Masters athletes are idiots. So are meet directors. Don’t they know rules are rules? That must be Sandy Pashkin’s thoughts as she stamps REJECTED on every fifth record application she gets. The latest miscarriage of justice involves a W55 pole
Last January, John Hinton of North Carolina shaved nearly two seconds off one of the oldest world records on the books: the M45 indoor mile mark of 4:21.90 by Albin Swenson in 1993. John was auto-timed in 4:20.18 at the
Ya know how competing in nationals or worlds makes you feel as if you’re really being treated like a serious athlete? Think how Wolfgang Ritte and Christine Müller must have felt being honored alongside Usain Bolt and the other Olympic
Louise divided her estate among track friends, kin. When track historian and masters athlete Louise Mead Tricard died in late September, she had no immediate family in her adopted home of Florida. No children. Her husband, John, passed away two
It’s officially called the USA National Masters Combined Events Championships, but it’s basically the nationals for decathlon and heptathlon. Pole vault maven Becca Gillespy of Seattle has posted the rudimentary information about the event August 15-16, 2009, at Woolsey Stadium
Dave Reed: master of friendship, running He ran a 2-minute 800 at age 40 and was a 4:30 miler on the roads. He competed at Buffalo worlds in 1995 and the Hartshorne Masters Mile in 1997. But Dave Reed, who
Americans today celebrate Thanksgiving, a day for gratitude and gorging on flightless bird cadavers. (I’ll have my share, thank you!) And what should we as masters athletes be thankful for? Well, that we’re not living in countries beset by airport
Google is God when it comes to researching stuff. The latest tool is access to old-time photos from Time and Life magazines, including images of track in the early and mid-20th century. Check out this archive of Time/Life magazine covers
Inger Miller bemoaned pro track as a “narcissistic sort of society.” Olympic and world champion sprinter Inger Miller was a breath of fresh air Saturday night. Speaking at the annual awards banquet of the Southern California Striders (check out my
You’ve heard of speedsters? Meet Ganga Prasad, an Australian slowster. I rarely use such language in describing a fellow sprinter (since I’m not much faster than this gent.) But this guy ticks me off. In a local Aussie newspaper, he
Last June, news services reported that the World Anti-Doping Agency was thinking about classifying Viagra as a PED (performance-enhancing drug). No joke, despite the inherent humor. Now comes news that athletes at Marywood University in Pennsylvania are being given Viagra
Stephanie Hightower, the apparent front-runner for USATF president, likes to highlight her tenure on the Columbus (Ohio) school board. She led the board for five years. But a one-time rival of hers, who later ran for governor of Ohio, has