Marathon man at Sacramento shares joy of winning own Olympics

Terry McCluskey

I didn’t get up at 5 a.m. July 17 to cover the marathon at Sacramento worlds. Fortunately, first-person accounts are popping up in hometown papers like Terry McCluskey’s in Vienna, Ohio. Terry won M65 gold in the 26.2-miler at worlds. And the paper does his race justice. “It’s like the Olympics, but for those over 35 — those who are best in the world in their age group. We’re too old to compete in the regular Olympics — that’s for those in their prime,” he told the paper. In an earlier profile, Terry recounts how he started running after seeing his dad die at 57: “He was too young. He was way too young; 57 to me was way too young, I thought. I don’t want to be dead when I’m 57.”

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July 27, 2011 2 Comments

Masters show they care: $3,500 for Joplin tornado relief efforts

Joplin wasn’t forgotten. The tornado-ravaged town in southwest Missouri — which hosted masters deca/hep nationals in 2010 — has benefited from masters trackfolk. The Rev. Tom Thorne writes: “A thank-you note … for putting our information out concerning the tornado fund. The masters combined-eventers and their friends have contributed over $3,500 to assist those affected by the tornado in Joplin. Blessings by the blessed.” Tom also informs us that “the 10th masters combined events challenge between the UK and the USA will be held in Oxford, England on 4/5 August 2012 at Horspath Stadium. This date is during the Olympics in London. All USA masters are welcome to be a part of Team USA. All that is needed is to contact me and I will give info needed.

Horspath Stadium in London will host 2012 USA-UK deca dual.

July 25, 2011 One Comment

Sacto was coming out party for M55 supersprinter Mark Davis

Mark Davis wins M55 400.

Track fans love the sport because the local high school star could be the Olympian of the future. In masters, that same kid could be a world champion in four decades. Meet Mark Davis. He’s my pick for Sacramento’s Coming Out of the Woodwork Award. Davis, a Caltech engineer from Pasadena, took 8th in the 100 (12.64), bronze in the 200 (25.25) and won gold in the 400 (55.85) and both relays. Never heard of him till worlds. So I wrote him for details on his career, and he graciously replied. “Now … I need to rest these 55-year-old legs (I ran 11 races) for a few weeks and begin to think about next year’s goals,” he said. Take your time, Mark. You’re entitled.

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July 24, 2011 14 Comments

Galleries galore! Lotsa photos added to Sacto worlds albums

You might see yourself. You might not. But I guarantee you’ll be impressed with the effort shown in the faces and sometimes wrinkly sinews of Sacramento entrants in our latest photo albums. Check out the distances (including steeple), the 200/400 sprints, augmented throws and more jumps. And best of all — last Sunday’s relays. Use the slide-show function. (Hurdles are still to come.) Wife Chris and I took perhaps 20,000 photos at worlds, and we’re just getting around to picking the best, cropping, rotating, boosting contrast, etc. Below is Aussie giant Stuart Gyngell, who dusted the M45 shot field with a toss of 17.91 meters (58-9 1/4). He had four fouls in the competition.

Chalk dust flies from Stuart, whose won shot at worlds. (Photo by Chris Stone)

July 23, 2011 9 Comments

Sacramento story: How Jim Crittenden helped Greg Foster medal

Greg Foster

Greg Foster, the masters jumper (not the Olympic hurdler), is a world champion. He also has a world-class story to tell from Sacramento worlds. He wrote me recently, and I’ll let him share it in his own words. It’s a beaut. “Personally, I had a wonderful experience at the meet,” Greg says. “What made it so special, besides the officials and volunteers, were the competitors. My story: About a week before the meet, I rolled by right ankle running hills. I went to the meet with a little niggle, nothing serious. However, during the M45 triple jump competition, which was very competitive, I seriously injured my right ankle on my second attempt. It was extremely painful to put my weight on that foot.”

Jim Crittenden is shown edging the late Willie Venable in a 2006 meet.

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July 22, 2011 4 Comments

Vaulters plan ‘Jock ‘N’ Roll’ at Berea masters nationals next week

Mike Soule

Berea masters nationals start in a week, and athletes are already planning their parties. One features a band of musician vaulters. One writes: “M65 vaulter Bob Banghagel, M55 vaulter Mike Soule, M60 vaulter John Large and a couple more masters athletes to be named later, are going to be “doin’ a Gig” at a place called Tony K’s in Berea, OH, Friday evening, July 29th. We’ll all be in Berea for the USATF Masters Outdoors Championships. So let’s make this the after-Friday’s day of competition meeting place. We’re planning on being set up and performing at 7 and go till 9 so everyone can get back to the rooms and get the sleep needed for the rest of the weekend’s competitions. We’ll be playin’ a little blues, a little country a little rock n’ roll and a little……..oh shoot…..we don’t know what we’re going to play, but it’s going to be fun and it could be pretty good. So make plans to join us. Tony K’s web site is tonyks.com/about_us.shtm Hope to see you there for the fun!”

July 22, 2011 5 Comments

Johnnye Valien named USATF Athlete of the Week for Sacto WRs

Johnnye Valien has been around forever, it seems. I first met her in the mid-1990s, and later profiled her for The San Diego Union-Tribune. (She lives in Los Angeles but came down for a Senior Olympics meet.) Every five years, she goes bonkers. Sets a bunch of records. Sacramento worlds was her W85 coming out party. She won six golds and one silver — and may be the world’s oldest female vaulter. USATF took notice yesterday, naming her its Athlete of the Week. She won the same honor in March 2006. I’m proud to call her a friend and a teammate (of the Southern California Striders).

Pat Peterson beat fellow Masters Hall of Famer Johnnye Valien (right) in the W85 100 final but showed her respects afterward. (Photo by Ken Stone)

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July 21, 2011 12 Comments

Bill Bangert dies at 87; masters track pioneer from the 1960s

Bill Bangert was a marvel.

Bill Bangert, a pioneer of masters track profiled in Len Olson’s book, died July 12 after battling Parkinson’s disease, according to several online obituaries, including this one in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Inducted into the USATF Masters Track Hall of Fame last year, Bill’s career was summarized by Norm Green: “Bangert of Marthasville, MO, had an exceptionally long throwing career at national and world class level. All of his masters’ marks were achieved following a 1950 eye disease leaving him blind in one eye. Len Olson … credits Bill with developing an all-weather track in 1963 far superior to then current cinder tracks. ” In Olson’s book, “Masters Track & Field: A History,” Bill is depicted as having competed in every masters nationals from the debut meet in 1968 to his last in 1997. He also competed in at least seven world masters championships.

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July 20, 2011 2 Comments

Phil Raschker tells ESPN her new focus is turning 65 in February

Phil Raschker spoke to an ESPN correspondent at worlds, and the result is one of the better profiles of recent years. We learn from John Schumacher, a longtime Sacramento Bee scribe: “Raschker, 5-foot-4 and 105 pounds, typically spends one day a week in the weight room, then hits the track on four other days for repeat 100s, 200s or 300s. She isn’t competing as often, but sounds like she can’t wait to turn 65 in February and jump into the 65-69 age group. “That’s really where my focus is,” she said. “When you’re in your 60s and 70s, I know the older athletes know that five years before seemed like nothing. Now it almost seems like, if someone new comes in, it can look like a 10-year gap. The body just slows down. It’s a fact of life.”

Phil is pictured on ESPN website at last. She's already been in the magazine.

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July 19, 2011 8 Comments

David Pain got rock star treatment at Sacramento world meet

The founder of masters track was the toast of the town for four days last week. David Pain, whose masters miles in the mid-1960s led to the first USA national masters meet in 1968 in San Diego, visited the General Assembly at Sacto on Thursday and witnessed track events on Friday and Sunday, including all the relays of the final day’s session at Sacramento State. Despite medical problems and a recent bout of pneumonia, nothing could keep him and his devoted wife, Linda, from worlds — the first WMA meet he’s witnessed since the late 1990s.