August 27, 2013
For immediate release
Contact:
John Schumacher
(916) 804-3742
schumacher@runsra.org
SRA standouts compete on Saturday in Moscow
Sacramento Running Association teammates Kim Conley and Daniel Tapia hope to deliver top performances Saturday in the finals of the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Moscow, Russia.
Conley is one of 15 runners in the women’s 5,000-meter final scheduled to begin at 7:55 a.m. Sacramento time. Tapia is in a field of 70 in the men’s marathon, set for 4:30 a.m. Sacramento time.
KCRA (Channel 3) is scheduled to televise the World Championships on Saturday from 9-9:30 a.m. and from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
Conley, a 2012 Olympian who lives in West Sacramento, posted the fifth-fastest qualifying time Wednesday with a 15-minute, 27.35-second effort to move into the final. The former UC Davis standout owns a personal best of 15:09.57.
American teammates Molly Huddle (15:40.91) and Shannon Rowbury (15:50.41) also advanced.
Conley used an SRA training grant to step back from her duties as an Aggies assistant coach and focus more on her training. The result: a dramatic third-place finish in the women’s 5,000 meters at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials and a trip to the Olympic Games in London, where she recorded a then personal-best 15:14.48 to finish 12th in her heat.
She didn’t stop there, either, making the U.S. team for the World Cross Country Championships in March, lowering her personal best to 15:09.57 at the Prefontaine Classic in June and then earning a spot in the 5,000 meters for the World Championships.
The SRA helped her spend three weeks earlier this summer training at altitude in Switzerland. Conley then went to London and ran a personal-best 8:47.95 in the 3,000 meters at a Diamond League meet.
Tapia, the 2012 California International Marathon winner, also credits SRA support with helping him emerge onto the international stage.
He was selected to represent the U.S. in the marathon with Jeff Eggleston and Carlos Trujillo.
Tapia, who lives in Castroville, delivered a surprising victory at the 2012 CIM, overcoming wind and rain and several runners with faster personal bests with a 2:16:29 performance.
He followed up his CIM win with a 2:14:30 effort to finish ninth in the 2013 Boston Marathon, joining SRA teammates Kevin Pool (2:18:59) and Cheyne Inman (2:31:05) to combine for the top team time.
The Sacramento Running Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to finding ways to encourage people of all ages and abilities to run. The SRA is committed to developing new, quality running events that appeal to a broad variety of runners.
SRA events include the recent Gold Rush 100k and Freedom Mile, the Folsom Blues Breakout Half Marathon on Oct. 19, the California International Marathon on Dec. 8, the Super Bowl Sunday 10k Run on Feb. 2 and the Credit Union SACTOWN Ten-Mile Run on April 6.
SRA beneficiaries include the American River Parkway, youth fitness programs, local running venues and aspiring young runners.