Missing from Kamloops: Earl Fee, Bob Lida and Doug Smith
The 60-meter prelims are among many events kicking off Kamloops worlds this morning, but several all-star sprinters won’t be awaiting the gun. Canada’s Earl Fee, always a threat at M80 records, wrote me last week: “Not going to Kamloops as planned as I am recovering from a calf tear, but will compete in Boston.” And M70 sprint champions Bob Lida of Kansas and Doug Smith of Southern California also have scratched from worlds. Doug has a deep tissue injury. “Had been having some excellent training sessions,” he wrote, “and felt really confident, but won’t be able to compete, after all. Such is the life of a sprinter.” And Bob, a new Masters Hall of Famer, says: “Kept waiting for my knees to come around. They’re better, but not good enough for world competition — and certainly not for a non-banked track.” Bob may compete at Boston nationals in three weeks.
Bob Lida, falling near end of Spokane 100-meter final in 2008, recovered in 2009 but still has knee issues. (Photo by Ken Stone)
Calling all Kamloops bloggers: Share your stories here
It’s time for worlds! Opening ceremonies at Kamloops are tonight. I can’t attend, sorry. But I can share the thrills and chills vicariously. I’ll be on the lookout for stories large and small, including those of bloggers like Australian Roger Pilkington, an M50 middle-distance runner and multi-eventer who wrote today:В “We then went and bought a few things at the supermarket for breakfast and snacks, went back to the Motel and changed into our running gear and went back to the Uni and ran a few laps on their outdoor track, my legs were feeling a lot better today, the rest did them good.”В It ain’t Shakespeare, but what did the Bard know of masters track? Best of Luck to Roger and everyone else.
Bernard Lagat easily takes down M35 American 3K record
Bernard Lagat a couple minutes ago destroyed Chad Newton’s listed M35 American record-holder in the indoor 3000 at Albuquerque nationals. Official time not yet posted. But Bernard ran 8:12 — 30 seconds faster than Chad’s 8:42 two years ago at Boston indoor nationals. Bernard fell short ofВ the listed WR of 7:40.68 by Germany’s Dieter Baumann in 2002. But tonight’s race was at altitude.
USATF blogging real-time news from Albuquerque meet!
USATF has at least one blogger covering the USA Indoor Track & Field Championships. USATF webmaster Katie Landry, a Twitter member, is one of them. She’s been updating the USATF live blog. Check it out here. We learn that Lisa Valle won the masters women’s 1500 exhibition in 4:54, for example. Men up next. This may be a first for USATF — covering a nationals via blog. (I’ve done done it several times, as far back as 2004.)В Not easy. But fun!
Italian masters nationals hoping to lure Golden Gala elites
Think of it this way: The day after the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, USATF masters nationals are held at the same Hayward Field site. That’s pretty much what FIDAL, the national track federation of Italy, did when it recently announced it was moving its masters outdoor nationals from the weekend of June 2-4 to the weekend of June 11-13. Why? The elite Golden Gala meet at the 1960 Rome Olympic Stadium is June 10. “And . . . the Italian athletes (older than 35 years) competing in the Gala event have the opportunity to participate in the veterans championships, too,” reports the Eurovets site. Not sure where the Italian masters nationals will be held. But nice of them to invite the M35/W35 elites to the show.
Marge Allison wins top prize in Aussie masters track: Landy Trophy
Phil Raschker (left) and Marge met up at the Sydney World Masters Games in 2009.
Chalk up another title for Marge Allison and Emu Oil. Australia has a masters nationals, but when it comes to bragging rights the top individual award is The Landy Trophy. Nobody votes on this award. You win it on the track. And this isn’t for each age group — it’s for the top racer among all age groups and sexes. On February 15, Marge became the second woman in the event’s history to win the Landy. Everyone runs a 200 and a 1,000 in the event. Then the top runners, based on age-graded percentages, advance to a handicap 400-meter final. A handicap race means the youngest masters run the longest. The oldest, such as 65-year-old Marge, run a shorter distance based on the WMA Age-Graded Tables. Don’t know if they used the 2006 or 2010 tables, but Marge is this year’s winner. Last October, Carmel Papworth-Barnum described how Marge swears by Emu Oil. “She swallows a teaspoon a day and rubs some into her knee,” Carmel wrote at Women Running Together, her wonderful Web site.
Kamloops athletes party open to all (except many 3K runners)
One of the highlights of any world meet is the athletes banquet. Even if the food and entertainment aren’t world-class, the conversation and camaraderie are. So it was a shock to learn that the “Polar Storm Party” at Kamloops worlds is scheduled smack in the middle of many 3,000-meter races. The current “revised schedule” posted here shows the finals for the W70‐84 3000 at 6:50 p.m. March 3, followed by W60-69 at 7:15, W50-59 at 7:35, W35-49 at 7:50 and M35-44 at 8:05 p.m. Yet the party at the TRU Grand Hall starts at 6:30 p.m. March 3, with dinner served at 7. You cannot be serious! Besides the absurdity of athletes shelling out $25 for a shindig they can’t attend, this might be the first time any event at a worlds has conflicted with the party. In addition, the M75‐94 3000 final is set for 9 a.m. March 4. So it’s eat-and-run for the elder gents.
Irie Hill’s stock rises: she adds W40 world indoor record in pole vault
The listed world indoor record for the W40 vault is 3.60 (11-9 3/4) shared by Italy’s Carla Forcinelli and Holland’s Larissa Lowe. But the British masters site has posted this tie-breaking news: “Irie Hill has broken the W40 pole vault record, clearing 3.65m indoors in Sindelfingen on 29 January, the same venue where Carla Forcellini of Italy set the previous 3.60m mark at the first World Masters Indoor Championships in March 2004.” The new record is a quarter-inch under 12 feet. Of course, Irie (who lives in Australia and turned 41 in mid-January) set outdoor records last year (topped by 3.71), as chronicled on Becca’s message board.
Irie skies over the bar outdoors in recent meet. (Photo by Tom Phillips)
Willie Banks warms up for Boston nationals with 5-11 at age 53
He jokes about being overweight. His busy life includes consulting, representing Fieldturf in Japan and sitting on two major boards (USATF and the USATF Foundation). But when Olympian Willie Banks wants to bring it, the old legs can still deliver. Yesterday at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California, the former world record holder in the triple jump ignored overcast skies and temps in the low 60s to high-jump 1.80 meters (5-10 3/4). He did it the hard way: straddling from three steps out — and wearingВ triple jump shoes (no heel spikes). He had a couple good tries at 1.83 (6 feet) but called it a day. No TJ for him. He says he’s now looking forward to competing at Boston nationals in a month — his first indoor meet since February 19, 1982, when he set a world record in San Diego. He’ll be 54 in Boston, since his birthday is March 11.
(Corrected caption) Willie heads toward bar in failed try at 1.83. (Photo by Ken Stone)
Italy’s Ugo Sansonetti claims M90 world indoor record for 60 meters
Ugo Sansonetti, the Lahti sprint champ and Coca-Cola pitchman,В ran the 60 in 11.38 seconds over the weekend at Italian masters nationals in Ancona. Not impressive? Try keeping up with that when you’re 91!В Ugo beat the listed indoor WR of 11.47 by Sweden’sВ Herbert Liedtke in 2007. (Ugo also beat Herbert at Lahti; see the video below.) It was the 29th world age-group record of 2010, says the Italian site Web-atletica. TheВ M90 American record? It’s 11.84В by Ted Hatlen in 2001. C’mon, Yanks!В Let’s go sub-11!
