by David Prokop (Best Road Races editor)

It also takes its rightful place as one of the Bay Area’s premier holiday athletic outings – a festive family fun event and world-class competition all rolled into one! In addition to the Double Road Race™, the race program will also feature a Christmas 5K Run & Walk and the Bob Anderson’s Kids’ Cup One-Mile for youngsters 13 and under.

A race run in two segments – as Bob Anderson, who conceived and created the event, says, “It’s the only race with a halftime” – the Double is an innovative new running competition that has been called the next dimension in racing.  Competitors run a 10K, followed by a concluding 5K which starts one hour and 45 minutes after the 10K goes off the line. Final placings are determined on the basis of combined or aggregate time.

The event was first held on American soil last Dec. 23 when more than 1000 runners competed in the inaugural Pleasanton Double. That’s the day the Double Road Race™ (Double for short) and the sport of Double Road Racing were born.

Sunday’s race will be the second annual Pleasanton Double. Present for the event will be the men’s and women’s world record holders in the Double – Julius Koskei, 31, of Kenya and Sarah Crouch, 24, of South Lake Tahoe, Calif.

Between that inaugural Pleasanton Double and this Sunday’s race, six Doubles have been held around the country and one in Greece.

The men’s world record in the Double now stands at 44:31 – the aggregate time Julius Koskei posted in Indianapolis, Ind., on Aug. 11 when he ran the 10K in 29:48 and the 5K in 14:43. The women’s world record in the Double is now 55:23, which is the aggregate time Sarah Crouch recorded in San Juan Bautista, Calif., on Sept. 28 when she ran the 10K in 35:02 and the 5K in 17:21.

Those records could be improved upon in Pleasanton, where Koskei will be challenged by, among others, Daniel Tapia, ace marathon runner from the Salinas area who was the second American at this year’s Boston Marathon, and Crouch will face Tina Kefalas of Hillsborough, Calif., the former world record holder in the Double who won the Pleasanton Double last year and the Athens (Greece) Double just three weeks ago. (See below for the progression of the men’s and women’s world records in the Double Road Race™.)

The stage is set, the weather forecast is good and more than 1000 runners will be joining us Double Weekend in Pleasanton Dec 20-22!
Bob Anderson 12/14/13 6:05 pm

It will no doubt be your BEST second annual!
John Hofacre 12/16/13 10:28 pm

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A race for competitors of all ages and abilities, the second annual Pleasanton Double will feature several outstanding age-group champions as well, including Christine Kennedy of Los Gatos, who dominated the 2013 Women’s Double Leader Board, plus Sharon Voss of New York City and Peter Mullin of Houston, Tex., the 2013 men’s and women’s Ujena Fit Club Runners of the Year respectively. Lest we forgot, Bob Anderson, who’s 65, will also be there. Founder and former publisher of Runner’s World magazine, he not only created the Double but is the only person who has competed in every Double ever run.

The opening 10K of the second annual Pleasanton Double will start just south of the Hart Middle School auditorium on Sunday at 7:30 a.m.  And the other events (the Christmas 5K Run & Walk, the concluding 5K of the Double and the Bob Anderson Kids’ Cup One- Mile) will follow later in the morning.

Here’s the good news for all competitors – everyone who finishes a race gets a prize of some kind! Unique two-sided medals will be awarded to all runners who finish the Double. A logo Christmas ornament will go to all finishers of the Christmas 5K Run & Walk. And there will be a special prize for all the youngsters who finish the Bob Anderson Kids’ Cup One-Mile.

Competitors can register for any of these races at Fleet Feet Pleasanton all day Saturday or at Hart Middle School on the morning of the event.

You can get more information online by going to www.pleasantondouble.com.

Progression of the World Records in the Double Road Race™

 o The progression of the men’s world record in the Double thus far has been:

-- Fernanda Cabada, Boulder, Colo.       45:34 (30:31/15:02)              12/23/12

-- Tyler McCandless, Boulder, Colo.      45:15 (30:16/14:58)              6/30/13

-- Julius Koskei, Kenya                           44:31 (29:48/14:43)              8/11/13

o  And the progression of the women’s world record in the Double:

-- Tina Kefalas, Athens, Greece     54:03 (35:55/18:07)               12/23/12

-- Molly Pritz, Boulder, Colo.                 53:13 (35:24/17:48)               6/30/13

-- Liudmila Stepanova, Russia               52:38 (35:21/17:12)               8/11/13

-- Sarah Crouch, S. Lake Tahoe, Calif.   52:23 (35:02/17:21)               9/28/13