Gaucho Gallop Exuberant dogs can sometimes run faster than their owners. Andrew Maxwell lost his dog who decided to run with Aaron instead. Aaron's dog didn't like having to share and slowed down to display his displeasure. Meanwhile the kids mile was a hard fought battle between Vaughn Forte and Spencer (des Jardins) Clark.
Results

Big Sur
   Some talk of Boston's races, while some at London squeeze,
   Of Berlin and Chicago, and such great runs as these,
   But of all the world's great races, there's none that can compare—
with Big Sur. Some may like the crowds and excitement of the big marathons, or the caché of running Boston, but for sheer beauty there's nothing like running through the redwood forests of Big Sur and then along the California coastline.
    This year I know of three local runners choosing this course: Sara Dillman, Laura Turner and Paula Waldman. Have a beautiful run!

Nite Moves to Outfooters? Tonight! 6pm-closing, Jay is hosting a Wine & Cheese Evening at Outfootoers, 136 Hope Avenue, celebrating the 21st season of the Nite Moves: The Summer Series. (22 Apr).

Boston Qualifying Time I gather my post the other day was confusing. I was trying to say two things: Boston Qualifying time for men is (roughly) correlated with age graded decline, but the women's qualifying time is easier for young women and much harder for older women. (22 Apr).

Boston Finishers (20 Apr)

Eric Forte	2:51:27
Mike Shalhoub	3:07:02
Zachary Komon	3:10:16
Susie Adams	3:26:28
Brooke Powell	3:36:52
Nichol des Jardins	3:40:31
Carrie Dent	3:41:55
Peter Sklar	3:45:25
Claire Krock	3:45:40
Jamie Allison	3:55:39
Thomas Prendiville	3:58:25
Gary Clancy	3:58:39

Boston Qualifier The Boston qualifying time is not completely fair -- that is -- as an age-graded percentage it fluctuates with age. For young men the qualifier is about 66%, while for young women it is 62% -- so it looks as though women have it easy. But as we age, the qualifying standard gets progressively harder for women while getting slightly easier for men. At 70 a man needs to run 63%, while a woman must run 73%. Fifty year olds are almost equal: 64.9% for men and 65.2 for women.
     
I've also included indication of the qualifying times for the Olympic trials (which are harder in 2012 than they were in 2008). For men there is only an "A" standard, at 2:19:00 or 90%, for women there are both "A" and "B" standards: 2:39:00 or 85% for the "A" and 2:46:00 or 82%. (20 Apr)

Ruth Wysocki, former Olympic runner, will start the Gaucho Gallop (there's still room if you want to register)
Former Olympian Ruth Wysocki to speak at the SB Running Co (Goleta) this Friday at 5:00pm This American running legend has inspired thousands of runners throughout her illustrious career. She ran in the Olympic Trials in 1976 at age 19, competed in the 1984 Olympics (800m-6th, 1500m-8th) and finished 7th inthe 1500 meters at the 1995 World Championships at age 38 and the mother of two! As a master runner in 1997, Ruth continued her fast running with American track records in the 800 (2:03.95), 1000 (2:40.42), 1500 (4:08.69) and 5000 (16:26). She was Runner's World Master Runner of the Year for 1997. Ruth is now the proud parent of current UCSB student and harrier. In addition to providing the free talk on Friday, Ruth will be the honorary starter for the 2nd annual Gaucho Gallop presented by Teva the following day. For more information, go to www.gauchogallop.com. Presented by the UCSB Alumni Association, SB Running Company and the SB Independent. (19 Apr)

Oops Chardonnay results were off by 7 seconds. Consistently off. Everyone is now 7 seconds slower, but relative positions (age group winners, etc.) are unchanged. Our apologies. Corrected Results. (19 Apr)

Gary Maxwell in addition to running Chardonnay, Gary has won his age group in the Oceanside half Ironman. This qualifies him for a covetted spot in the Hawaii Ironman. Kudos. (and to Mike Swan who coached him) (19 Apr)

Chardonnay Results Dennis's Pictures A picture perfect morning. Cool, and the wind that has been so annoying for most of the week was quiet. Patrick Russell from out of town won the men's race, followed by Aaron and Micah. Jennifer Santamaria from San Diego won the women (could she be the Jen Denkins who came in second last year?), followed by Laura Turner and Amy Alzina. (18 Apr)

Boston bound Barbarians blasted by blizzard, blocked before Beantown Heavy snows caused flight cancelations in Denver and Chicago leaving some of our runners "sleeping" in airports

Chardonnay The little village of Chardonnay nestles above the Rhône River in southeast France. A village so small it has no café (though it does have a wine tasting area, but that did not satisfy my father). (16 Apr)

Boston The (somewhat bigger) village of Boston nestles around the estuary of the Charles river, and a group of local runners (Susie Adams, Jamie & Michael Allison, Gary Clancy, Carrie Dent, Nichol des Jardins, Eric Forte, Claire Krock, Brooke Powell and Peter Skylar) have chosen to do some race out there rather than run our own ten miler. No accounting for taste, I guess. (16 Apr)

Eric Forte is the guy who shows up every week-end to win all the local races and then drives off to purgatory in Boise. Unfortuately, due to the amount of time he spends driving, he was unable to write his profile, and it has been ghostwritten by an anonymous individual. SBAA assumes no responsibility.
   Eric leads the SBAA contingent at Boston this Monday coming. (15 Apr)

Run for Life, runs for kids. At Nite Moves at 6:30pm there will be a 1 mile run for children grades 3-8. MAY 6 TO SEPTEMBER 2, LEADBETTER BEACH. (15 Apr)

Tough Enough 2009. Brilliant day after hail and ice on Camino Cielo Friday afternoon. Cool and windy in the morning, but moonlight to run by and dawn on Gibraltar for the ultra runners. New mixed team record, with We Are the FUGAWII?!? running 7:39 to pull 17 minutes from the previous record. The Tuff Muff-ins pulled all of 35 seconds from the previous women's record, running 8:11: 11 -- that's thirty-five seconds difference over 65 miles and eight hours. Elated women at the end. Scott Young won the ultra, with Kenny Ardouin second and a total of six ultra finishers. Thanks to all the participants, who doubled as impromptu "volunteers;" thanks to all the people who decorated their cars and made team race shirts, too -- lookin' good out there. Results and commentary on the tough enough blog. (13 Apr)

Rose Marie Rockenbach, a local runner, died peacefully on April 1st, 2009, after an extended battle with insomnia. Her unexpected passing brought to an end her continuous and heroic struggle for health and sleep.
   All who loved her wish her the peace and serenity that so often eluded her, and that she so deserves.
   Rose Marie requested a private cremation and that no memorial services or funeral be held in her memory. Rose Marie's children, Heidi and Richard, have honored her wishes. Anecdotes, comments, stories, and sympathies can be e-mailed to RoseMarieMemorial@gmail.com or mailed to 11 Baker Lane, Goleta, CA 93117. Donations in her memory can be made to the Rose Marie Rockenbach Memorial Fund at any branch of Santa Barbara Bank and Trust. The decision for how to best memorialize Rose Marie's life is still being considered.

Carlsbad 5K I feel very much out of the loop for Carlsbad. My network of spies and informants has broken down. So rather than provide a dry recitation of facts, I shall instead refer you to the blogs of the runners themselves: Drea and Maggie.
    But Carlsbad was not the only race people ran this past weekend, so while I'm at it: Eric's Forte in Boise, also the Platt River Half Marathon, and finally the the Cooper River Bridge Run. (9 Apr)

SBAA Club Shirts Available The 2009 SBAA club shirts are available for pick-up at Santa Barbara Running in Goleta (Fairview Shopping Center) or Outfooters at La Cumbre Mall. Each store has a member list, just check off your name and shirt size. Remember to thank the sponsors and enjoy! (7 Apr)

Volunteers needed for Chardonnay. Both Friday (packet pickup) and Saturday. Consider the bliss you will feel, knowing you have done a good deed! Contact Patsy. (7 Apr)

Gaucho Gallop reminder: The printed calendar has the wrong date for the gallop, the actual date is 25 April.

Gaucho Gallop presented by Teva has gone to the Dogs Yes it's true - we are pretty dog-crazy in Santa Barbara and our running events are no different. The Gaucho Gallop will once again feature the Dioji Dog Dash - however new this year is a carrot - or actually dog food - six months worth of dog food to be exact - to be given to the winner of the Dioji Dog Dash. The dog craziness doesn't stop there - they will also be hosting the Dioji Doggie Lounge (thanks to the fine folks at Dioji K9 Resort) so runners have a place to drop their best friends after the Dog Dash and before the human-only racing begins! The race, the third and final in the SBXC Series, has both a 10K race and 5K Fun Run/Walk, both of which will be going under the new Henley Gate on the UCSB campus. The winner (both male and female) of the 10K will once again win a special UCSB-logo'ed beachcruiser bike from Collegiate Bikes ($300 value). All registered runners will be entered in a giveaway with tons of prizes including gift certificates for the Walking Company, SB Brewing Company, SB Running Company and much more. Live music, Finish Line Festival with Woodstocks Pizza and much more. Come join the fun at the Gaucho Gallop - part of the "Gaucho Days" Celebration. For more information, go to www.gauchogallop.com (7 Apr)

Thank you Wally & Paul. Last weekend I ran a 10k in Charleston, SC. Athough it was a huge race (~31,000 finishers) it did not come up to the timing standards that Wally and Paul provide. No results were posted at the finish line. Ever. It took more than 24 hours for the results to appear on the web. The results were not age-graded. It showed me how lucky we are in our timers. Thanks guys. (6 Apr)

Wine tasting! There's a wine tasting associated with Chardonnay, but only the first three hundred registrants can taste, so if you are interested, sign up now on Active (1 April)

Sex and the State Street Mile Rod Garratt analyzes gender and age differences in competitativeness in the State Street mile. (1 April)

Chardonnay is really Chardonnay this year. I've missed the name. Anyway volunteers are needed for race day. If you can't run the race it can still be fun to help out! contact Jose@sbactionpro.com (22 Mar)

Nite Moves are starting soon! The 21st season. Special deals for early registrants. (22 Mar)

Running toes Science: Evolved to for distance running. A previous post (2004) described work by Bramble and Lieberman suggesting that, based on 26 markers, humans evolved to run. Unexpected confirming evidence comes from Rolian et al (Harvard), who wondered why humans have such short toes compared to other primates. They instrumented normal human gait, measured, and found the surprising result that increasing toe length 20% has no effect on the energy cost of walking, but doubles the mechanical work of the foot in running, which (in their words) "probably also [increases] the metabolic cost of generating these forces. The increased mechanical cost associated with long toes in running suggests that modern human forefoot proportions might have been selected for in the context of the evolution of endurance running." Short toes = better distance running. (Original research in J. Experimental Biology, Mar 2009). -- JK (22 Mar)

Orchard to Ocean Mist and drizzle. Aaron won the men's 10k (are we surprised?) followed by Eric and John Loftus, Drea won the women (not too surprising either) followed by Kristen Lorenzen and Mariann Thomas. 10K Results. Niel Clark won the 5k followed by Eric and Ricky. Sarah Mandes won the women's 5k followed by Desa and Sherry Dunlop 5K Results And... SBPix has pictures.

SBAA Club Shirts Are Here (Almost)! SBAA club shirts will be available for pick-up from either Santa Barbara Running or Outfooters in the next few weeks. There are 200 long sleeve shirts for current club members. Family memberships are eligible for one shirt. If you aren't sure you are a member, you can check on-line. If you need to renew, Paypal is set up to renew online.
    Remember to support your local running stores, they are great resources for both shoes and clothes - both Santa Barbara Running and Outfooters are sponsors for the shirts - please thank Jay and Joe for their support! (21 Mar)

Correction Eric did not complain about Saturday's cross-country course being difficult, instead he wishes to say it was meticulously, thoroughly marked, and the bike escort was excellent. To say nothing of the band, real prices... (16 Mar)

New local race series Reef and Run a weekly race on Tuesdays, 6:25pm at the Cabrillo bathhouse. 28 April - 8 Sept. 1mile ocean swim, 1k swim, 2mile run, 4mile run, 1k swim/2mile run. (16 Mar)

Parma Park mostly open now. After being burned up and closed by the Tea Fire (16 Mar)

Trail Maintenance I wanted to let you and the other SBAA members know about our trail maintenance group, the Front Country Trail Crew. We will be doing trail maintenance projects on Santa Barbara's Trails on a regular basis. Our first project of the year is de-brushing the upper section of Tunnel Trail on 3/21, which has become very overgrown since it was last worked on. We are always looking for people who want to go out and help improve our trails system. No experience is needed and we will provide all the necessary equipment and training. Our volunteer page will have an updated calendar with current listings of volunteer and other trail activities.

Kimberly Burnell is one of those runners who seemed to come out of nowhere and soon could be seen everywhere. She races a lot, is one of the SBAA/Rusty Snow trained team members and perhaps most important for Runners Profile purposes, she seems to love running, particularly in Santa Barbara.
When many of the SB Running & Racing training group turned in impressive performances at the Cal International Marathon, Kimberly was high on the list. How many folks do you know who beat their goal marathon time by 10 minutes!!
Read about Kimberly- you will certainly enjoy learning more about someone with a delightful combination of candor, good cheer and a genuine appreciation of life in Santa Barbara.

Burdens of leadership Eric complains about how hard it is to be in the lead on a cross country race where everyone else expects him to know the way. I'm sure we all sympathize. Desa, on the other hand, insists that she is the only one who did not get lost on the same course, while everyone else went walk-about. Ah, the joys of a cross country race! (15 Mar 2009)

Fully Scrambled Eric Forte finished first in the 5 mile cross-country race, followed by Ian Leitch and Phil McKrackin. The women's race was won by Carol Schryver, Hannah Wright and Carol Montgomery. Full results, courtesy of SB Timing. (14 Mar 2009).

Scramble Correction The Scramble starts at 8:00am, the SBAA printed flier (and the website calendar) had the wrong time. The kids run starts at 9:30 (we got that wrong too). (10 Mar 2009)

Shamrock Scramble Shamrock'ers get ready to Scramble all over UCSB's West Campus! With just a few days to go before the second race in the SBXC Series presented by Teva and great weather in the forecasts (knock on wood please), the action is starting to heat up. Eric Forte and Hannah Wright prepare to protect their leads while others look to challenge. Winners (both male and female) will receive a great prize package of Dinner and Sunset Sailing for two. This race promises to be a highlight for all! All race entrants will receive very cool SBXC Series beanies and mugs along with Woodstocks Pizza, FRS Energy drink and lots of post-race goodies. A Kids Dash (free for all) has recently been added thanks to Kevin Young. The youngsters will take off for a 1 mile race at 9:30am. Live music and all entrants will be entered in a chance to win a UCSB-logo'ed beachcruiser bike! To register go, to www.regonline.com/shamrockscramble. (10 Mar 2009)

Malibu Creek 25km Shiggy reports that "Mariann Thomas won women's race out of 69 women (12th overall out of 134) in yesterday's Malibu Creek 25km Trail Run. 2:24:45". Mariann responds "But what Shigy failed to mention is that he was 2nd overall 2:01:23 out of 134. Great job Shigy!!!!" (9 Mar 2009)

USATF Grand Prix The Southern California chapter of the USATF has adapted our Grand Prix program. There are now Grand Prix races all over the region, the first being at Buena Park on Saturday 15 March. (9 Mar 2009)

Online Registration (I hope). It should now be possible to renew your SBAA membership/GP status online. Look at the club page.
You can also check whether your membership is current, and whether you are in the GP. That is to say, you can check the information that I have been given. Several people have already told me it is incorrect; so please, verify your membership and GP status and let me know if it is incorrect. (9 Mar 2009)

Grand Prix standings now include Superbowl but not yet Peabody. (8 Mar 2009)

Peabody Results. Eric Forte won the men's 5M (GP) race by a second over Todd Booth (26:50 and 26:51) with Carl Legleiter close on their heels at 27:09. All three times go into the Men's Club Records for the 5Mile. In perhaps her final appearance, Annie Toth won the women's race in 28:30 (putting her in the Women's Club Records) followed by Drea at 30:06 and Melissa Marsted at 33:25.
In the 5K, it was Ricky Ho, Rusty Ito and Micky Sederburg for the men and Desa, Heidi Heitkamp and Annie Debruynkops (a 13 year old!). (7 Mar 2009)
Pictures by Kevin Steele

Thar's blooms in them thar hills! The Ceanothus is coming out in purple and white, the bush poppies are displaying their golden blooms, even the sages are starting to flower. The trails have dried after the rains and it's a perfect day for a hike or trail run! (26 Feb 2009)

Roses Results (22 Feb 2009)

The Roses were not those of the Mission's gardens but the hundred blooms for the first women finishers. A cloudy day, "Night Moves in a dead calm," according to Ricky Ho. "With no setting sun," added Mme des Jardins. Stewart Hartwell won the men with 15:35, then Todd Booth at 16:14 and Ricky at 16:58. Desa, ready to rob a liquor store in her black beanie and make a fast getaway on her even faster legs, was first woman overall in 20:42. She was heard saying, "Dopamine, it's all about the dopamine!" at the start. (21 Feb 2009)
SB Pix has more than 700 images of the race already up.

Anne Awesome Annie Toth presented and defended her dissertation today at UCSB. A proud member of the Samuel Lab (and Team Interferon athlete), Annie surprised no-one by being prepared, articulate, thorough, and clear. So well did she speak, the questions from her panel were about things that neither she, nor they, nor anyone else knows -- her work being the best kind of science, that both establishes results and leads to new questions. A sign of the respect Annie earned with the senior faculty is the degree to which they asked her to speculate, and listened closely when she (reluctantly) did. Presenting in front of Carl, his parents, and a special surprise, her Mom, the new Dr Toth teared up at the end when she took the opportunity to thank all of those who supported her.
AT: the whole community joins in congratulating you, and in telling you how deeply we'll miss you. -- JK (20 Feb 2009)

Roses! The start time in the printed calendar is wrong! (and in the online one too, until just now). Roses en la Playa actually starts at 9am, this Saturday at Leadbetter. Have a great race! (19 Feb 2009).

Montana de Oro The SB Tri crowd showed up to dominate the trails at Montana de Oro this weekend despite the gale force winds that threatened to blow us off the trail. Romy Suzuki ran her first 50K sub 8. Needless to say hubby Shighy led everyone to a 1st place finish in 4:47.Ken Hughes just held on!
In the 25 K group Kimberly Denig and Ammon Hunter both went sub 3 on their first trail ultra with Linda Phillips and Pamela Bohn topping their age group! Jennifer Hernandez and the one true trail runner Shari Hammond ran together on the beautiful course. Kevin Young and Richard Phillips ran strong on the 12 K loop.
Did I mention it was windy? NOAA stations reported 20 with gusts to 39! Luckily the predicted rain never showed. The PCTR trail runs moves down to Malibu and Sycamore Canyon next month for anyone interested. (19 Feb 2009)

Mark's blog Mark Warren, noted local ultra-runner, has joined the world of blogging. (19 Feb 2009)

P.A.M.'s Run Results 5k and 10k. (17 Feb 2009)

Multiuse Trail Coalition On Sat March 14th, the City, County, and USFS will be sponsoring a trail leader training day at Stevens Parks. This training will qualify individuals to lead trail work crews on our trails. The training begins at 9am will last until 1pm. There is no charge and anyone who is interested please contact us before March 1st. We will be there and look forward to many work days on trail with our Front Country Trail Crew following this event. More info and directions will be posted on our website as it becomes available. (16 Feb 2009)

What light from yonder Lagoon breaks? Results for Romeo's 2/2M Relay and 4M run. Unbelievably fast race. Eric Forte won the 4M with a 4:15min/mile pace, and Hannah Wright won the women with 5:01 pace. Desa&Ricky won the couple's relay, Sarah Mandes & Matt Trost were second and Nichol Des Jardins & Eric Forte were third -- all after zipping through the 4 mile run earlier in the morning. (14 Feb 2009)

P.A.M.'s Run Maggie Mason lead an SBAA contingent down to Westlake for a new 10K there. "It was a tough course, finishing with 1.5 mile uphill, so our times weren't great, but the nice thing was -- Every one of us placed." George Williams and Michelle McToldridge were the third man and woman respectively, Maggie, Jana McKee, Brooke Powell and John Brennand were each first in their divisions and Tamara Berndt was second in hers. (Maggie was also fourth woman overall). (14 Feb 2009)

February Profile For anyone who has followed race results during the past year they are sure to have noticed a couple of names listed atop the leaderboard, none with more constancy than Andrea "Drea" McLarty. After picking up nearly as much hardware as possible at the SBAA Awards Banquet in December, Drea’s reputation is well deserved. As you can imagine, Drea had quite a few individual race victories on her way to becoming the overall champ. Find out more about Drea’s life both inside and outside of running below. (11 Feb 2009)

Peabody Race Change The GP race for Peabody Charter School will no longer be a 10K, it will be a 5M instead. (9 Feb 2009)

Romeo's Rational SBXC Series presented by Teva ready to tackle the trails.... Tired of the same old races on the same old race courses? The UCSB Alumni Association, SB Running Co. and SB Independent are joining forces to bring a fun alternative to keep you active and smiling during the winter season. The action kicks off this weekend with Romeo's Run & Relay, a 4 mile open race and Couples Relay. Runners will be competing for the Series Championship with first place overall (Male and Female) receiving: $50 cash, $50 gift card from SBR, running shoes from Teva, photo in the Independent, complimentary entry into the 2010 SBXC Series with the coveted #1 race bib and 2 tickets to the UCSB Vintners Tasting on 4/25/09. For details (9 Feb 2009)

Volunteer Grubbing! How many of you have experienced the joy of stopping cars while runners zip by? Once again we are in need of your services! José needs volunteers for Roses (new course this year, don't go to the top of State St.), and Garrett Headley is already looking for helpers for the Peabody races, (8 Feb 2009).

Runner's profiles I stumbled upon an old archive of (scans of) runner's profiles from the old newsletter. Check them out on the Runner's Profile Page. 8 Feb 2009

Runner's pictures missing At one point, each profile came equiped with its own picture of the runner. Over the years many these seem to have gotten lost (at least I can't find them). If you have been profiled and your profile page doesn't have an image of you, or if you'd like to submit a more recent picture, please send one to me or Joe Howell. (8 Feb 2009).

Former Races As I've been looking through old profiles I see mention of races we used to have but no longer do. Some of these races sounded interesting (that is had interesting routes) and I wanted to keep track of them in hopes that they could be resurrected ... someday. If anyone would like to add a local race which they liked, but which is no longer with us, please email me. (8 Feb 2009)

Superbowl morning run: Cool sunny weather, nice race conditions. Results.
On the men's side: Eric Forte, Todd Booth and Ian Leitch all well above 80%, on the women's side: Drea McLarty, Michelle McToldridg and Mariann Thomas. Fran Finney had the highest age-graded percent on the women's side. Well, done. (1 Feb 2009)

How fast can I run a...? We all wonder... "OK, I just did a 10K in 40 minutes, well, how fast should I expect to run a 5K? or a 15K?" There are many variables involved in answering this, but luckily the WAVA tables take the most important into account. So one solution is to figure out your age-graded percentage on the 10K, and see what time that percentage would give you on the 5K, or 15K. I've written a little script which tries to work this out.
Moreover, on the runner and race pages I've fixed things up so that clicking on the Time will take you to this calculator (26 Jan 2009)

January Profile: Andrew Maxwell Many local runners and triathletes remember ten years ago, when Andrew seemed to “show up”. He was a high school kid who had some talent, a seemingly unlimited desire to learn about running, biking and swimming and a remarkable ability to make friends with everyone he met.
He has come a long way, with an impressive collegiate triathlon career at University of Colorado and some great local triathlon (top 3 finishes in both long course and sprint) and running performances (winning 2007 Tough Enough 100K-solo). His 2007 Hawaii Ironman and 2:46 marathon at California International Marathon last December indicate this guy is just getting started. (25 Jan 2009)

Santa Barbara International Marathon is now open for registration!
      Τρέχω Μαραθώνιος (22 Jan 2009)

Caveat cursor There is a misprint in the (printed) calendar. The Gaucho Gallop is on 25 April and involves 5K and 10K runs. (21 Jan 2009)

Ed Mitchell has achieved a half-marathon PR of 1:23:35 at the Pheonix Rock'n Roll marathon (which has a half attached). "It was a lot of fun, Rock bands every mile. I recommend this to anyone looking for a really fun half marathon, not too far away." Also a new American record was set there for the 50K (sadly, not by Ed), Josh Cox ran the marathon, and then popped over to the Arizona State track to rack up the remaining 7.8K. (19 Jan)

Calendar I've redesigned the calendar page.

Tough Enough Closing registration on 31 January. The race has filled up really early this year. Hurry if you still want to build a team!

Superbowl Volunteers Needed! José needs volunteers for the Superbowl Sunday race at Stow Grove Park. Free tee-shirt for those working. Contact jose@sbactionpro.com. (15 Jan 2009)

New LOCAL ultras! Two new local ultra races are starting this year in the Santa Barbara back country:

• Blue Canyon Trail race -- 50k, 50m and 100k variants. 6 June 2009 starting at Rancho Oso. See www.bluecanyontrailrace.com for more information.
• Dirt Roads & Trail Endurance 100m -- 35,000ft of elevation gain. Qualification required. 2 & 3 Oct 2009, also at Rancho Oso. See www.drte100.com for more information.

New Year The new year really is here. This has the unforunate side effect of requiring us to fill out a new membership/GP application form for the year. Don't forget! If you haven't already done this you won't be able to use the Superbowl 4 miler as a GP race. (13 Jan 2009)

Race graphs About the first thing I posted was a graph showing the age-grading of the two resolution runs. I've now got that working on the server, so people can generate their own graphs. If you look at a race you should now see a little graph at the top, or you can ask to see just the graph by clicking on the correct form from the results page.

The Rivals I've been told that when Joe Hilton finishes a race his daughter greets him with "Did you beat Todd Booth?". In deference to this sense of inquiry I have written a little script so that people can compare rivals. (12 Jan 2009)

Grand Prix Superbowl. The Superbowl 4miler is a Grand Prix event this year, and will be on the first of February. Time to start thinking about it! (8 Jan 2008)

Race Results I have added some options to the race results page. Races are conventionally ordered by finishing time. As I get older I become more interested in seeing them ordered by Age-Graded Percentage. So I'm building up a race database (not yet complete) which will allow you to sort and display our races on various criteria.
    I've also included a kilometer pace, because I want to know that myself.
    I haven't loaded all the races yet, but some are present, and others are uploading as I write. My approach to races has been somewhat random so far, but races run at the beginning of the year are more likely to be uploaded than those later. (7 Jan 2009)

Bethany, our UCSB track correspondent is a blogger now. Actually she's been a blogger for some months, but I only just discovered it. (6 Jan 09)

Age Graded Someone asked me why I didn't show the ages in the age-graded graph. Well the whole point of the age-graded percentage is to provide a way of comparing runners abilities that is independent of age and sex. The age graded percentage for each runner shows how close s/he came to the world record time for her/his age and sex. Aaron and Drea are still young (at least from my perspective) and it's not surprising that they won their respective races. Michael is not so young and the fact that he was just a few seconds behind Aaron is impressive. Michael ran at 86% of the world record time for his age, Aaron ran at 79.8% (now running at 80% quite good, but running at 86% is even better). Drea ran at 83%. By comparing a runner against the best possible for his/her age, we get a percentage that (one hopes) has removed the effects of age and sex on performance -- providing a meaningful way of comparing runners of different ages and sexes.
    An extremely long winded way of saying: "Ages aren't shown on the graph, because the point of the graph is to get rid of the dependence on age". (6 Jan 09)

And speaking of blogs... you may recall that about a year and a half ago the blogs stopped working for 6 months. We used to host them on this site, but moved them to wordpress.com when our site died. I think I know why our site died: spam. We got spammed to death. Liz W.'s blog had 176Megabytes of comments, another had 15Mb and several had ~1Mb. The site only had 200Mb of disk space so 195Mb of spam overwhelmed it. Old news (if you will pardon the oxymoron), but I'm glad I understand it finally (6 Jan 09).

Why are so many of the top US runners immigrants? Is something wrong with our training system? Or is it the expected result of evolution that some parts of the world will select for better runners than others? (5 Jan '09)

Age Graded

More Resolution Day 'Drea ran a 5K PR, and her club record has been adjusted accordingly.
    Denis has pictures of a very foggy race.
    The good folks at Santa Barbara Pix have uploaded a thousand images from the race.

Resolution Day. Fog. Fog. And more Fog. The person in front: hidden in the mist. The person behind: muffled to inaudibility by the fog.
    5K (Gran Prix) Results Aaron Gillen with 16:16 followed by Michael Smith with 16:22 (and the highest age-graded percentage of the day 86%!), Leroy Thomas at 16:26 and Todd Booth 16:28. 'Drea McLarty won the women with 17:44, followed by Sara Dillman 19:24, Laura Turner 19:40 and Mariann Thomas 20:07.
    10K Results Todd Booth won the 10K at 34:47, Joe Nordin at 36:26, and the indominable Shigy Suzuki with 38:09. The women's race was run by Jenny Mintz 43:23, followed by Danielle Lipski 43:38 and out of towner Melina Healey 44:31.
    Eleven runners over 80% in the 5K, and 3 in the 10K.

Res Novae Day. I have always respected Jim as a webmaster, and fear that I will be unable to live up to the breadth of his interests nor the verve of his comments. But I shall do what I can.
    I feel I must try to live up to Jim's expectations, so here are some Lemur catta mothers (with babies on their backs) enjoying the sun. Humans aren't the only ones who like to sunbath.

Thank you. As of today, I'm resigning from both the SBAA Board and as webmaster.
    I served on the Board in the mid-80's and again over the past few years. The Board is turning over, at a deliberate rate, as it should, and this is a natural part of it. The SBAA is in good hands.
    I've been webmaster since the inception of the site. George Williams will be taking it over. George is a CalTech grad, well-known as a local runner, articulate, and he might be the SBAA's foremost authority on lemurs. (Up to now, lemurs have played little part in local running.)
    Over the past five years, I've written roughly 200 thousand words. Most of what I wrote about was trivial -- not in its importance to the people involved, to the person who ran the marathon PR -- but personal and passing. Perhaps some was not; I'll never be privileged to know which was which. Sometimes the off-hand remark echoes in an unintended ear, or in an unintended way. I've relied -- I've had no choice but to rely on -- the generosity of you readers. All of these words leave traces in our memories; that fade, or never arrive at all, or perhaps sink below the surface to re-emerge later, at some unexpected time, with an unexpected meaning. If something I've written has given you pleasure, or amusement, or some information about the world you might not otherwise have had -- thank you for engaging with me. -- Jim (New Year's Day 2009)

SBAA site. This past week, a quiet week, we've had around eight hundred visitors a day, from the US, Germany, China, Russia, the US military, Brazil, Romania, Canada, Venezuela, Taiwan. From Turkey, Sweden, Singapore, Thailand, Ukraine, the UK. Even from Tuvalu. On more active weeks, it climbs to twelve or thirteen hundred per day -- if you're accustomed to "hits," that's around 34 thousand a day. (01/01)

State Street Mile. Megan R-R reminds that for the early birds -- the really early birds -- the SSM is open for registration on Active. And, oddly enough, Tough Enough -- which is as close to the opposite of State Street as is gets, yet attracts many of the same runners -- is as full already (before even the first of the year) as it was on race day its first year back. (12/30)

Runner enclave. Runner enclave forming -- housing for runners age 18-30 $600/mo on the Mesa. Fro more info, e-mail Kevin Young, or reach him by phone at 564-3400. (12/29)

Volunteers. Yep, could be you. The spin says Barack Obama started out as a community organizer, but really -- he was a race volunteer. (Facts you won't find on any other running website.) January 1, 2009, Palm Park. Registration, finish line, course monitors, water station, food, raffle. Patsy Dorsey is The Woman.
    Go for it. Click the link. (12/28)

Endorphins and endocannabinoids "Endo" means inside, "-orphin" from morphine, cannabinoids from cannabis (marijuana). Running releases these, the most natural thing in the world, something our ancestors, who walked and ran all the time, enjoyed as their normal baseline. One wonders whether the physical benefits of running really derive primarily from the mental?
    Well. SBrunning is not one of those running websites that endorse Descartes' error. Mind, body, brain; not separable, really. It's nice that running nourishes and makes healthy all of the intricately-intertwined systems that make us up. (12/28)

Happy Christmas to all. Philip Larkin, dark, then light:
    The first day after a death, the new absence
    Is always the same; we should be careful
    Of each other, we should be kind
    While there is still time.
Happy Christmas to all, to all a good morning. (12/25)

Top ten distance accomplishments of 2008. For Americans, as selected by Ryan Lamppa, local athlete and Running USA Media Director. Fails to include Aaron winning the SBHM in a caveman outfit; a shocking omission, but admittedly not quite up there with Shalane's Bronze. Get 'em here. (Solstice)

Are you tough enough? Will be Saturday, April 11th this coming year. The race director is a little concerned at the degree of early interest. Geez. Registration page now posted; and a link added by the blogs. Even if you're not planning on running you might want to check out the interactive course map Garrett H. made. (12/20)

New Year's volunteers. New Year's Resolution Day Run volunteers needed. January 1, 2009, Palm Park. Registration, finish line, course monitors, water station, food, raffle. Start the year as a race volunteer! Time varies depending on what is done, between 6:30am - 10:30am. Please contact Patsy Dorsey, patsy.dorsey@cox.net. Thank You! (12/18)

Running long #1. John Lofthus ran his first 50-miler in 9:11 on a tough Marin County course with almost 11 thousand feet elevation gain. (John: "We ran on the Dipsea trail for part of it and that wasn't the hardest part!") Scott Devore was 3rd in the trail 10K (45:06, 255 runners).
    John writes, "I'm still trying to reach my goal of $1,000 for student scholarships at UCSB (I'm now up to $600).  Last year there were 2,000 students that were eligible for student scholarships (had financial need and academic merit) but didn't receive any scholarship dollars. This is a small step towards solving that." Anyone interested in donating, please email John directly. (12/18)

Running long #2 Gina Fennell: "Steve Miley once again organized a great fun run. Nine of us gathered at the Jesusita trailhead at 6:30 AM on Saturday to run Half Nine Trails (hence the 4.5 Trails name). Our group was a nice mix of trail running newbies and 9-trails finishers. Ken Hughes ran ahead from the start and graciously marked every tricky turn on the course. Patty Bryant joined in for the first few miles before ditching us to hike with her husband! We all took time to enjoy the beautiful rainbow and the gorgeous views of the islands and ocean. Our veteran trail runners, Steve Miley, Michelle Greer, and Lisa Kanen led the newbies, myself, Brian Dutter, Matt Boeddeker, and Kim Denig, through the interesting maze of trails that comprises the race route. Special thanks goes out to Tony Borek and Tamara Berndt who stood out in the wind and cold on Gibralter to provide water and snacks and to Shannon and Sage Dutter, Brooke Powell, Tony and Tamara who provided food at the finish and rides back to the start." (12/18)

SBAA alumni news. Nate Kornell, PhD, will shortly accept a faculty position at Williams College in Massachusetts. US News & World Report ranks Williams as the #1 small liberal arts college in the country. (12/18)

Elda, Carrie, Marie. A field correspondent writes, "Elda Rudd ran a perfect race! She finished in 3:32 with a negative split, a Boston qualifier and a 23 min PR! Marie Schnyer had a great first marathon and finished strong with a 4:05. Carrie Dent had a great PR of 3:25. Maggie Mason won her age group and we got to embarass her at the awards ceremony. It was unaninomous amongst the team that [trains] with Mike Swan and Rusty Snow how fortunate we are to have guidance and support from such great people. It was a great time in Sacramento." (12/12)

Las Vegas and Tucson. Sarah Mandes ran 3:25 in Las Vegas; at Tucson, Paulette and Art Posch ran 4:00 and 4:28, respectively; Larry Suhr 5:54; Ann and John Brinker 4:14 and 3:35. Sorry to have missed and congratulations all around. (12/12)

GP banquet. Splendid time had by many. Particular note was taken of a transition: Des O'eill, 40-year SBAA president, and John Brennand, Secretary/Treasurer for 48, are both stepping down, handing off to Jim Sloan and Rob Olsen. Des has guided the club through the middle way, neither too ambitious nor too passive, the consequence being that the club is still around (to our benefit). He's done so in an admirably ego-free way, which has allowed a rich interplay of initiatives and ideas to become self-sustaining (or not) within our local running ecosystem. John has been such a central figure, perhaps the central figure, in local racing for decades. When other races where haphazard, ours were measured, marked, chuted and accurately timed, chiefly thanks to John's tenacity and systematicity. (The community is still reeling from the disappearance of John's Citroen wagon--beyond question the most distinctive RD vehicle in California running history. A wonderful sight, with the pneumatic suspension relaxed at park, making it look like the car had sunk to complete collapse under all the race gear stowed in the back.) Thanks go to Wally Marantette, emcee Joe Howell, who makes every feel welcome and comfortable, to Jay and Scott and the Outfooters crew, to Art Blondell, of trophy fame, and chiefly to all the runners who make the community a community. (12/12)

Least surprising result ever. Carl Legleiter defended his thesis successfully -- and having paid his fee and submitted a 655-page dissertation, he's now Carl Legleiter, PhD. Off this month for a short post-doc at USGS in Colorado, then beginning in the fall at the University of Wyoming as a tenure-track professor. At which point he'll look back with longing at the easy days of being a grad student. Carl -- it's been great having you part of the community. (12/12)

Oops. SBrunning apologizes for the interruption. Domain registration is carried by the same parent as the web hosting, but the web hosting fees and domain registration fees are separate. We're good for another five years now, though. (12/12)

California International Marathon. Results, courtesy of Rusty Snow, who writes, "Mike [Swan] and I have the pleasure and honor of coaching these folks and they are all very tough individuals and showed that today."
    Andrew Maxwell 2:46 first marathon; Jill Zachery 3:08 great effort and time considering not the greatest buildup; Daniel Rudd 3:08 first marathon; Maggie Mason 3:17 10 sec off pr; Kim Burnell 3:19 HUGE pr; Jamie Allison 3:34pr; Dave Adornetto 3:30pr; Claire Krock 3:36pr; Tony Borek, HUGE pr of 3:48 -- left no stone unturned as Tony saw a nutritionist and has been training hard for two years now to transform himself from a football player to runner; Tamara Berndt, HUGE of 3:53.
    SBAA congratulates all for terrific running. (12/07)