best. Dave Palma had a huge PR in 2:47:50 (6:24 pace), well within the top-100 in 79th position. Rod Urquhart crushed his personal best by over 15min to finish 105th overall in 2:51:38 (6:33 pace), and 8th in the M45-49 age group. Hot on his heals was the first VFAC woman, Rita Ivanauskas who improved her personal best by over a minute to finish in 2:52:19 (6:34 pace) and 4th in the W40-44 category. Trudi Jackson also had a stellar performance knocking 15 minutes off her personal best in her 3rd marathon, to finish in 3:10:18 (7:17 pace) and 10th in the W30-34 age group. Close behind was Sue Werner clocking a 3:15:40 (7:28 pace), as running a huge PR for 12th place in the W30-34 age group. Chris Brandt (M35-39) had a tough day with recurring leg injuries, but crossed the line in 3:29:38 and Milosh Surka (M55-59) finished in 3:38:21. Thanks to John for all the support out on the course and now he’s an expert of the Californian backroads and evading the State troopers. Guaranteed next year will have another huge turnout for this great race. Congrats to all and now we can all celebrate and get fat over Christmas! Results here. CIM Race Highlights, Interviews with winners, and race start here.