Monster day for M95 Don Pellmann: three world records, one AR
Don Pellmann was ready. His shadow was ready. The meet was ready (with a USATF sanction in hand). So yesterday at the Bay Area Senior Games held at Stanford, Don proceeded to smash three world records and one American record while being treated by paramedics for a pole vault injury to his leg. The shadow? That was masters swimmer Sally DeMoss, who made sure EVERYTHING was perfect for record consideration. Don is 95. So he age-group WRs in the high jump (0.99 meters or 3-3), shot (8.21 or 26-11 1/2) and discus (18.92 or 62-1). He ran the 100 in 24.14 to destroy Leland McPhie’s listed American record of 37.16 but fell short of the WR of 21.44. So how does Don plan to celebrate his latest record spree? Quit track, says his son, Jim, who chronicled the day in a long note (below). According to Jim, his dad says says this is “absolutely, positively” the last meet he’ll ever compete in, “but since we’ve heard the same thing for many years, it’s hard to take that seriously!”
Don, apparently in his drive phase, bears down for an AR in the 100.
Keith Bateman makes it a sweep! WRs from mile through 10,000
Last August, Aussie Keith Bateman called his shot. He came to the plate and pointed toward five world records in the M55 distances—1500, mile, 3000, 5000 and 10K. Nonsense, huh? Look again, sports fans. He made it 4-for-5 Saturday by lowering the outdoor record for 10,000 to an incredible 31:51.86— better than a half-minute faster than the previous listed record of 32:27.7 by Britain’s Michael Hager. He did it at the New South Wales Open Track and Field Championships at Sydney Olympic Park. Here’s Keith in his 3K record:
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You ain’t seen nuthin yet! Whitlock ticketed for Rotterdam Marathon
Ed Whitlock’s recent speed drills (his indoor world records at Kamloops) are just the appetizer. The main dish comes April 10, when he’s entered in the marathon at Rotterdam — renowned as one of the fastest courses in the world. Of course, nothing is guaranteed when you’re 80 years young. But Ed “The Lock” Whitlock is indeed a favorite to crash the 3:30 barrier. And why not? He’s still legendary for going 2:58:40 at 74. The listed WR for M80 marathon is 3:39:18 by Aussie Robert Horman in 1998. So take our poll and check out my latest quickie Q&A with Ed.
House implements for rent? Poles will cost $15 a day at worlds
In response to an athlete’s question, I got this reply from LOC official Bob Burns about house implements at Sacramento worlds in July: “When we post the entrants’ manual online in May, it will go into greater detail, but here’s the situation with implements: At least three implements of each type of weight for an event will be available at no cost to competitors. The cost of these house implements is about $9000 for the meet. Generally one implement will be available at American River College, the practice track, for practice at no cost. The exception will be days when an age group is using the implement for competition. The only rental charges will be for pole vault poles because we have to rent them ourselves. The charge will be $15 for the day of the competition.” Bob also shares the latest newsletter on worlds. It talks about the athletes party, lodging and online entry. So far, about 900 have signed up.
Calculate age-graded points on iPhone? There’s an app for that!
Stefan Waltermann shares this news for decathletes, heptathletes and everyone involved in the so-called combined events: “Jumpin’ Joe Johnston asked me last year if I could help with an Apple app, a combined-event point calculator for Apple Notebooks, iPhones and iPads. I politely declined but it stayed in the back of my mind. Now I can forget about it. It’s done and done beautifully. All Apple bound combined event athletes can purchase an application created by one smart woman, Carmen Burmeister. Go to the Application Store> Sports> Carmen Burmeister. The app is called “Score Calc – Calculator and Scoring Tables for Athletics Combined Events.” More info on this German website. App costs $1.99 apparently. Such a deal!
Screen shot of combined-events scoring app being sold on iTunes.
John Altendorf crushed M65 vault world record twice at Kamloops
Even though John Altendorf says he hasn’t been “jumping at a level I should,” he managed some passable vaults last weekend at Canadian masters indoor nationals. Yeah, I’d say. He upped the M65 world record twice, beating the listed WR of 3.51 by fellow Yank Matti Kilpelainen. “After not being able to make it to USA Nationals, I felt fortunate to get the opportunity to compete in Kamloops at the Canadian Indoor Championships,” he writes. “There was a benefit however, I turned 65 between the two meets. During the competition, I didn’t feel like I was jumping well. After viewing video of a few of my jumps, I can see many deficiencies in my vaults. But I was able to save a few jumps and, as it happens, they were enough to achieve a record in my new age group; first at 3.60 and then 3.70 meters (12 1 1/2).”
John Altendorf at 2010 Sacramento masters nationals. (Chris Stone photo)
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You won’t believe Ed Whitlock’s M80 world record for indoor 3000
Ed Whitlock shot by Doug Smith
Superduper world-class masters hurdle field set for Mt. SAC Relays
Jerome is baaaaaaack
Eurovets do results right: Sophisticated website makes search easy
I’m not sure how fast marks are being posted, but the web portal in Gent, Belgium, for the five-day European Masters Indoor Championships looks very efficient and comprehensive. One hopes their timing systems are better than America’s. See results here. You can look at any day’s events, and then drill down to specific rounds and events. In addition, a righthand rail lets you go straight to an age group and find exactly which event the group is contesting. Amazing service at the meet, which ends Sunday. Congrats to the Eurovets! Oh, and after a couple days, Sweden’s Ivar Söderlind has documented eight world records, including three in the pentathlon. See his provisional list. Photo gallery (heavy on muckymucks but not athletes) also has been posted.
Bib numbers indicate the Eurovets indoor meet has well over 3,600 entrants.
1956 high jump Olympian making masters comeback in hammer
Ann Marie Flynn
