California Track & Running News Jan-Mar 2013, VOLUME 39 NUMBER 2 | Page 7

CTRN-JanFebMar2013-_Layout 1 1/17/13 6:27 AM Page 7

and women’s 5K races, which once again each hosted Pacific Association/USTAF Open 5K Championships. 2012 Olympian Kim Conley
(West Sacramento) demolished a strong women’s field on the flatand-fast, four-loop elite course in 15:40, taking down the previous
women’s CR of 15:41 set by Sally Kipyego in 2009. Then, in the men’s
elite race, Kenya’s Stephen Sambu turned in a 13:28 barn burner,
breaking the 13:33 men’s course record established by Australia’s
David McNeil in 2011.
Conley established a gap on the lead pack after one mile and extended it to a strong finish, capturing the women’s overall and
PA/USATF championship titles. Clara Peterson (San Anselmo) captured the runner-up spot in 16:00, improving two places from last
year’s race. Katie (Follett) Mackey (Portland) was third in 16:06. Jackie
Areson (TX), last year’s female winner, finished 7th, battling the flu.
Thirteen women finished under 16:45.

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For Conley, who competes for Sacramento Running Association
Elite, it was a nice payday, capping a breakout year that included successive 5000m PRs on the track—a 15:19.79 at the U.S. Olympic Track
& Field Trials, followed by a 15:14.48 in a qualifying heat at the Olympic
Games in London. The 2008 graduate of UC-Davis took home $3,000
for the overall and PA/USATF women’s wins at the Turkey Trot, plus
another $500 in performance bonus money.
“The Olympic Games in London was a great experience, and I
came back from it with an inspiration to be even better,” Conley said
after the race. “Today was my start for doing that. This was my first
Silicon Valley [Turkey] Trot, and I had a great time.”
Sambu earned the men’s win in his first professional road race.
He had completed his collegiate career for the University of Arizona
just five days earlier at the NCAA Division I XC Championships, where
he finished second. He finished second here last year, but refused
prize money to preserve his collegiate eligibility.
Sambu out-sprinted 2011 NCAA indoor 5000m and outdoor
10,000m champion Leonard Korir (Kenya/CO) over the final 150 meters, as Korir finished 2 seconds behind (13:30) for second.
“My plan was to run fast from the starting gun,” Sambu said. “I
was paying attention to Leonard [Korir] because I know him from college competition, and he’s really tough. After last Saturday’s NCAA
cross country championships, I just relaxed. I ran just 30 minutes each
day and very slow, recovering for this race. After this, I feel ready for
more pro races. Maybe I'll do a 10K.”
Julius Bor (Kenya/NM, 13:59) and Scott Bauhs (Mammoth Lakes,
14:00), who recently joined the New York Athletic Club, placed third
and fourth, respectively. Bauhs was preparing for his marathon debut
at the subsequently cancelled ING New York City Marathon. Oakland’s
Giliat Ghebray (sixth, 14:05) earned the PA/USATF men’s win.
Dennis Simonaitis, age 50, of Draper, UT, ran a swift 15:14 for 35th
place, 22 seconds under Nolan Shaheed’s currently listed official U.S.
age-group record.
In a survey conducted by Race Results Weekly’s David Monti of
20 well-established Thanksgiving Day races, the Applied Materials
Silicon Valley Turkey Trot’s 2012 finisher count of 20,159 (all races
within the race) was the largest. An increase of 24% in its finishers’
count from the previous year showed the most growth among the
surveyed races. The record turnout raised over $1.2 million to help
three South Bay charities (Second Harvest Food Bank, the Children’s
Initiative of Santa Clara County, and The Housing Trust of Santa Clara
County). The event debuted in 2005 with 1,917 finishers.
Monti also ranked the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot, along with Connecticut’s Manchester Road Race (4.74 miles), as the most competitive running events on Thanksgiving. n

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“I came back from [London] with an
inspiration to be even better,” Conley
said after the race. “Today was my
start for doing that.”