Run

Roughly 18,000 people attended Saturday's Komen Race for the Cure at Cal Expo, the first since the national organization's ill-fated January decision to stop giving funds to Planned Parenthood – a move it later rescinded.

Friday Night Lights here connote something far, far different than in most places.

With her pink ribbons and can-do attitude, Sonia Susac raised $40,000 last year to become one of the leading fundraisers for the annual Komen Race for the Cure in the Sacramento Valley.

More than 3,000 runners have already registered for the Dec. 2 California International Marathon.

Despite the fact that they're a few decades older than most first-time half-marathoners, Phyllis McGee and Helen Baker don't really know why people are making a fuss about them.

There is no shortage of comic potential when someone runs around with their underwear worn outside their clothing.

The Capitals protected their rights to Mardy Fish, the top-ranked American male singles player in the world, with the seventh pick in Tuesday's World TeamTennis marquee draft, the team announced.

Running and eggnog, both quite enjoyable when experienced separately, can lead to queasy and potentially propulsive results when combined.

The pace, Erick Monyenye thought, was too slow. So just before Mile 19 of Sunday's California International Marathon, Monyenye shifted into another running gear and invited the rest of the dwindling leaders' pack to keep up.

Thirty-three Americans – 25 women and eight men – ran under the qualifying times for next month's U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials at the 29th California International Marathon on Sunday.

Kenya's Erick Monyenye pulled away from the leaders' pack just before mile 19 and won the 29th annual California International Marathon this morning, crossing the finish line at 9th and Capitol in 2 hours, 11 minutes and 50 seconds.

Conventional wisdom, or one familiar with the course of the California International Marathon, might say that Dylan Wykes won last year's event the hard way.

Amy McDonaugh says she hardly ever runs with a guide. She stays on familiar roads while training near her South Carolina home and, during races, sometimes "shadows" other runners whose feet she can make out ahead.

Roseville-based Adventist Health said it is the largest corporate entrant in this year's California International Marathon.

Want to see the runners as they take on the California International Marathon on Sunday? Here are the best places to watch the CIM, when you'll see the first runners cross the finish line and more.

For dinner Saturday night, Steve Schenck said, he will probably sit down to a plate of spaghetti, for the familiarity. Jake Matthews was leaning toward chicken and potatoes, for the "power." Beth Bourne said she might eat some chicken or fish, for the lean protein.

Dec. 11 is the last day to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Trials – scheduled for Jan. 14 in Houston – which means those attempting to qualify at the California International Marathon most likely will be taking their final shot.

The Run to Feed the Hungry established a first this year that organizers could have done without.

Sacramento streets will close for the annual Thanksgiving Run to Feed the Hungry.

For 18 years, Run to Feed the Hungry has generated money for programs of the Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services. Between now and Thanksgiving, we'll bring you stories of local folks who benefited from Food Bank & Family Services programs.

To order the DVD or find theater screenings of "Unbreakable: The Western States 100," go to www.ws100film.com.

Picture Aretha Franklin timidly answering a cattle call for "America's Got Talent" or Robert De Niro deigning to do community theater.

For 18 years, Run to Feed the Hungry has generated money for programs of the Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services. Between now and Thanksgiving, we'll bring you stories of local folks who benefited from Food Bank & Family Services programs.

Sacramento's Run to Feed the Hungry ranks second in the nation among Thanksgiving Day road running races with more than 25,000 annual participants. Some say, though, that the community feeling may be tipping toward claustrophobia.

Have you participated in all 17 editions of the Run To Feed the Hungry, the annual Thanksgiving fundraiser for the Sacramento Food Bank, and plan to do so again this year?

The California International Marathon has reached its limit of 8,000 marathon entrants and 4,000 relay runners, race officials announced Tuesday.

Getting injured and sick this time last year – just as Jen Pfeifer was peaking for a marathon in Arizona that she hoped would be her Olympic Trials qualifier – could have unintentionally been the best thing for her running.

The UC Davis' Student Chapter of the American Veterinary Medical Association is holding the annual Dog 'n' Jog at the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital on Saturday to benefit the organization and its vector-borne disease control awareness program.

Editor's note: The Ticket section is all about arts and entertainment. So, this year, we decided to have a little fun with the participants of the 13th annual Race for the Arts.

Editor's note: The Ticket section is all about arts and entertainment. So, this year, we decided to have a little fun with the participants of the 13th annual Race for the Arts.

Editor's note: Ticket is all about arts and entertainment. So, this year, The Bee decided to have a little fun with the participants of the 13th annual Race for the Arts.

More than 2,000 people participated in this year's Eppie's Great Race, billed as the world's oldest triathlon.

More than 2,000 people participated Saturday in this year's Eppie's Great Race, billed as the world's oldest triathlon.

Such plans Nicole Young made for her 40th year. She could hardly wait. In fact, she chose not to.

In the past three years, Brad Poore has brought several young Kenyan runners to Northern California in what might be considered an informal running exchange program.

Granite Bay runner Greg Bomhoff, whose training for the 135-mile Badwater Ultramarathon was documented in The Bee, finished the race Tuesday evening in 34 hours, 6 minutes, 3 seconds.

As the 2011 World Masters Athletics Championships wrap up this weekend at Sacramento State and two other area venues, here's a look at some noteworthy achievements from the 11-day event:

Fence jumping is not an official event at the 2011 World Masters Athletics Championships, the ultimate showcase for track and field stars over the age of 35 that's under way in Sacramento.

Granite Bay runner Greg Bomhoff, whose training for the 135-mile Badwater Ultramarathon was documented in The Bee, finished the race Tuesday evening in 34 hours 6 minutes 3 seconds.

This time, it was Zola Budd on the ground. And this time, she was wearing shoes.

Braised to perfection at 180 degrees, marinated in his own juices on a bed of wooden planks for 56 minutes, Greg Bomhoff emerged from the sauna piping hot and thoroughly cooked.

The Tahoe Rim Trail Association launched its hiking series, a free guided hike program that runs through the end of August.

Liz Palmer and Roseville's Kevin Morning head a list of local hopefuls at the 2011 World Masters Athletics Championships.

Running her first 100-mile race, and reportedly helped by a mother bear that blocked the course for seven minutes, Canadian Ellie Greenwood put on a late surge to overtake veteran Kami Semick late Saturday night to win the women's division of the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run from Squaw Valley to Auburn. She finished in 17 hours, 55 seconds.

They don't have an official world championship for ultramarathons – yet – but Saturday's Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run will do nicely for now.

In Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run lore, few races compare to the so-called "fire and ice" ordeal of 1995, when runners plowed through heavy snowpack the first 24 miles, then were greeted by 107-degree temperatures when they plunged into the canyon.

This is Greg Soderlund's 12th year as Western States' race director, and he's made no secret that two years hence, at age 65, he'll hand over the reins of this increasingly unwieldy beast of a race to a new generation.

On Thursday, with the temperature in Sacramento expected to hover near 100, an Army veteran from Sacramento who recently recovered from injuries in Afghanistan will run 50 miles through Sacramento and various suburbs to raise awareness of health care for children in low-income families.

Residents can help local schools while enjoying a run or walk through the foothills Sunday.

Training for a singular race such as the Badwater Ultramarathon, 135 miles through Death Valley and into the Sierra, involves more than logging major mileage over many months, more than devising extreme and bizarre ways to acclimate to the heat, more than dealing with mundane logistical details.