Dec. 3, 2013
For immediate release
Tollefsons hope to attain 2016 qualifiers at CIM
Local runners Tim and Lindsay Tollefson, teammates on the Sacramento Running Association’s Elite Team, have a simple goal for Sunday’s California International Marathon.
Punch their tickets to the 2016 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials.
The Tollefsons qualified for the 2012 Trials, with Tim attaining the qualifying standard at the 2011 CIM, just five weeks before the event. Taking care of business on Sunday will provide a lot more preparation time.
The CIM, put on by the Sacramento Running Association, begins at 7 a.m. The 26.2-mile course begins near Folsom Dam and finishes at the state Capitol.
“We’re hoping to get our qualifier out of the way,” said Tim Tollefson, whose marathon personal best of 2 hours, 18 minutes and 26 seconds is within striking distance of the 2:18:00 qualifying standard.
Tollefson, a 28-year-old physical therapist, has enjoyed a strong training cycle. He finished second to SRA teammate Kevin Pool with a 1:06:21 effort at the Urban Cow Half Marathon in Sacramento on Oct. 6.
“That was the highlight of the fall,” he said. “Urban Cow ended up being perfect, an ideal checkpoint nine weeks out.
“It’s been going real well. The best stretch of training I’ve had in my career.”
Tollefson also set personal bests this year in the steeplechase and 5,000 meters on the track and the 10k and half marathon on the roads.
Lindsay Tollefson, also 28, shaved 15 seconds off her 5k personal best with a 16:39 runner-up effort in The Run To Feed The Hungry on Thanksgiving Day in Sacramento.
“A PR now and then keeps me motivated,” she said.
Tollefson said she’s also happy with her CIM training.
“It’s been really good,” she said. “I wasn’t really training for a 5k. I’m training for a marathon. I’m thinking I’m on the right track if I PR’d in the 5k without even doing any speed work.”
Lindsay Tollefson, who works for a vacation rental company and is taking classes to become a dental hygienist, has no intention of missing out on the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. Her 2:42:59 personal best is just under the qualifying standard of 2:43:00 but came before the qualifying window opened in August.
“I don’t want him to qualify and me not,” she said. “I’m right there. It’s doable.”
Tim Tollefson finished 79th in the 2012 marathon trials with a 2:27:00 performance. Lindsay Tollefson, then competing as Lindsay Nelson, placed 130th in the women’s trials with a 2:52:55 effort.
The Tollefsons just moved back to the Sacramento area, settling in Lincoln after a two-year stay in Mammoth Lakes. They credit the Sacramento Running Association’s support with helping their running careers.
“It’s awesome,” Lindsay Tollefson said. “It’s nice to know we’re supported in running.
“They want us to get out and race … It’s awesome to see the team itself getting better.”
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.