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Older, slower, lower: Ken Stone's hobby blog for showcasing and watchdogging adult age-group track and field

Kim Collins lowers own M35 WR in 60, but will WMA even notice?

Eleven months ago, Caribbean Olympian Kim Collins broke the listed M35 world record in the 60. He ran 6.49 at age 37 to nip the listed WMA record of 6.50 by American Darvis “Doc” Patton. But his mark didn’t make the books. Here’s a second chance, WMA. At an IAAF meet Sunday in Moscow, Kim clocked a world leading 6.48 at age 38. The kiddie WR is 6.39, which Mo Greene did twice. If Kim makes it to the 2016 Rio Games, he’ll be 40. Hope it doesn’t take a fifth Olympic appearance for World Masters Athletics to recognize him as record-holder. Here’s the Moscow race:

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February 1, 2015  7 Comments

Anselm LeBourne burns 3rd indoor WR of January: 2:01.60 for 800

At Boston University today, Anselm LeBourne took second place in the 15th section of 18 heats of the 800 at the John Thomas Terrier Classic. Still, the meet announcer should have been aware of history in the making. Anselm ran the fastest M55 race of all time, clocking 2:01.60. He beat the listed WRs of 2:06.87 (indoors) by Spain’s Joaquin Joyas in 2014 and 2:03.7 (outdoors) by South Africa’s Stan Immelman in 2001. It’s his third WR of January, after clocking indoor bests in the 1500 and mile. On the Age-Graded Tables, his effort is equivalent to open (20-30) mark of 1:41.37. Incredible! He was 102nd out of 139 at BU, but he now lays claim to being the best fiftysomething middle-distance runner of all time. His race was recorded on video, posted to Facebook. He went from fourth with a lap to go to second. As an NCAA meet, the event qualifies for masters (and USATF) records.

January 31, 2015  22 Comments

Reebok, Millrose to showcase masters milers, relays in February

Two big elite meets will include masters events — the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix on Feb. 7 in Boston and the Millrose Games a week later at the Armory in Manhattan. At the Reggie, 16 masters milers will race in the first event, at 4:30 p.m. At Millrose, we’ll see masters 4-by-4 relays again (men’s and women’s) — a total of six races. But Feb. 1 is deadline to enter (see info below). Anyway, here are the Reebok entrants, reprising an event held since 2000: David Allison, John Trautmann, Peter Brady, Jayme Fishman, Mark Williams, Herb Heffner, Chris Blondin, Chris Magill, Adrian Haines, Jason Cakouros, Ron Kochanowicz, Kent Lemme, Sean Nyhan, Ted Towse, Joe O’Leary and Gerry O’Hara. Anyone wanna pick a favorite?

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January 30, 2015  5 Comments

Records czar Jeff Brower begins big reforms, posts status of marks

Jeff Brower suddenly replaced Sandy Pashkin in December as USATF Masters T&F Records Committee chairman, ending what some considered a reign of error. Late that month, I sent Jeff some questions, and he replied a week later. I overlooked his email, but found it today. The upshot? He’s making big changes, and says he will put into effect all reforms sought in an ad hoc committee’s report nearly two years ago. Toward that end, he’s created a web page that lays out the records process, including guidelines and even a “status of applications” page. “It’s difficult to get a record form filled out properly, and I’m already making changes to simplify it as much as possible,” Jeff writes. “I’m looking into additional ways to go ‘paperless,’ and have already made changes on the website that will benefit many. I’ll be working with other record chairs from other USATF divisions to improve this entire process.” This is huge, folks.

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January 29, 2015  19 Comments

Weia Reinboud aces stats: women’s high jump record progression

Weia Reinboud of Holland has updated the Wikipedia records progression page for masters women’s high jump. She’s in it, of course. But as she looks toward turning 65 in six weeks, she’s doing more for the sport than setting records. Along with Andy Hecker, doing similar work, Weia combined the high jump into one file, “and I hope Andy agrees in this approach. I had quite a lot of additions. But to have it complete is difficult. Many record holders come to their age-group record in two or three steps and mostly only the last one can be found.” She says she’s trying to fill in the gaps, “but I fear this is everything that can be found.” She invites others to add data, especially the yellow rows.

January 28, 2015  3 Comments

Jim Oglesby jumped on M80 shot AR — with 3-kilo replacing the 4

Jim Oglesby knew the rules, but checked just in case. Before setting an M80 American indoor record in the shot, he says, “I called USATF and they told me that a new record would be with the 3k but must exceed the 11.45m distance [listed for the 4-kilogram shot]. Apparently no one had thrown farther with a 3k since then or they haven’t applied for the record.” [WMA changed the rules around 2006.] He’s no stranger to records, of course. He set an M75 indoor best at the 2011 Jimmy Carnes meet in Gainesville — his first indoor meet. “When I turned 80 last November, I noted that the record was 11.45m (set in ’95) for the 4k in 80-84 group. As you know, the weight has been changed since then to 3k for [80-plus]. … I had thrown farther this past December with a 12.64 at Clermont, so I thought I would be able to do it.”

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January 27, 2015  One Comment

Brian Hankerson jumps 20 feet to break 38-year-old M55 record

World champ Brian Hankerson, who trains with college football players preparing for NFL tryouts, long-jumped 6.12 meters (20-1) Friday at the Jimmy Carnes Invitational in Gainesville, Florida. Breaking the 20-foot barrier meant he shattered one of the oldest American records on the books — Boo Morcom’s 1977 mark of 5.87 (19-3¼). He also tied the outdoor M55 AR by Edward Jones in 2002. His speed is sharp, too. “I was really surprised by my time in the 55m of 7.21,” he wrote in reply to an inquiry. “I may be able to challenge the M55 60m record of 7.34 in March if all goes well.” He also says: “I have already set a new goal of breaking the world record of 6.34 (20-9 3/4) in March at the indoor nationals.” His first jump Friday was 5.78 (18-11 3.4).  His second was 5.82 (19-1 1/4) The record came on No. 3. “Everything felt great, and I felt like I could have gone further,” he says. “In preparation for March, I will add a weight regiment to my workouts. I have not lift weights since August. I need to build a stronger base, since this summer I will attempt to compete in the decathlon. I also plan on going to France this summer to compete in the [WMA world meet].”

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January 26, 2015  11 Comments

Dr. Jim Oglesby takes down 20-year-old AR in M80 indoor shot

Dr. Jim Oglesby, the former M*A*S*H surgeon in real life, didn’t throw much (or at all) in 2014. But at 80 he’s making up for lost time. Competing Friday, he beat the listed American record in the 4-kilo shot five times. (Clarification: He used 3-kilo shot, reflecting new implement rules.) His best mark — on the final throw at the Jimmy Carnes Invitational in Gainesville, Florida — was 12.78 meters (41-11 1/4). That beat the listed M80 record of 11.45 (37-6¾) by the great Ross Carter in 1995. Jim’s amazing series was 10.69, 12.15, 11.56, 12.13, 11.89 and 12.78, according to posted results. The listed WR is 13.68 (44-10 3/4) by Finland’s Leo Saarinen. “I set the (M75) masters record in 2011 and wanted to come back and try for the record this year,” Jim told the local paper. “I love the camaraderie of this meet. It keeps me going.”

January 25, 2015  4 Comments

Update: Steinbach, Lemme win Age-Graded titles at Hartshorne

Coreen Steinbach, 63, of Pompey, NY, took fifth in the W50 elite race at Hartshorne on Saturday — but easily captured the age-graded title with a 6:13.10 mile. Her AG time was 95.99 percent, according to updated results shared from Cornell in Ithaca, NY. (The listed indoor WR is Kathy Martin’s 5:47.25.) (All races were auto-timed, but original results were garbled in wrong format.) The top age-graded man was Kent Lemme, 48, of Pittsfield, Mass., whose 4:39.73 was rated at 89.53 percent. In the elite races, Scott Weeks edged Mark Williams 4:34.02 to 4:35.42 in M40, Sonja Friend-Uhl went sub-5 at age 43 with her 4:58.28; Rochester’s Mike Nier beat Toronto’s Paul Osland 4:48.62 to 4:48.97 in M50 (as Paul fell short of the Canadian record of 4:36.65); and Marisa Sutera Strange was easily the best in W50 at 5:20.26, defending her 2014 title. Race videos are expected for YouTube.

January 24, 2015  8 Comments

Williams, Friend-Uhl, 2 Canadian stars top Hartshorne Mile fields

About 70 runners are entered in Saturday’s 48th running of the Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile at Cornell University’s Barton Hall, namesake son Tom informs me. The top seeds in the 40-plus and 50-plus elite races are Mark Williams (4:25) and meet record-holder Sonja Friend-Uhl (4:51) in the 40s and Toronto standouts Paul Osland (4:36) and Annie Bunting (5:22) in the 50s. Among last year’s elite winners (M40 Nick Berra, W40 Bernadine Pritchett, W50 Marisa Sutera Strange and M50 Alan Wells), only Marisa is back to defend her title. M65 superstar Nolan Shaheed, a regular at this event, is not listed either. Best of luck to all!

January 23, 2015  2 Comments

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• About Ken Stone

  

  Ken Stone

  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...]
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