Litzenberg outruns his competition

Glen Ellen long-distance runner John Litzenberg continues his winning ways.

Since Thanksgiving of last year, he’s won three of the five races he’s run.

On Nov. 23, 2017, Thanksgiving, Litzenberg won the 10K Napa Valley Turkey Chase in 34:57. The race took place around the campus of Napa Valley Junior College.

He won the 10K IPA race in Sebastopol on April 14. The race was hosted by Destination Races and started and finished at the Barlow, near Analy High School. He ran the course in 35:42.

A week later, on April 21, Litzenberg won the 10K Sacramento Giant Race in 35:57. This race is part of the Giant Race series (Scottsdale, Sacramento, San Jose’ and San Francisco) and started outside Raley Field (home of the AAA River Cats) and finished on the field. Litzenberg said the course was about 0.15 miles more than a 10K (6.2 miles,) as his GPS recorded 6.35 miles.

On March 12, he was third overall in the Lake Ilsanjo Classic 10 Miler, which he ran in 1:05:15. “I was in second for the first half of the race, then missed a turn at the lake and ended up adding 0.7 miles to the course, so I was happy to still finish third,” he said.

And he was fourth overall and first in the Masters Division on Dec. 3, 2017, in the Run Wild 5K at Chrissy Field in San Francisco. “This race was chosen as this year’s Road Runners Club of America State Championship 5K for California, so I received a special medal for being the Master’s (40 and over) champion,” he added.