August 27, 2013
For immediate release
Contact:
John Schumacher
(916) 804-3742
schumacher@runsra.org
Conley, Wallace and LaBeaud aim for World Championships
Sacramento Running Association teammates Kim Conley, Lea Wallace and Natasha LaBeaud hope to deliver big performances in the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships beginning Thursday at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.
Conley, a 2012 Olympian and a former UC Davis standout, heads into the women’s 5,000 meters with a realistic chance of finishing in the top three and earning a spot on the U.S. team for the upcoming World Championships on Aug. 10-18 in Moscow.
She ran a personal best of 15 minutes, 9.57 seconds at the Prefontaine Classic three weeks ago. Conley spent the past few weeks training in Indiana to prepare for a humid race. The women’s 5,000 final is set for Sunday afternoon.
“My training has been going well and I’m looking forward to the race,” she said. “My goal is to finish in the top three and make the World Championships team.
“I’ll be racing against a very competitive field so I’m gearing up to put up a big fight and not counting anyone out.”
Her competitors will certainly keep an eye on Conley, whose dramatic kick in the 2012 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials earned her a third-place finish and a trip to the Olympics, where she recorded a then personal-best 15:14.48 to finish 12th in her heat.
Conley followed up her Olympic effort by finishing second in the U.S. Cross Country Championships and competing in the World Cross Country Championships in Poland.
Wallace, a former Sacramento State star, hopes her 2:00.94 best puts her in contention in the women’s 800 meters. She begins competition on Thursday, with the semifinals set for Friday and the final on Sunday afternoon.
LaBeaud, a former Folsom High School standout, ran 32:57.78 two months ago and hopes to contend in the women’s 10,000 on Thursday night.
The SRA will also send two athletes – Kevin Pool and Daniel Tapia – to the U.S. Half Marathon Championships on Saturday in Duluth, Minn.
Pool manages the SRA Elite Team and works as the SRA’s Director of Technical Operations. Tapia won the 2012 California International Marathon.
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, last Saturday’s 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.