M60 sprinter Damien Leake is like many of us, rarely talking about our day jobs. Not that he has anything to be ashamed of. On the track, he’s world-class. As a professional actor, he’s equally proficient. See his many credits, including “Serpico” in 1973 and “Apocalypse Now” in 1979. So I was delighted to spot him Friday night while watching “The Rachel Maddow Show” on MSNBC. He appears in a Centrum Silver 30-second ad. I taped it with my Samsung Galaxy. Forgive the shakiness. “No, I don’t take Centrum Silver,” he told me in response to a shameless query. “Didn’t even know what it was until they hired me. I got it by going through the usual channels, audition. I have an agent and a manager.” He also tells me: “I got my first job when I was still in high school. (Performing Arts H.S. In New York). The first major film I was in was ‘Serpico.'” He plans to compete at indoor nationals this year for the first time (60 and long jump). And he’ll possibly attend North Carolina outdoor nationals. “Always depends on what the work situation is.”
The current issue of The New Yorker has an amazing profile of Diana “I finally swam from Cuba to Florida” Nyad. We learn more about her damaged life (molested by stepfather and a swim coach) but also about her drive to achieve her goal — swim the damn Straits of Florida. Many people, including her friends and trainers, think she’s nuts. But at least they supported her on the swim at age 64. What’s that have to do with us? Well, we don’t deal with sharks, currents, stinging jellyfish and sensory deprivation. But we can share her dream to do what we couldn’t as youngsters. It doesn’t have to be an Olympic medal. It can be as simple as running a mile or throwing a discus. Diana’s dream is ours: Be the athlete we always wanted to be. And never, ever give up!
M65 sprinter Stan Whitley, my fellow Southern California Strider, also attended Kansas. (But 10 years earlier.) He’s been a world-class dashman for decades and was a 26-8 1/2 jumper back in the day. He never brags. But a profile by a papernear his first college drew out some amazing facts and stats: Stan jumped more than 25 feet (7.61 meters) for 17 consecutive years from 1966 to 1982 — only man to jump over 25 feet in three different decades. He was the Kansas MVP Senior in 1969, beating out a guy named Jim Ryun. “That really surprised me,” Stan said.
Stan (in blue) battles Aussie great Peter Crombie at 2011 Sacramento worlds.
M55 hurdler Andy Hecker again plans his annual outdoor meet at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California, which offers a variety of indoor events for people shooting for March nationals.Details are here for the Feb. 16 event. As usual, fees are paid the day of entry — as a way of showing this can be done routinely. He’s also posted results for the past eight years. Thanks again for Mater Dei alumnusRick Muth (pronounced Mooth) for helping underwrite this event.
Andy’s graphic is a hoot — recycled for use every year for this event.
Six months after jumping an apparent W40 American record at Olathe nationals, Gwen Wentland has received confirmation that her 1.77 (5-9 3/4) mark has been accepted for “pending” status on the USATF website. Gwen writes: “I spoke with [records czar] Sandy [Pashkin] over a week ago and she said that she received my passport (verification of age) through someone, probably Gary [Snyder]. She informed me that was the reason for the hold up on the ratification of my record. She said that she would take care of it and send it through.” Gary also wrote me: “[Gwen] sent me a copy of her passport and her record should be changed to pending – accepted.” But as of Feb. 5, the USATF records page shows no sign of Gwen’s mark. So what does it take? The record should have sailed through at the Indy annual meeting. But it’s still begs the question: Why the oversight? Gwen entered the way we all do — submitting proof of age with her entry fee. Now we may have to wait until this December’s annual meeting in Anaheim for formal ratification. Geeze.
Masters rankings guru John Seto says the demonstration site for world masters rankings is running. See it at mastersathletics.co. John adds: “This site is still being modified, but you will see changes and improvements often. The only results in this system are from the 2013 WMA championships. Athletes will be able to start entering their results this week. It is much earlier than I estimated before partially because I would like your feedback about the results entry forms so I can improve them – this is your system so I want to make this as good as possible for you.” This man’s on fire! Keep him busy.
This came over the transom. It seems like a legit operation (with a YouTube channel), so here you go: “My name is Jakob Kisker and I work for Seymourpowell a London-based design and innovation consultancy. We are currently working together with a well known Sports nutrition brand on a project about the future of sports nutrition. As part of our research we are looking to meet master athletes, people who are training an competing … who would be willing to take part in a [three-hour] informal interview about his training and nutrition regime. … Ideally we would like to meet someone living in Los Angeles who played team sports as a teenager and is now training and competing as a runner. … We would of course reward the interviewed Master Athletes for their time and effort.” You can reach Jakob at jakob.kisker@seymourpowell.com.
World Masters Athletics has a new rule, approved by the Porto Alegre General Assembly, that puts a lot of power in the hands of “safety officers.” If they think your health is endangered — or you’re a risk to your rivals — you can be yanked from the track or field. No kidding! See the rule here: “The World Masters Athletics Council shall appoint a Safety Director. Who shall appoint one or more Safety Officers with authority to withdraw from competition any athlete whose continued participation in that competition would, in the opinion of the Safety Officers, endanger the athlete’s health or the safety of the other competitors.However, the drug excretion in elderly patients may be slowed down. Therefore, the interval between the drug https://www.cuttingedgevitamins.com/product/tramadol-online/ intakes can be increased in accordance with the individual characteristics. The Safety Officer may exercise their authority through deputies and both the Safety Officers and any Deputies shall be clearly identifiable with full accreditation.” Not sure why this is needed. But it smells bad.
The era of “soft records” in masters track ended years ago. Now we need a new category: “stunning records.” In that group you have to include M80 Ed Whitlock and W60 Karla Del Grande, whose latest WRs were set Sunday at the third Ontario mini-meet. (See complete results.)As Doug “Shaggy” Smith reports: “Ed Whitlock ran a 6:44.44 Mile – breaking the 6:48.02 World Record (John Keston USA ’05). There was no previous CAN record. W60 Karla Del Grande continued her onslaught on the World Records with a 28.59 in the 200m. The record of 28.94 was held by USA’s Phil Raschker in 2007.” Great photos are posted by John MacMillan. How does 82-year-old Ed’s mile rate on the Age-Graded Tables? Under the 2010 factors (which have been updated, but I don’t have them yet), a 6:44.44 is worth 3:55.6. And Karla’s 28.59 is worth 21.56. (The real women’s indoor WR is 21.87 by Merlene Ottey.) And Ed circled back to help set a Canadian M70 record in the 4×8. This marathoner has range!
Track & Field News has an archive of interviews going back to December 1973 (Q&A with Brian Oldfield). In the summer of 1978, when I was only two years out of Kansas, I had the honor of quizzing Al Oerter in a Los Angeles hotel room the day before a UCLA meet. He had decided to train for the 1980 Olympics. Didn’t make it, of course. No American did. (See “Boycott, Carter.”) But he was only a couple years away from setting an M40 world record (and PR) of 69.48 (227-11) that lasted for 32 years (until Virgiljus Alekna threw 70.28, or 230-6 3/4, in 2012). Anyhoo, see my Q&A with Al in the July 1978 issue — which I think may be the only T&FN interview done by a nonstaff writer. I’m still proud of it.
Al was a world-class artist as well as four-time Olympic discus champion.
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...]
