Dec. 5, 2012
For immediate release
SRA Elite Team member honored for CIM victory
Daniel Tapia, a Sacramento Running Association Elite Team member who won the California International Marathon on Sunday, was named USA Track & Field’s Athlete of the Week on Wednesday.
Tapia surprised a quality field by staying patient early in the CIM before surging in the final mile to pull away from Ethiopia’s Tesfaye Alemayehu to win in 2 hours, 16 minutes and 29 seconds. Alemayehu finished second in 2:17:06.
The Sacramento Running Association, which puts on the CIM, has provided financial assistance in the past year for Tapia, a 26-year-old law school student who lives in Prunedale and works full-time at his family’s restaurant in Salinas.
Tapia became the first American to win the CIM since Joe LeMay in 1999.
USA Track & Field is the governing body for the sport of running in the United States and each week selects an athletic performance from around the nation to win this award.
For a complete list of 2012 weekly winners, visit http://www.usatf.org/News/Tapia-Named-USA-Track—Field-Athlete-of-the-Week.aspx.
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.
Other SRA events include the recently concluded Lake Natoma Four Bridges Half Marathon, the Super Bowl Sunday 10k Run on Feb. 3 and the Credit Union SACTOWN Ten-Mile Run on April 7.
SRA beneficiaries include the American River Parkway, youth fitness programs, local running venues and aspiring young runners.