World champion hurdler Jim Broun probably out for the season
Jim Broun, an M55 world champion hurdler and my miracle medal relay teammate at Lahti, likely is calling it a season. He’s going in for an MRI tonight in Florida, which “will show much more than the X-ray which showed lots of compression and deterioration. I have heard that if I get the surgery that the relief is almost immediate if it goes well. The lady that scheduled my MRI today had the procedure and runs triathlons!” An old auto accident and a ski spill after Kamloops have done a number on his back.
Jim Broun leads early at 2008 Spokane nationals. (Photo by Ken Stone)
Nick Berra flies on the track — and 2-day trip to Drake and Penn
Nick Berra says he had “a crazy couple of days” over the weekend — “literally planes, trains and automobiles.” That’s the understatement of the track season. On Friday, he won a drizzly masters 800 at Drake and the next day he anchored the Greater Philadelphia TC to third in the M40 4×4 at Penn. I wrote Nick, who lives in Enola, Pennsylvania, and he found time to detail his wild ride. “Met a lot of great people and had a lot of fun – worth every bit of the travel time,” he writes. “It did entail 12 hours of actual travel and a 19-hour day. . . . Until the Enola Relays are commissioned, I will be a “rolling stone.” Here’s his relay at Penn — contested right between the USA vs. the World 4x4s.
Nick takes the baton from GPTC teammate Dave Brown at the Penn 4x4.
Read the rest of this post »
Magical new tape being touted for athletes with limbs falling off
A Wall Street Journal article on the new “kinesiology tape” is worth our attention. See story here. Might help some of us compete with less pain — or at least without handfuls of ibuprofen. “Some trainers swear by it,” says the article. “Clay Sniteman, physical therapist and trainer for Association of Tennis Professionals, says he uses KT Tape during breaks in matches. ‘The athlete feels better immediately,’ says Mr. Sniteman, who says he gets no compensation from Lumos. ‘When that happens multiple times, there is something to it.’ ” Anyone in masters track land using this? How did it work for you?
Irie Hill ups own W40 outdoor vault WR to 3.80 at Aussie nationals
Britain's Irie Hill
Should Panamanians in USATF be denied mastersrankings.com?
Around the time mastersrankings.com got started, a policy was set: The site was open only to Americans who belong to USA Track & Field. No foreigners allowed. But occasionally non-U.S. citizens have gotten into the database — resulting in complaints to USATF Masters Rankings Committee chairman John Seto. Now comes a beef from a Panama national, a longtime resident of the United States and dues-paying member of USATF. This member, a resident of Houston, wrote me: “As a non-U.S. citizen living in the USA since the age of 12 and served in the Army 8 years, I’m prohibited from being listed on the Masters Ranking list per John Seto. I’ve been a member of (USATF) for 4 years and have paid my $30.00 each year. Who do you suggest that I could write that would look at that policy so that U.S. legal residents be included (in mastersrankings.com)? Other than ‘bragging’ for those who register, what’s the harm?”
Read the rest of this post »
Triple jumper’s modest goals: world record, WMA title in M70
In my book, the toughest field event is the triple jump. Murder on the knees. So when I read about a 69-year-old setting the goal of taking down the M70 triple jump record, I snapped to attention. Such is the ambition of Frank Struna, who won M65 bronze at Kamloops. His local Montana paper interviewed him. It’s a treat. Sample: “I want to get that world championship and a world record. I’ll think about retiring then, but as long as I can still fog up the mirror, I’ll still go for it.” BTW, the listed M70 world record is 10.61 (34-9 3/4) by Japan’s Shoji Ito. Frank did 9.98 (32-9) at worlds.
Frank's medals date back a quarter-century. (Photo by Charles Pulliam )
Read the rest of this post »
M55 world record in 4×4 again falls at Penn — but will it be ignored?
They ran in the shade. They ran in the sun. They traded leads. They drew some of Friday’s loudest cheers at the Penn Relays. In the end, the M50 Sprint Force America quartet beat the M55 foursome of Houston Elite in the 4×400. But Houston came away with a bigger prize: the M55 world record. Will their latest WR be clouded by WMA refusal to ratify its time? In one of the most spectacular 4×4 races in masters history, the M50 team of James Chinn, Ben James, Archie Glasby and Sal Allah clocked 3:38.83 to outleg the 3:40.62 of Charles Allie, George Haywood, Bill Collins and Horace Grant. The listed WR for M55 is 3:43.59 by Great Britain at 2007 Riccione worlds. But it should have been 3:41.07, which Houston Elite ran last year (with the same team) at Penn. That 3:41.07 is well-documented. In fact, it stands as the listed USATF M50-59 club record. So why not the world record? Here’s the Penn 4×4:
Peter McGinnis offers graduates life lessons learned from vaulting
M55 vaulter Peter McGinnis has shared the text of a speech he gave this month at SUNY Cortland with his friend Bubba Sparks. And Bubba has posted the talk on his blog. See it here. Peter is a recognized sports scientist and academic heavyweight, as this story makes clear. Among Peter’s lessons: “When my nephew was five he surprised his parents by cutting his own hair. When my brother commented about his unusual haircut my nephew said– ‘But Dad, I like to be unusual.’ Although I don’t recommend that you cut your own hair – don’t be afraid to be the different.” Vaulters never have to worry about not being different.
Nick Berra wins chilly Drake 800 in close race with defending champ
Nick Berra added another notch to his belt today at Drake. He overtook two-time defending champion David Nash in the masters 800, 1:59.34 to 1:59.88, as 22 men crowded the race at Des Moines, Iowa. (Results are here.) The National Weather Service puts temps in the area in the high 50s with light rain or mist. So this was a great time under the conditions. He went out in about 62 and finished in 57 and change. Next up for Nick: a flight to Philly, so he can run Saturday in the 4×4 with the Greater Philadelphia Track Club at Penn. Here’s the Flotrack video of the race, which shows Nick taking the lead with 100 to go:
Help honor Hall of Famer Nick Newton at a celebration May 22
Nick Newton showed off his blocks at the 1998 Mt. SAC Relays.
When I began masters competition in 1995, Milton “Nick” Newton was just this genial guy in the high jump — a friendly flopper in his early 60s! He gave me support and inspiration. Little did I know he was a legend and future Masters Hall of Famer. A WAVA world champion and World Masters Games gold medalist several times over, Nick also was a world-class sprinter who invented the starting blocks that bear his name. In December 1976, he and three dozen others, including John Carlos, were part of a U.S.-Aussie delegation that effectively integrated South African track and field. They competed in the first mixed-race meet of the apartheid era — having been invited by the S. Africans after David Pain and others fought for their inclusion in the 1975 world masters championships in Toronto. Since about 2004, however, Nick has been out of the game. He survived testicular cancer years before, but he’s still battling illness at age 76. He lives near the Salton Sea in California’s Imperial Valley. But he’s far from forgotten. On May 22, he’ll be honored at a restaurant in Pomona. It’s a surprise. (I’m told he doesn’t have a computer.)
For a PDF version of this party invitation, click on the image.
