From today's San Diego sports section. There is an athlete feature every week. Here is this week's:
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Profile / Amber Cano, runner
February 11, 2005
Background A senior at Cal State San Marcos, Cano started her college career as a softball player at Baylor University. She suffered a torn rotator cuff her freshman year at Baylor, ending her days roaming center field. A cross country runner and softball player at Granada High in the Bay Area, Cano stuck to recreational running. At last weekend's Super Run 10K, Cano, 22, won her age group by more than two minutes, covering the 6.2-mile course in 42 minutes, 56 seconds.
Quick hits Cano's a senior majoring in marketing. She'd like to work in sports marketing for a running event. Maybe you've spotted her at Buca di Beppo in Mira Mesa where she's a waitress. She's run four marathons with a 3:33:30 personal best.
Quotable On her passion for running: "It's peaceful. It's my personal time every day."
Running log Cano runs about six days a week, 45 miles total. Her idea of an ideal workout: an hour run along the coast from Carlsbad to Encinitas. "There's so many people working out on that stretch. There's just a lot of energy."
26.2-mile notes Cano qualified for the Boston Marathon last year, finishing in 4:11 despite battling bronchitis. She's training for the June 5 Rock 'n' Roll Marathon. At 20, she ran her first marathon in Kona, Hawaii, raising money for cystic fibrosis.
Brad Pitt fan The movie might have been panned by critics, but Cano gives "Troy" two thumbs up. "It's a love story and all the action," she said.
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There are literally more than 100 college women runners in San Diego who are faster than 42:xx for 10k. Why the glorification of a slow mid-pack time? My oh my, if this kind of writing can fly in San Diego of all places then I don’t know what to say. It is not as though we’re talking about Switchback, Montana where she could be the “local legend.” This is San Diego of all places; home of Steve Scott, Joachim Cruz, Paula N-F, Scott Tinley, Floyd Landis, and Michielle Jones, among others…..where 1:20 pace in the pool puts you in a slow lane…..where a 17:00 5k doesn’t even get you top-100 at C-bad….where being a Cat-2 roadie is good enough to get you dropped on a group ride. So based on this feature, the paper could just as easily do a feature on the 105th place finisher at the UCSD or SDSU cross country meets in the fall. The times are fairly equivalent. Oh, I get it....10k is much more noble than a mere 5 or 6k. I guess running a marathon to raise money for acne research makes you more special than a random college runner who runs for a team. College runners at this girl's own school also have jobs and other responsiblities. Where are their feature articles? They run about 4-5 minutes faster over 10k. Is running 45 miles a week on your own something special now? Not trying to hate on the mid-pack here (because the front of the pack is middle of the pack at something....just ask Michael Jordan in a baseball uniform) but you have girls the same age in a similar environment running a heck of a lot faster yet they get no press. Cal State's track team had a girl go 2:49 this spring in her marathon debut. Where is her article?
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Profile / Amber Cano, runner
February 11, 2005
Background A senior at Cal State San Marcos, Cano started her college career as a softball player at Baylor University. She suffered a torn rotator cuff her freshman year at Baylor, ending her days roaming center field. A cross country runner and softball player at Granada High in the Bay Area, Cano stuck to recreational running. At last weekend's Super Run 10K, Cano, 22, won her age group by more than two minutes, covering the 6.2-mile course in 42 minutes, 56 seconds.
Quick hits Cano's a senior majoring in marketing. She'd like to work in sports marketing for a running event. Maybe you've spotted her at Buca di Beppo in Mira Mesa where she's a waitress. She's run four marathons with a 3:33:30 personal best.
Quotable On her passion for running: "It's peaceful. It's my personal time every day."
Running log Cano runs about six days a week, 45 miles total. Her idea of an ideal workout: an hour run along the coast from Carlsbad to Encinitas. "There's so many people working out on that stretch. There's just a lot of energy."
26.2-mile notes Cano qualified for the Boston Marathon last year, finishing in 4:11 despite battling bronchitis. She's training for the June 5 Rock 'n' Roll Marathon. At 20, she ran her first marathon in Kona, Hawaii, raising money for cystic fibrosis.
Brad Pitt fan The movie might have been panned by critics, but Cano gives "Troy" two thumbs up. "It's a love story and all the action," she said.
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There are literally more than 100 college women runners in San Diego who are faster than 42:xx for 10k. Why the glorification of a slow mid-pack time? My oh my, if this kind of writing can fly in San Diego of all places then I don’t know what to say. It is not as though we’re talking about Switchback, Montana where she could be the “local legend.” This is San Diego of all places; home of Steve Scott, Joachim Cruz, Paula N-F, Scott Tinley, Floyd Landis, and Michielle Jones, among others…..where 1:20 pace in the pool puts you in a slow lane…..where a 17:00 5k doesn’t even get you top-100 at C-bad….where being a Cat-2 roadie is good enough to get you dropped on a group ride. So based on this feature, the paper could just as easily do a feature on the 105th place finisher at the UCSD or SDSU cross country meets in the fall. The times are fairly equivalent. Oh, I get it....10k is much more noble than a mere 5 or 6k. I guess running a marathon to raise money for acne research makes you more special than a random college runner who runs for a team. College runners at this girl's own school also have jobs and other responsiblities. Where are their feature articles? They run about 4-5 minutes faster over 10k. Is running 45 miles a week on your own something special now? Not trying to hate on the mid-pack here (because the front of the pack is middle of the pack at something....just ask Michael Jordan in a baseball uniform) but you have girls the same age in a similar environment running a heck of a lot faster yet they get no press. Cal State's track team had a girl go 2:49 this spring in her marathon debut. Where is her article?