Erika Aklufi went up north to Sacramento to run in the California International Marathon this past weekend. She ran a PR of 2:50.04 as the 44th overall woman. Serkalem Abrha was the first woman in a time of 2:33.40.
Erika felt pretty good starting out in the early cold morning on the point to point course (the course starts at Folsom Dam and finishes in downtown Sacramento) so she felt she went out a little too fast. There was a huge contingency of women who were looking for an Olympic Trials marathon berth with an “A” standard of 2:39.00 or a “B” standard of 2:46.00 that were being paced at the CIM. (27 women qualified for the Trials that are going to be held next month on January 14th in Houston, Texas.) Erika found herself ahead of this pack for most of the race but then at mile 18, that pack caught her as she started to struggle with her pace. She went with this group until the 21st mile and then let them slip away as she found the race getting more and more difficult. For someone who doesn’t train for this specific distance, Erika did an incredible job!
For complete results, click here.
