Masters have leading presence in USATF’s new diversity website
Some high-profile masters athletes and administrators are part of a USATF project to foster diversity. This means what, exactly? Aren’t we already a pretty diverse sport, ethnically and stuff? For whatever reason, USATF has launched a website devoted to the committee behind this push. And it includes hurdler Dexter McCloud (a friend of USATF President Stephanie Hightower), Mary Rosado and Renee Henderson, our record-holding sprinter champ. The latest newsletter from this group — mentioned in last year’s USATF annual meeting minutes — notes the loss of diversity at the Mother Ship—the firing of Hispanic Doug Logan as CEO. Not well-timed, since this is National Hispanic Month, we learn. So what are we gaining by this investment in a website and new USATF bureaucracy? I’m eager to find out.
These headshots show the leaders of the diversity and leadership development committee, which hasn't gotten much attention.
Mystery ‘Master Pete’ offers to answer all your questions at USATF
Jeff Brower, webmaster of the USATF Masters T&F website, has rolled out a new feature—called Contact Master Pete. It says: “Howdy, my name’s Pete, and I run whenever I can find my shoes. Now I don’t know everything, but I can usually find an answer, one way or the nuther. So fill out this here form below, and I’ll find my shoes and run get your answer!!” Our Forums already fill this function—and have for years—but I won’t take offense by the new old kid on the digital block. Have no idea who “Master Pete” is, or whether it’s a collection of experts. But I haven’t seen any answers posted. So this might merely be a way to send private e-mail to masters muckymucks. Whatever. Best of luck, Master Pete, whoever you are.
Master Pete is an online submission form with no public replies so far.
Canadian masters site includes up-to-date masters records
Our neighbor to the north has a crackin’ good masters track national portal. Doug Smith wrote me about it some weeks back: “I’ve spent the last three weeks loading the CMAA site. I think it looks pretty good. I’ve posted results back to 1976 and will fill out the other archives.” Among many other things, the new and improved Canadian Masters Athletics Association site has: “full results of every championship from pre-75, archives of all magazines, detailed Hall of Fame pages, up to the minute CAN records and ranking EVERY masters performance in Canada at every event.” If the USATF masters site even did half of that, I’d be in heaven.
Canadian masters national site is state-of-the-art for our niche sport.
Oldest reference to masters track? July 1910 paper covers vets race
Masters track didn’t really start until the late 1960s, but veterans athletic clubs had been around for decades before—especially in Australia. Now comes proof that America had masters track a century ago. Thanks to sharp-eyed Jeff Davison of Southern California, we learn of a handicap 100-yard dash won by an 86-year-old in New York. A subhead in the July 5 issue of the New York Daily Tribune reads: “Octogenarian Wins Race for Veterans at Carnival of United Scottish Clans.” Here’s the clip. To see the whole page, click on the PDF button of the page linked to here. Amazing.
M85 hadn't been invented, but here's an 86-year-old running sprints.
Rex Harvey’s mea culpa on drug-testing: He meant ‘random’
Rex Harvey (left) at Lahti with Stan Perkins.
Sit-ups will make a monkey out of you, according to weird video
Sit-ups are bad for you, some experts are saying. How bad? Well, they make you grow hair on your feet and fur on your face. At least that’s according to a 3-year-old video only recently discovered by a masters thrower friend of mine. He sent me a clip, not realizing it had already been seen 187,000 times on YouTube. An oldie but a goodie.
National Senior Games aggressively marketing its 2011 meet
The National Senior Games must really be hurting. They sent me this note today: “Congratulations on qualifying for the 2011 Summer National Senior Games presented by Humana! Online Registration is NOW OPEN for the Games which will be held in Houston, Texas June 16-30, 2011. You will also be receiving a registration packet in the mail. This packet will include forms you may use to register. However, please note there is an additional fee to register with these paper forms.” I qualified for the 100 and 200 by running (slowly) at last summer’s California Senior Games in Pasadena. If they want me for National Senior Olympics, they must be desperate. But the bigger issue is: Who will win—Sacramento worlds, Cleveland nationals or Houston? Few will hit all three.
Arizona's David Hockersmith is the NSGA poster senior. Hope he's cashing in.
Correction: Random masters drug testing sought by British rep
Bridget Cushen
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Athlete of Year Neni Lewis limping, faces surgery in November
Only weeks after being named USATF Masters Athlete of the Year, Neni Lewis is set for arthroscopic hip surgery November 5, she writes in reply to questions I sent her last week. “Apparently I was competing with a torn labrum tendon in my right hip for most of the outdoor season, which explains why I had an especially hard time trying to throw the shot and discus,” Neni writes. “I have often felt pops in my hip, discomfort and my right leg becoming longer than the left. Adjustments by a chiropractor usually took care of the problem.” But she’s been through worse. See my quickie Q&A. (Here’s video of a world record hammer throw at Sacramento nationals.)
U.S. premiere of ‘Herbstgold’ has boffo reception, and revelations
They laughed. They cried. But of course. For the audience at the U.S. premiere of “Herbstgold” — the masters track movie featuring Lahti worlds — the German documentary was a revelation. “Oh my God,” exclaimed one lady Saturday afternoon as she watched M90 sprinter Herbert Liedtke of Sweden perform an exercise on the “Brutal Bench.” (See it here.) Said another among 100 at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica: “That was the most wonderful movie. I say that as a 76-year-old.” Berlin filmmaker Jan (call him “Yon”) Tenhaven and producer Christian Beetz relaxed. Their nerves at being in an industry moviehouse in an industry town were assuaged.
Director Jan Tenhaven had jitters before the screening of his masters track documentary at a small Santa Monica moviehouse. (Photo by Ken Stone)
