Shuttle hurdle relay coming to 2010 Sacramento nationals
Jeff Davison, who single-handedly is reviving one of our favorite events, reports: “The 2010 Shuttle Hurdle Relay has been approved. I will have more details later. It will be the last running event of the 2010 Masters National Outdoor Championships as an exhibition event.” Jeff is getting some help this year in organizing the relay from world-class timber toppers Eugene Anton and Jeff Brower. Jeff is a bit slower, but that’s because he just had successful knee surgery Tuesday. “Knee and ankle are very swollen,” he reports from Laguna Hills, California. “I am already (back) working, but sit at my desk at work with my legs up, and typing away.” Meanwhile, Bubba Sparks reports the field is set for the masters pole vault exhibition at USATF open indoor nationals in New Mexico.
Shuttle hurdlers gathered after the 2007 relay in Orono, Maine.
Anyone want a census of USA Track & Field? Count us in!
It’s good enough for the United States of America, so why not the United States of Track & Field? Every 10 years, our nation does a census. Why not our federation? Seriously. How do we know where we’re going if we don’t know where we stand? Anyone certain how many USATF members compete in masters track? I didn’t think so. I’ve heard numbers from 8,000 to 10,000. But we could do a lot better. And we have all the tools to do so, since USATF has a mailing list for Fast Forward. Keeping the numbers secret also serves to marginalize masters. We’re a powerful constituency that doesn’t know its clout! A detailed survey also can be created on polldaddy.com or surveymonkey.com. Not every masters athlete goes online, but it’s one way of reaching out (and saves on postage). So just do it. (And make it public!)
M40 Shabunin shatters 3,000 indoor world record: 8:04.34
Vyacheslav Shabunin
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Pete Magill discovered an amazing masters indoor record, set yesterday in Russia. The European Athletics site reports: “Second in the men’s 3000m, the ever-young Vyacheslav Shabunin posted
a world masters record (40+) of 8:04.34. The current mark listed by world-masters-athletics.org is 8:09.13 set by Ireland’s Marcus O’Sullivan in 2002.” Last year, just before turning 40, Vyacheslav ran the 1500 in 3:41.41 — a sub-4-minute mile pace. So he could be priming himself for a shot at the M40 mile world record. The listed outdoor best is 4:02.53 by Britain’s David Moorcroft and the indoor best is the legendary 3:58.13 by Eamonn Coghlan in 1994. Could the Russian go where Steve Scott, Tony Young and Jim Sorensen didn’t? Stay tuned. The Russian’s 8:04 converts to an open equivalent of 7:37.7 on the 2006 Age-Graded Tables. (The world record is 7:24.90.)
Vyacheslav has the best shot at sub-4 at 40 since Jim Sorensen.
USATF uniform chief explains procedures for WMA entrants
Jed Cornforth, director of merchandise and operations for USATF, has sent some information in response to comments at this blog entry. Jed writes: “We have received a few questions pertaining to the WMA uniforms (and subsequent ordering process), so I would like to clarify uniform purchase issues for the Kamloops competitors, and Ken has graciously granted this space to do so. Competition uniform tops and select supplemental uniform pieces (matching shorts, tights and warm-up clothing) are available through a special store set up for those entered in the championships. Once your WMA entry has been submitted to USATF, you can access the special store. (You will also need your membership number when you are ready to purchase.)”
Newspaper writers do justice by Daprano and GPTC relay
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Andrew Wagaman of The Morning Call in Pennsylvania and Trey Alverson of the Fayette County News in Georgia get our latest gold medals for MSM writers telling masters track stories right. (I just invented the award.) No feigned amazement over middle-agers running track. No cliches about over-the-hill athletes. Just mature reporting, with great quotes and details. Check out Andrew’s story here. Kevin Forde, speaking for many, told Andrew: “I’m not the smartest guy or the wealthiest guy and I’m not the best-looking, but I was blessed with the talent to run.” Gotta love it. Kevin telegraphed the newspaper story on his blog, writing on December 30: “At lunchtime I got an email from Andrew Wagaman from the Allentown Morning Call
asking if I could call him for an article he was writing…..WOW!” And here’s the story about new Masters Hall of Famer Bill Daprano by Trey.
USATF Foundation expels masters from mission statement
Two days ago, the USATF Foundation trumpeted plans to hand out $385,000 in “grant funding” this year. The loot, said director Amory Rowe, would go to “constituents ranging from the earliest beginners to the most elite veterans.” So where does that leave us geezers? Don’t ask. I shot an email to Tom Jackovic, the group’s executive director, and he graciously replied within hours. His note is below. The upshot is masters get zip. And the foundation has even taken masters out of its mission statement. But they’d better watch their Form 990 tax statements. An archive of these records still shows the USATF Foundation as listing masters in its mission.
As far as tax filings go, we’re still part of USATF Foundation’s stated purpose.
Americans may outnumber Europeans 3-1 at Kamloops
With three weeks before the drop-dead deadline of February 1, it appears from the USATF Status of Entries page that about 210 Americans will vie for medals in Kamloops this March. Team USA at indoor worlds will be a powerhouse — with W60 Phil Raschker entered in her usual gazillion events, W55 Rita Hanscom looking for a pentathlon WR to go with her hep record from Lahti, and M55 Bill Collins going for another 60-200-400 sweep despite being one of the oldest in his age group (he turned 59 in late November). Our oldest team members are M90s Ralph Maxwell (WR hurdler) and Orville Rogers (WR miler). Between them, they’re entered in 15 events. So who’s the competition from Europe? Not much. The Koops in Germany report “Only 53 German masters athletes (19 of them women) have entered. . . . By comparison, two years ago in Clermont-Ferrand there were . . . 368.” No Austrians entered, they say. Only two to four from Switzerland. The Brits’ deadline is January 9. No entrants list yet.
National Senior Games results book ‘certifies’ world records
Folks who compete in Senior Games know the drill: Do your runs, jumps or throws and wait months for the results book. In the case of the 2009 National Senior Games, held in early August, those books are just now landing in mailboxes. But a surprise is in store for the likes of Audrey Lary, Flo Meiler and Don Pellmann. You’re a world record holder! Check out the excerpt below (with the WR and AR notations blown up for legibility). The practice of denoting records is common in many meet results, even though ratification can’t be assumed — and in this case was never achieved (for reasons well-documented). This prompted a Pacific Northwest friend of mine to write: “Hey, who needs Sandy Pashkin? Who needs USATF? The National Stupid Games have taken it upon themselves to announce national and world masters track and field records!”
Clip from a page of the just-released 2009 National Senior Games results book.
Celebrating 10 years of masterstrack.com with site updates!
On November 5, 1999, masterstrack.com was registered as a domain name. As co-webmasters, Dave Clingan and I soon began posting meet calendars, rankings lists, news blurbs, photos and fire-breathing rants. (See some early examples.) So this site — a successor to my original Masters Track & Field Home Page — has turned 10. But lately we’ve been showing our age. Aside from this blog, major subsections went to seed. I lived up to my rep as the procrastinator webmaster. But recently, I began some major revisions, bringing subsections into the blog template and updating moldy oldie pages.
Decade debate: Phil Raschker or Nadine O’Connor as No. 1?
How do you measure greatness? Masters track has many yardsticks: Hall of Fame induction, Athlete of the Year honors, world titles, world records. But what separates the superstars? In recent days, my question of Who’s the Masters Athlete of the Decade? has prompted some public discussion — but also some private back-and-forth. One debate centers on Nadine O’Connor vs. Phil Raschker. Both Americans rewrote the record books between 2000 and 2009. Both won major public acclaim and gold medals galore. Nadine and Phil are as good as they get in the sport, but which is the best? Since Nadine is five years older than Phil (born in early 1942 and 1947, respectively), they don’t face each other. So that’s where it gets dicey. Can the Age-Graded Tables separate them? Bud Held thinks so.
Nadine O’Connor (left) and Phil Raschker rarely go head-to-head
— except for photos like this one my wife took at 2007 Orono nationals.
