As the Surgical Artistry Modesto Marathon (SAMM) prepares to celebrate its fifth anniversary in 2014, changes are taking place behind the scenes. Race director Heidi Ryan is preparing to relinquish control of the event to Modesto businesswoman and ultra runner Vickie Chu-Hermis. Ryan will retain leadership for the March 2014 event, with Chu-Hermis shadowing her…
So far, two of our past marathon winners have committed to running the 2013 Surgical Artistry Modesto Marathon. Modestan Jon Olsen will be trying for his third victory in four years in preparation for running in the World 24-Hour competition in Holland later this year. Michelle Meyer, who is attending medical school in San Francisco,…
Bart Yasso, known as Runner’s World Magazine’s “Chief Running Officer” since 1987, will be the featured guest speaker at the 2013 Surgical Artistry Modesto Marathon Pre-Race Dinner. He will also be at the SAMM Expo greeting the public and sharing his running wisdom and anecdotes. Yasso has coached thousands of marathon runners enrolled in the…
Sonya Decker 2012 SAMM Winner 3:01:08 You are from Minneapolis, MN. What brought you to Modesto to run the 2012 Surgical Artistry Modesto Marathon? How did you hear about our race? I came to Modesto because a friend of mine moved out to Los Gatos and she told me that she was planning to run…
Clyde Behunin 2012 SAMM Winner 2:32:46 (course record) You are from St. George, Utah. What brought you to Modesto to run the 2012 Surgical Artistry Modesto Marathon? How did you hear about our race? I found the race online… had planned on doing LA that same weekend but just didn’t feel good about it for…
One of the keys to achieving your best marathon time is to keep an even pace throughout the race. Go out too fast and you’ll hit the wall, go out too slow and you won’t be able to make up the time later (but you may feel more rested at the end). Determine the pace…
Vicky King of Salida wasn’t supposed to be running the Surgical Artistry Modesto Marathon on March 18. She was supposed to be home with her hubby, celebrating 34 years of wedded bliss. But when she couldn’t find a marathon she wanted to do about the same time, she got the blessings she needed from her…
Were you confident you’d repeat as winner this year? Absolutely not! I knew of three competitors that had faster PR’s than me. My training was ahead of last year but I thought at best I would run 2:40. I thought the winning time would be a few minutes faster, 2:37 or so. I am glad…
What made you enter the Modesto Marathon? How did you hear about it? I discovered the Modesto Marathon online on https://www.runningintheusa.com/ and saw that it was a fast, flat course that was relatively close to my home in San Francisco. I thought that this marathon would be a perfect final long training run for the…
