The Blue Collar Boston

Photo of Sarah Reiter and Gabi Rooker at the CIM finish line in 2022 by Tony DiPasquale

From the Committee of American Activities: California State Legislature

Written by Intern 237

They come from all over. From Niceville, Florida… from Bolingbrook, Illinois… from Brooklyn, New York and Portland, Oregon and Kansas City, Missouri. They come from Westerville, Ohio… Albuquerque, New Mexico and Middlebury, Indiana. They come from Boulder, they come from Boulder, they come from Boulder.

Many of them come not knowing others just like them who make the journey. Oh, they’ve certainly heard of the others, they’ve followed their training on Strava or tracked their results in previous races. Their pursuit is part of their identity, telegraphing it by placing it right in their Instagram profiles: ‘OTQ 2020’ or ‘Marathon 2:38.’ They are proud of their accomplishments and goals, but it is also an attempt to find their people. They may have never met them before, but they know they are like them, kindred spirits who have devoted themselves to the lifestyle, committed themselves to the attempt- the hard thing.

On Sunday, December 3rd, they’ll make the attempt together, beginning strong and hopeful, then navigating the difficult passages at their most vulnerable. They’ll share the journey. They’ll work together through the hard miles, encouragement coming simply from shared company, a kind word or arm motion, a shared bottle. They’ll know each other forever afterwards. Their individual efforts forever linked to those of their fellow racers. That is why they come.

Every year on the first weekend of December, many of the nation’s best runners travel to Sacramento to find out how good they can be. The target is typically the Olympic Trials qualifying standards (2024 standards: 2:18 for men and 2:37 for women). Achieving either of these marks places one roughly in the top 600 marathoners in the United States, the 99.9998th percentile. Between 2017 and 2020, 282 men and women ran under the 2020 Olympic Trials qualifying marks. During that same time, qualifiers from New York, Chicago and Boston combined amounted to 123. CIM is not one of the 6 World Major Marathons, it is not Boston or New York, Chicago, Tokyo, London or Paris. Eliud Kipchoge has not lined up with his back to the Folsom Dam to race to the California State Capitol Mall. Some of the US’s very best have run CIM, but it is not often they come at the height of their careers. World Championship 7th placer Emma Bates debuted at CIM in 2018 and Sara Hall doubled back for a victory in 2017 after racing New York less than a month before. The biggest stars in the sport whose presence commands a large appearance fee typically go where those are offered. The tip of the arrowhead in the elite field at CIM is not quite as sharp, but the shoulders of it are broader than any other race in the world outside of the Olympic Trials themselves. The ones who make up those shoulders come for the love of the game and the determination to stretch themselves to find out just how good they can be at the thing to which they’ve devoted their early mornings, weekends, and evenings, slotting it around work and family and social time.

CIM in this way has become a sort of blue-collar Boston Marathon. Boston is prestigious and exclusive, made that way by its qualifying standards and lottery entrance. It is elegant and velvet roped. Making it to the starting line in Boston is the achievement, the end of the journey. CIM is run in a city called the Farm-to-Fork capitol surrounded by farmland and the rolling western foothills that descend from the Sierra Nevadas. It was the destination for those who came from the east in the mid 19th century, not seeking a resting place, but a place to start. Coming to CIM is about the process, it’s about the work and about growth.

The shoulder runners began coming to CIM in droves in 2017 when the race hosted the USATF Marathon Championships. The US Champs were held there again in 2018 and in 2022. These championship events opened the eyes of marathoners across the country to the benefits of racing in Sacramento in December. The weather is typically 45 degrees at the start and rises to 60 by midday after the morning Tule fog burns off and the sun shines in a clear California sky. The course from Folsom to the Capitol is a net downhill with a drop comparable to Boston, except that the rolling hills occur in the front half before it flattens out for the final 10k. The Sacramento Running Association, the group that organizes the event is especially attentive to runners attempting to qualify for the Olympic Trials. The most important of these benefits, however, is a result of the others combined: people come. It is advantageous that the weather is great, the course is favorable, and the organizing committee is hospitable, but the biggest benefit of CIM is that it is unlikely that you will find yourself alone on the course, stranded out on an island between runners. Nowhere else in the world will you find packs of 20 to 50 to 100 runners rolling through a marathon course at and under 5:15 and 5:59 pace. Energy is saved through drafting, the hum of hundreds of foot strikes and the motivation of a pack racing toward the line with the same goal in mind. You get your best shot when others are giving their best shot. The energy that emerges from this and surrounds the weekend is addicting and transformative. Being around it either reaffirms commitment or convinces that you too should rearrange your schedule to accommodate 90 mile weeks in the fall, book a ticket to Sacramento and take the ride… and maybe a couple turns at the front.

This year there are over 200 runners entered with a chance to qualify for the Olympic Trials, and as the last event in the qualifying window, the finishing straight will be the most exciting and emotional stretch of asphalt in America.

35 men are entered with personal bests under the 2:18 qualifying mark

Notable men at the front of this group are 2021 race winner and SRA Elite runner Brendan Gregg and Brooks athlete CJ Albertson. Gregg owns the third fastest time ever on the CIM course with his 2021 run of 2:11:21. Albertson is a notorious front runner with a best of 2:10:23 that he achieved in Boston in 2022. He placed 2nd at CIM in 2019 in 2:13:40. Amanuel Mesel of McKirdy Trained comes in with the fastest personal best in the field of 2:08:17, run in 2013. In 2022 he placed 17th in Chicago in 2:11:38.

18 women are entered with PBs under the 2:37 qualifying mark

Allie Kieffer enters the race with the fastest best in the field at 2:28:12. It is her first time racing CIM. Grace Kahura-Malang of Kenya comes in with a 2:30:14 best that she achieved at the Duluth Marathon in June this year. Former Chico State Wildcat, Alia Gray could contend in this front pack, coming in with a best of 2:30:41. Gray grew up in Santa Rosa, CA, so if you’re looking for the hometown favorite, her roots are not too far away.

20 men entered have run between 2:18 and 2:19

2:19 was the qualifying mark for the 2020 Trials, and if the clock was turned back, this score of men would already have their bags packed for Disney World. As they say, it is a new normal post-2020 and that includes a tougher standard. Hoka runner Brandon Johnson from Beaverton leads this group on paper with a best of 2:18:13. Kevin Wood of Winooski, Vermont returns to Sacramento after running 2:18:21 in 2021. He’ll like a 2:17:23 in 2023. This pack will dovetail into the sub 2:20 pack, which adds in another 14 men including Connor Reck of the famed Mill City, Minneapolis, MN and Tyler Morse of the Bowerman Track Club Elite. Tyler is coached by the Stanford great, Elliott Heath- a former teammate of CIM champ Brendan Gregg.

32 women entered have run between 2:37 and 2:40

2:37 is an incredible bar to meet to enter the Olympic Trials. It is not too long ago that women running in the mid 2:30s found themselves with a shot to make World Teams, however, it seems that no matter how high the bar is raised, American women continue to meet the challenge, and though we may think we have the data to accurately predict outcomes, there is no telling how many women will run under the extraordinary mark on December 3rd.  Elizabeth Lagoy of Salt Lake City leads this group with a best of 2:37:08 from Duluth in 2022. Leigh Anne Sharek, a forensic scientist and co-founder of the famed Brooklyn Track Club comes back to CIM after qualifying for the 2020 Trials in Sacramento in 2018 and then lowering her best again at CIM in 2022.

83 men are entered with a best under 2:25

It is fair to say that the majority of this group will go out at or under 2:18 pace, attempting to hit the halfway mark at 1:09 give or take a few ticks based on their own attack plan. Some will have glorious days, eclipsing what they thought was possible, and some will see their dreams fade into the distance with the pack.

10 elite men entered making their marathon debut

Robert Brandt will run 26.2 for the first time. Brandt has a sterling track record, having run a 3:55 mile, 13:19 for the 5,000m, and most impressive, a 27:39.20 10,000m. CIM has seen impressive debut performances before, notably a 2:26:53 from 4:04 1500m runner Sara Vaughn in 2021.

81 women entered have run under 2:45

2:00 800m and 4:04 1500m Minnesota Golden Gopher great Heather Kampf is in this group, as is another Gopher, trail aficionado and new mom, Rachel Drake.

2:45 was the 2020 Olympic Trials qualifying mark. Famously in that Olympic cycle, over 500 women hit the mark, by far the most in the event’s history, and nearly twice as many men. For the 2024 cycle the committee planned to lower the mark with many speculating that it would be 2:42 or potentially even 2:39. When 2:37 was announced it sent shockwaves through American marathoning. Rather than complain about the difficulty of the standard, women committed to meet the challenge, just as they had done in 2020. On social media and in running groups, they encouraged each other to do what it takes and keep each other accountable to take on the difficult task and do the hard thing. Their confidence to state their goals, seek support from others and do what it takes to rise to the challenge is inspiring and a lesson to anyone attempting anything that anyone else might deem ‘crazy.’

CIM on Sunday is the culmination of that training and focus for both women and men since the standards were announced in 2021.

Standing at the finish line in front of the California State Capitol building mid-morning on the first Sunday in December is a unique experience, even in the marathoning world. From the moment the first man and woman cross the finish line at roughly 2:10:xx and 2:26:xx, all eyes are on the ticking clock and then darting to the figures coming into picture down the strip. The 8 to 11 minutes that follow are filled with joy, manifested in tears, smiles, defiance across the contorted, salty, spit-stained faces of runners pouring across the line into each other’s arms.

Last year 42 men and 43 women filled this space.

The ones who will fill that space this year are packing their bags now, full of hope in Niceville, and Bolingbrook, and Middlebury, and Boulder.