Four-time Olympian Venelina Veneva, who turned 40 last June, jumped out of her head Sunday at the Bulgarian national championships, clearing 1.90 meters (6-2 3/4) and shattering the listed indoor (and outdoor) WRs. The listed W40 indoor best is 1.80 (5-10 3/4) by Oana Pantelimon. The outdoor WR is 1.87 (6-1 1/2) by IrynГЎ Myhalchenko. So that gives Amy Acuff something to shoot for (besides another world team). Weia Reinboud shared that news as well as links to latest W75 WR for Holland’s Rietje Dijkman, whose 1.20 (3-11 1/4) indoor WR matches her own outdoor WR. And the year of the miler continues, with news that Holland’s Cees Stolwijk ran 1500 in 4:43.01 Saturday to lower the listed M65 WR of 4:44.88 by countryman Johannes Smeets. Also: Check out German nationals results.
Here’s how Cees broke the M65 indoor WR at 1500. Go get em, Nolan!
M55 jumper and Hall of Famer Willie Banks was on the USATF Board of Directors for six years, representing masters and other committees. He saw a lot. He rarely spoke of his board tenure, and when I asked him, he was careful not to reveal too much. But when I queried him this week on what he thought of L’Affaire Hersh (the board’s reversal of a membership vote for Bob Hersh for IAAF rep), he let ’em have it. Despite his diplomatic tone, Willie was clearly upset with his fellow directors. He told me: “I believe the best leaders provide enough information and rally public opinion to their side. Making decisions that are not transparent and well-vetted leads to distrust and anger. This is totally unforgivable for leaders of any organization.” Pow! My story for Times of San Diego details the issue, which involved USATF Prez Stephanie Hightower becoming IAAF Council nominee instead of Bob, who’s been on the council for 16 years.
Willie still jumps the jump decades after his WR and Olympic triple jump days.
Kim Collins, who twice ran 6.48 for M35 world records earlier this season, scorched 60 meters in 6.47 seconds today in Lodz, Poland. (See results.) It’s yet another PR for 39-year-old Kim, who must have found the Fountain of Youth somewhere back in St. Kitts. Here’s how the Pedro’s Cup website described the race: “Before the final race of men on the 60 meters at Atlas Arena overdue complete, absolute silence. And then we heard a shot starter and eight fastest 60 metrowcГіw started. Kim Collins of Saint Kitts and Nevis did not disappoint the expectations of the audience. 39-year-old was the fastest and beat their personal best. His time is 6.47 seconds!” The listed age-group WR for 100 is 9.97 by Britain’s Linford Christie, but Kim ran 9.96 last year. How about his chances of beating Bolt in Beijing? That would be incredible. How low can Kim go?
With his incredible M40 WR, Bernard Lagat stole headlines from the Wanamaker Mile winner. He also took my eye off the Millrose masters relays ball. According to results, the Southwest Sprinters TC M50 4-by-400 team clocked 3:43.52. That smashes the listed American club record of 3:47.32 by New York Pioneer Club’s Ed Small, Robert Rizzo, Glen Shane and William Burrell way back in 1992. (The listed WR is a USA team’s 3:40.21 in 2003.) So mazel tov to Southwest, and to everyone who put on a show in three exhibition relays. Southwest’s M50 lead leg was Getulio “Tony” Echeandia of NYC and Puerto Rico, who ran 56.74. Later legs (with splits) were by Paul Brown of Atlanta (55.91), Bill Shelton of New York City (56.73) and David Jones of Houston (54.16). Video of relay (focusing on Greater Philly) was posted on Facebook.
Members of the Southwest M50 AR club record team were (left to right) David Jones, Paul Brown, Tony Echeandia and Bill Shelton.
Via Facebook, Olympian John Trautmann shared details of his M45 WR mile at Boston: “Thank you, everyone, for the kind words of congratulations! This record has been a goal of mine for the past 3 years and to finally see all the 80-90 mile weeks and torturous sessions on the track culminating in a world record has made every second of pain more than worthwhile. When I first started thinking about the record, it was 4:20, which I thought would be very tough but not something that would be an impossible feat. Then Brad Barton smashed that record by almost 4 seconds and ran 4:16.83. Without that performance from Brad I would have been very content running 4:19 or 4:18. Brad pushed me to set my goals higher and to push myself that much harder in training.” Here’s video of the 4:12.33 record run at Boston.
Well, that was easy. Bernard Lagat came from near the back of the pack in today’s Wanamaker Mile to conquer the historic 3:58.15 M40 mile world record by Eamonn Coghlan. Bernard, wearing “Kip” on his bib, clocked 3:54.91in taking fourth at Millrose. Still awaiting his 1500-meter time, which no doubt will best the listed indoor WR of 3:44.12 by Britain’s Anthony Whiteman. Webcast of race indicated Bernard had a poor start, backing off while avoiding a jump apparently. But he carefully threaded his way to the lead of the second pack, letting Matt Centrowitz and Nick Willis battle down the stretch. Centro’s 3:51.35 was exceptional, but not an American record. The AR still belongs to Bernard at 3:49.89. Kip ran his first half in 1:57.87 and his second in 1:57.04. Perfect pacing! On the Age-Graded Tables, Bernard’s time is worth 3:42! Whattaday for masters milers!
Bernard is embraced by former WR man Eamonn Coghlan after M40 mile record. Click to see the USATF episode. NFL Films quality!
John Trautmann took fifth in Section 6 of the mile at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational at Boston University. But his time Saturday was stunning — 4:12.33. (See results here.) That broke the listed M45 world indoor record of 4:16.83 by Brad Barton as well as the oversized-track WR of 4:13.25 by Tony Young. It’s also the fastest M45 in the books, since the outdoor mark is Tony’s 4:16.09 in 2008. It’s even better than Svetlana Masterkova’s indoor WR of 4:12.56 in 1996. On the Age-Graded Tables, John’s time at age 46 is equivalent to an open (age 20-30) mark of 3:47.8. Hours later, Bernard Lagat lowered the M40 mile WR at Millrose.
John at New Balance Indoor Grand Prix. His new WR is perhaps the greatest of all time. Photo by Joe Navas of organicphotography.org for Level Renner.
You go to Palm Springs for resorts, restaurants and shopping, right? Perfect for Valentine’s Day. But if you’re world-class masters, the real attraction Feb. 14 is the nearby senior meet. “We’re racing in the Palm Desert Senior Games on Valentine’s Day; seems like a great way to spend it,” say Amanda Scotti and Greg Pizza(pronounced Pie-Zah), whose coupledom was announced on Facebook. Amanda is, of course, the co-publisher of National Masters News and top-ranked W55 sprinter. Greg is a SoCal real-estate agent always in the mix for M60 national honors. Since I dig geezer love stories, I pestered the pair. They graciously gave in.
Bernard Lagat, unless he’s tripped or spiked, will run a mile in 3:56 Saturday at the Millrose Games in Manhattan. Fellow Olympian John Trautmann will run the same distance in 4:16 in Boston. Both will claim age-group world records in the process. Who sez? Me. But intensive coverage of both runners suggests I may be playing it safe. Today’s mail brought the March issue of Track & Field News, and the No. 1 item in its 2015 preview features a huge photo of Bernard winning the 2014 U.S. 5K title and the headline “How Much Life Is Left in Bernard Lagat’s Legs at 40?” John at 46 is featured in a wonderful RW profile, and the record he’s chasing is Brad Barton’s. And who is cheering him on? Brad Barton (via Facebook).
Several weeks ago, when a 60-meter time of 6.92 was reported for M50 Lonnie Hooker, people took notice. Yowza, a world record! Crushed Val Barnwell’s WR of 7.13 from Landover (the same site as Lonnie’s run)! Commenters noted this, too. Why no attention? So I wrote Lonnie, and alas: “The 6.92 is hand-timed,” he replied. “The meet posted the time; I did not.” But Lonnie has run 7.20 in recent years. He’s also a 2011 world medalist (bronze in the M45 100) and a Penn Relays M50 champ. So I asked for an interview and he graciously consented. His goal this season: “I plan to go to nationals, and if possible worlds. Would love to run a 4×100 with Allan Tissenbaum and others with the hopes of setting a world record at worlds.”
Lonnie didn’t run a 6.92 for 60, but he’s certainly among top M50 sprinters.
Ken has followed track as an athlete, writer and web-master since the late 1960s, and saw most sessions of track and field at the 1984 Los Angeles and 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He also attended the 1988, 1992, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 Trials, the last three as a blogger and Patch correspondent. [More...]
