Albuquerque rumors deserve quick swat-down or confirmation
Ever since Boston indoor nationals — and reaching a fever pitch in recent days — rumors have circulated that Albuquerque is backing off as host of the 2011 USATF masters indoor nationals. I’ve sent a scad of notes to folks across the country to pin this down. So far, nobody in authority has said boo. Which scares me. If New Mexico nationals were a go, you’d expect someone with the LOC to immediately put out this fire. But the silence is deafening. Albuquerque was awarded indoor nationals in December 2009, beating Bloomington, Indiana, by a vote of 26-25. So I wrote folks in Indiana to see if they’ve been asked to move up a year. (They won 2012 indoor nationals.) Gary Snyder, our national chair, should immediately chime in. Folks deserve to know.
Roald Bradstock nearing own M45 American record in javelin
Roald Bradstock, still dreaming about being a British Olympian again, has been accepted as an entrant at the May 14 Georgia Tech Invitational. Not sure what he’ll wear. (That’s always a treat!) But I’m certain he’ll throw his pointy stick farther than most of the kiddies. His best this season is 71.22 (233-8), which he did a couple weeks ago. He currently sits 11th on the USATF open list. Not bad for a guy who just turned 48. He holds the listed M45 American record of 71.75 (235-4) — set back in May 2007. So it’s amazing he could challenge that three years later. The listed M45 WR is 77.15 (253-1) by Germany’s Peter Blank. Roald’s recent 71.22 is shown here:
Should Marion Jones be welcomed to compete at masters meets?
Marion Jones
Read the rest of this post »
General-interest site eHow tells ‘How to become a masters sprinter’
Henry Randolph on Saturday.
Masters track clubs can build nifty websites through FloNetwork
They don’t say how much they charge, but Flotrack — a video-sharing service — has begun building really cool websites for clubs and companies. Clients get some really nice designs that feature videos and Twitter feeds. They also become part of a network of affiliated sites called FloNetwork. Here’s how Flocast describes the deal. Also, says Flotrack: “From the very first day you go live you will have access to Flotrack’s entire library of videos and the means to upload your own videos at will. Your site and content will be featured and promoted on Flotrack by uploading your own videos and Flotrack featuring them, graphic links below videos, and featuring within the Flonetwork page.”
Read the rest of this post »
Heads in the stars: new world record-holders for the M35 4×8
Exactly a month ago, the team of Miles Smith (2:01), Michael Schroer (1:54), Jason Rhodes (1:59) and Scott Anderson (1:58) shattered the listed M35 world record in the 4×800 at the College of William & Mary — clocking 7:55.67 to break the WMA WR of 8:11.84 by a Spanish team in 2008. The listed American record was 8:22.95 by Robert VanCleve, Brad Dittmar, Chris Yorges and Chad Newton at 2006 Charlotte nationals. I contacted Jason, and he immediately responded to my questions. Among other things, we learn this was his first masters race. Nice! A WR your first time out! Our quickie Q&A follows.
From left are Miles, Mike, Scott and Jason after their M35 world record.
Willie Gault bypasses masters, logs sprint double at open meet
M45 freak-of-nature Willie Gault, who turns 50 in September, ran with the kiddies over the weekend at the Steve Scott Invitational at UC Irvine. He clocked legal times of 10.90 and 22.16 in the 100/200. Results are here. A few miles away, masters were running at the Southern California Striders Meet of Champions, a well-attended event at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa. (Nolan Shaheed ran the 1500 at Striders in 4:31.93, another potential M60 American record but slower than his 4:31.33 six weeks ago.) A year ago, Willie ran at Striders. This year, apparently wanting to avoid the slow OCC track and prevailing headwinds, he opted for Scott. A handful of masters joined Willie in Irvine, including 41-year-old Aeron Arlin Genet, who ran the 8 in 2:13.00.
M85 Hall of Fame runner John Keston pens autobiography
John Keston
Read the rest of this post »
Aussie angel helping finance ‘mum’s’ trip to 2011 Sacto worlds
Here’s how important the WMA world meet is to some folks. They donate money to make dreams come true. W40 sprinter Michelle Stevenson will compete at 2011 Sacramento worlds, thanks to the generosity of a local Aussie businessman named George Flack. He pledged the money “after seeing the mother-of-six compete and reading her inspiring story in the Bendigo Advertiser’s Women in Sport pages.” Here’s the story about the donation. What a guy!
Michelle Stevenson is being sponsored for Sacto worlds by George Flack. (Photo by Chris McCormack)
Read the rest of this post »
California getting a new Senior Olympic track meet in 2011
Danny Propp
Read the rest of this post »
