More than two dozen French booked for Kamloops meet
M40 distance runner and race walker Emmanuel Tardi in France has shared the roster of countrymen entered at Kamloops worlds. Twenty-seven are entered. I recognize M50 Bruno Dupuy, who beat Val Barnwell in the M45 200 at Riccione worlds in 2007. These are probably the cream of the crop that competed at the 2008 World Masters Indoor Championships in Clermont-Ferrand, France. Please check the list and report on who you recognize. Merci, Emmanuel, and bonne chance. Any other national rosters floating around?
Couple dozen All-America Standard marks at Penn. meet
Heather Scanlon shares results from a hand-timed masters meet January 3 in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, where boldfaced marks denote All-American Standard performances. See results here. Nice touch, since it helps folks recognize at a glance the top marks. (I’m guilty of overlooking top throws, for example. To me, anything over 20 feet is awesome.) Renee Henderson, for example, turned a quick 64-second 400 in the W45 group, and M50s Lovell Butler and Tony Fulton clocked 6.9 for 55 meters. In any case, let us know when meet results get posted. Don’t be shy!
Millrose Games to feature geezer sprinters (but only ex-NFL)
An exhibition 60-meter race at the Millrose Games, just announced by USATF, “is expected to feature” M45 superstar Willie Gault, almost M35 Tim Dwight and M30 David Tyree. Why these folks? I guess they have some kind of pro football connection. But then why stop there? What about NFL Hall of Famer James Lofton? Or Phil McConkey, a Super Bowl legend? Or Billy “White Shoes” Johnson? All three have been regulars on the masters track circuit. As long as the masters sprint exhibition at Millrose has to be ex-NFL, might as well invite these others. In any case, best of luck to Willie. The M45 WR is 6.97. It’s yours for the taking.
German sports university latest to seek masters guinea pigs
I spoze we should feel flattered. Every year, some major college asks for masters athletes to take part in a survey or study. All are serious, but few report back. I think the latest, from a German sports university, will do a better job of sharing their findings. Check out this appeal. The actual study is done online. Fortunately, it’s also in English. Here’s the site. It says: “More than 10,000 persons have already participated in the PACE-Study. We would also like you to get involved in this important, anonymous survey for athletes! Our aim is to obtain relevant data from men and women of all ages and all sports, concerning training and performance, health and lifestyle as well as motivation for exercise.” So there you go. Have fun.
USATF indoor meet director: No shot entries beyond locals
Jamie Koch
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I’m often told, “He who pays the piper calls the tune.” That seems to be the case with the USA National Indoor Track & Field Championships next month in Albuquerque. Four masters exhibitions are set for the meet, but two — the men’s shot and men’s pole vault — are being run by local masters. Brad Winter, a local city councilman, is in charge of the vault, which he’ll take part in. He shared information about this event far and wide. And his field will come from across the country, including several record holders. By contrast, nothing was said about the men’s shot, overseen by Jamie Koch, until I noticed its inclusion on the official schedule. Fortunately, a Midwestern thrower sought out more details and shared them with me, which led to a revealing email note from meet director Rich Ceronie, who explained that local folks were in charge of the vault and shot, and didn’t have to advertise the events.
Shhhhh! Masters shot exhibition set for USATF open indoors
News to me: The event schedule for the USA Indoor Track & Field Championships shows a men’s masters shot put exhibition following the previously noted men’s masters pole vault on Sunday, February 28. Of course, the official masters invitational site notes only a men’s 1,000 and women’s 1500 at the Albuquerque meet. But where did the men’s shot come from? And who’s organizing it? This is a breakthrough for throwers, of course. But it would be nice if it weren’t a secret (from me at least). Meanwhile, the masters exhibition races show no entries yet. And the deadline for entering these prestigious showcase events is February 12. But the real looming deadline is January 16 — just four days from now — for the Millrose Games masters relays. As of this writing, only three 4×4 teams are entered (one men’s and two women’s). Folks, we gotta do better or lose a chance to run in The Show.
Bernardine Portenski: the best runner you’ve never heard of
If Bernardine Portenski lived in New York, Boston or Los Angeles, she’d be a national hero. Instead, she lives in a place called Wellington on a remote island nation southeast of Australia — and barely rates a whisper in masters track. But she’s the real deal. Last month, when Bernie (as she calls herself) wrote me to inquire about the 5K and 10K world records for W60, I didn’t give it much thought. Think again, Ken. On January 5, at the New Zealand national 10K track championships in Tauranga, Bernie clocked 39:47.43 — the No. 2 time in history for her age group. (See results here.) The only better mark on record is the listed WR of 39:21.1 by Aussie Theresia Baird in 2001.
Bernie’s only masters competition comes from the guys, but barely.
2010 USATF bylaws posted: No limit on masters transfers
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Late Friday night, after renewing my USATF membership online, I got this note from USATF’s Andy Martin: “Your member profile has been updated to reflect your Association as Southern California and your club affiliation with Southern California Striders.” Finally! After years of fighting for freedom of movement, masters tracksters finally can choose the association (and club) they want to represent. And last night I discovered the new USATF bylaws, which suggest that all transfers are automatic for masters track — not just for folks within 100 miles of their desired association. See the new bylaws here. The transfer process hasn’t been spelled out publicly, but it involves sending your request to the mother ship in Indy.
Kamloops announces deadline extension for regular entry
Judy Armstrong, a top organizer of Kamloops indoor world masters meet in March, has sent an announcement saying the “early bird” entry deadline has been pushed back to January 23. That’s two weeks later than the original date. Not sure how this plays out for Americans, who were given a regular entry deadline of January 4 and were told: “From January 5 to February 1, a late fee of $25 per event applies. No entries will be accepted after February 1, 2010.” In any case, the news release puts the best possible spin on the turnout, saying 49 countries are entered. But missing from the list are Britain and Italy (UK is taking its time; not sure about the Italians).
Stunning world records: 6.97 for M45 60, 5:09 for M70 1500
German blogger Robert Koop reports two incredible marks over the weekend: “Westphalian Karl-Walter Truemper (M70) and Italian Mario Longo (M45)” with world indoor records in different meets. Competing in the West German Championships in Dusseldorf, Karl-Walter clocked 5:09.62 for the 1500, beating the listed world mark of 5:12.22 by Canada’s Ed Whitlock in 2004. In Ancona, Italy, Mario — born in August 1964 — became the oldest man to run 60 meters in sub-7, recording an amazing 6.97 seconds to beat the listed WR of 7.02 by California’s Stan Whitley in 1991. (Earlier, he tied Stan’s record in the heats of the Italian open nationals, beating kids in their 20s. See results here.) On the Age-Graded Tables, the German’s mark is worth an open time of 3:43.9, and the Italian’s is equivalent to an age 20-30 mark of 6.39. (The open WR is Mo Greene’s 6.39.) Nice runs, gentlemen!
Hans Peter Skala photo of Karl-Walter, apparently during his world record 1500.
