Sacramento LOC ‘learned a lot of little things’ for 2011 worlds
Sacramento organizers of worlds next July have put the best spin on 2010 nationals, writing: “Sacramento’s test run is complete, and the results bode well for the 2011 World Masters Athletics Outdoor Championships.” (The whole report is here.) Meet entry booklet also is posted here, and it includes a day-to-day schedule. The LOC also confirms that “approximately 80 percent of the WMA events will be held at Sacramento State.” The good news: Most events will be at the prime showcase stadium. The bad: Events may be scheduled all day long, including the prime heat time of 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Hope they divert the Sacramento River to SacState.
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Keith Bateman’s goals: WR’s at every distance from 1500 to 10K
M55 supermiler Keith Bateman of Australia says he probably won’t enter Sacramento worlds next year. Not because of potential 1500 rival Rich Burns. “(I) would love to meet and race Rich,” Keith says. But the 2011 meet poses a problem: “Too expensive for me at the moment.” In any case, Keith graciously replied to my queries, revealing his best recent marks and several weeks of workouts. Keith lives in Sydney, “about 4K from Bondi Beach, 2K from others you might not have heard of.” He’s self-employed, “website work for small businesses mostly.” Recently “bachelored,” he was born June 29, 1955.
Keith followed a 37-year-old pacer during his Aussie M55 record mile in July. (Photo by Andrew Atkinson-Howatt)
Saluting Charles Ross, who survived 16 events — and three wars
M85 multi-eventer Charles Ross of the Atlanta TC competed in 16 events at Sacramento. Yes, 16 (winning seven golds, six silvers and two bronze.) Perhaps the most decorated athlete at nationals, he’s in the Hall of Fame. But not ours. Charles fought in three wars, and is among the oldest members of the Army Ranger Hall of Fame. So when it comes to surviving brutal heat and heavy action, retired Lt. Col. Charles Ross has seen a lot worse than masters nationals. Meet referee Murray Sanford, a fellow Georgian, told me about Charles. Lydia Woods sent me the articles below. He’s not a superstar in any event, but he stays in the game — running every event from the 100 to the 10K and steeple. And doing most jumps and throws. Attention! This gent deserves it.
Charles Ross (between William Ballantine of Golden West and Tom Patsalis of SoCal in the 100) was a warrior at Sacramento. (Photo by Ken Stone)
Aussie hot on the heels of Rich Burns and his M55 mile WR
Rich Burns is a runner who comes around once in a generation. Or maybe not. When Rich ran his 4:36.94 mile in June, he crushed a 33-year-old world record for M55. Good for another 33 years? Try six months. On July 31, about six weeks after Rich did a number on the WR, Sydney’s Keith Bateman clocked 4:37.30 at the masters mile at the Illawong Winter Series meet, an Australian record. See this club report. Our thanks to Simon Butler-White of New South Wales Masters Athletics, who shared the photos below taken by Andrew Atkinson-Howatt.
Keith Bateman gets set to start his watch at masters mile WR attempt July 31.
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How many of you played in pain at Sacramento nationals?
Al Oerter, the famed masters thrower, famously said of another meet: “These are the Olympics. You die for them.” A brief story in an Oregon paper reminds me of the sacrifices we make as well: “Former Western Oregon athlete Alison Wood of Aumsville captured first place in the women’s high jump in the 35-39 age division of the USATF Masters Championships in Sacramento, Calif. Wood, 36, leaped 5 feet, 5 inches to win the event despite a hip injury that required surgery in the days after the competition.” Unsure of the surgery, but I’m certain she wasn’t alone competing against the will of the gods. How did y’all fare after nationals? Don’t be shy. Tell your stories.
Alison Wood and her mother at Sacramento nationals.
Warmup routine posted by globe-trotting miler David O’Meara
Personal trainer and author David O’Meara of Sarasota, the mega-mile guy, is back again this summer with another challenge to himself. He’s running around the world — one mile at a time. His site reports: “David has now begun his 2010 Feat of Speed, ‘Around the World in Less Than 30 Minutes’ where he is running 6 one-mile races, in 6 weeks, on 6 continents in less than 30 minutes total race time.” His final race is Sunday, he says, “Arrived in Australia yesterday — last continent and final event on Sunday morning. Body holding up well so far. Hope you have had the chance to follow our trip on the blog at blog.onemilerunner.com. Wanted to share with you that an English running magazine, Running Free, has chosen one of our photos from www.OneMileRunner.com as their centerfold photo of their magazine as their Inspirational Photo for the month of August, please check it out on page 32 and 33.” Cool shot of David in Monument Valley, Utah/Arizona. And below is a nice warmup tutorial he posted:
Top 2009 masters honored at Sacramento athletes banquet
Rita Hanscom went to Monte Carlo to collect her IAAF Masters Athlete of the Year Award, but she wasn’t yet done. Saturday night at masters nationals, she formally (and finally) received her USATF Masters Athlete of the Year plaque from Mary Trotto, wearing a Hawaiian cowboy hat. Mary succeeded Dave Clingan as Masters Awards Committee chair. Bill Murray, who set an M55 American record in the decathlon at Lahti last summer, was named USATF Male Masters Athlete of the Year. But he wasn’t present at the banquet. (See our final Sacto gallery.) Bill Collins gave folks a scare when his leg cramped at the dinner. After a few minutes, he hobbled up to the podium and got his age-group award. Gary Snyder, masters chair, provided comic relief by naming moi the winner of his first “Crash and Burn Award,” citing my head-conking at the 2009 Oshkosh nationals high jump. He handed me a pink helmet and a toy bicycle horn.
Mary (left) congratulates Rita at Sacramento banquet. (Photo by Ken Stone)
Merlene Ottey talks smack against masters, M50 sprinters
Merlene Ottey
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New, improved Forum requires password re-set; our apologies
Sharp-eyed visitors may notice changes in my message board, called the Forums. Folks who need corrective lenses (like me) also may note the requirement that users re-set their passwords. Instructions are posted here. It’s a nuisance, I know, but the tradeoff is a better message board, with cool new features (that I haven’t explored yet). Please let me know if you can’t post to the boards or have other issues.
Keep a secret? Some hurdles at Sacramento were half-inch short
On the first day of masters nationals, I learned something funny and sad: Some (or many?) of the 27-inch hurdles in Sacramento were a half-inch short. Running referee Murray Sanford of Georgia reportedly made the discovery. They were fixed the next day — but only after a few pentathletes in the upper age groups ran the too-short short hurdles. Jim Flanik of the Games Committee oversaw repair of the bad puppies. So all is well. Or maybe not. It turns out that this set of too-short hurdles had been used at three or four other masters nationals. They travel around the country. So any records set over these hurdles in recent years may be in jeopardy. But at least they’ll be good for worlds. Hurdles and steeple are featured in our latest photo gallery.
Wood blocks helped prop up barriers to 27 inches. (Photo by Ken Stone)
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