Hope sprouts for ratification of USATF records at Palo Alto
Our masters mole in Indy, having read my entry about records at the National Senior Games being ignored, writes: “USATF did issue an ex post facto sanction for NSG. There are 9 ‘records’ set there that would be up for ratification here. Of those, one is by someone for whom Sandy (Pashkin) doesn’t have other required info (like a copy of the birth certificate to verify age) . . . As a side note, at the NSG they did the “age as of December 31 of the year of the meet” as the determining factor for age groups, so this could be a serious concern for this individual depending on the actual birth date. Sandy is recommending that the marks from NSG not be ratified because an ex post facto sanction sets a pretty bad precedent; there wasn’t much dissent on that at the Exec Committee, but I suspect there will be when it reaches the floor of the MTF committee later today or tomorrow.”
Rita ‘Hamscom’ honored on WMA Web site, just 10 days late
News flash! World Masters Athletics reports that “Rita Hamscom” received world’s best masters athlete honors at the IAAF Gala in Monte Carlo. (See the account here.) No matter. At least the WMA site has a nice photo of Rita and Guido MГјller — posted a mere 10 days after the event. But the real revelations are on the USATF records site. For the first time, women’s decathlon records are denoted as “pending.” (Better than being ignored!) The site, updated last Sunday, shows Rita as holding the W50 decathlon record of 7327 points and the W55 best of 8899. And still incredible is Nadine O’Connor’s W65 score of 10,234 points from last August (mistakenly included in the W60 group). WMA doesn’t list women’s dec records (probably because it doesn’t contest the event at worlds). But it could happen someday.
USATF masters nationals may return to Illinois in 2012
Millikin University in southern Illinois hosted the 2004 USATF masters outdoor nationals. Now it appears Benedictine University in northern Illinois will host our meet in 2012. A masters mole at the Indy annual meeting of USA Track & Field tells me that “Lisle, Illinois” seems to be the de facto pick. That suggests Benedictine, a Catholic school in Lisle, southwest of Chicago. “No one else bidding for that year,” says my mole, “but there are rumors that Orono (Maine) had some interest and decided to wait and bid for 2013 the following year.” My mole says we’ll hear more today or Friday, when masters delegates vote on the meet. In addition, says my mole, Bloomington, Indiana, and Albuquerque, New Mexico, are in the running to host the 2011 masters indoor nationals. “Both want it that year, but they may work out a deal for one to go for 2011
and the other for 2012 — at least that’s what some of us are hoping for.”
Benedictine’s nine-lane track is set in a nice woodsy area, so shade is no problem.
Colleen outlegs Rita for USATF Masters Athlete of the Year
No complaints this year. USATF honchos were smart in naming W45 roadie Colleen De Reuck as Masters Athlete of the Year, announced today at the annual meeting in Indianapolis. Unlike 2007’s debacle, when Phil Raschker was named world’s best masters athlete but lost the USATF prize to a W75 roadie, this year’s world’s best (Rita Hanscom, the Masters T&F Committee’s choice for the award) was edged by a distance prodigy who regularly beats top runners in their 20s and 30s — taking prize money at every event she enters. It’s basically a comparison of apples and oranges, though. Colleen, a four-time Olympian, is a professional runner, whose open career never really ended. And Rita is a true amateur, who banks only gold medals. But congrats to Colleen! And also to Rita, whose photo appears on the cover of the current Fast Forward magazine!
Colleen frequently crushes runners half her age in open races.
Secrecy prevails in bidding for 2012 USATF masters nationals
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In recent days, I’ve been trolling for who is bidding for the 2012 USATF masters nationals (indoors and outdoors) — to be selected at this week’s USATF annual meeting in Indianapolis. I’ve written to Gary Snyder, our national chair, plus folks in various cities with a history of interest. Finally, I got an absurd note from Mike Travers, USATF Masters Site Selection chair. He writes: “I am not going to release any bidder names and locations prior (to) the meeting. Some of these bidders appear to be sensitive to the competitive nature of this bidding process. I don’t want to lose any bidders because of any early disclosure. I will however let you know soon after voting and acceptance of the bids, so you can post to your blog. It’s fair to assume that there are multiple bids expected for all open dates.”
Carmel’s blog and running career profiled in Reno newspaper
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Folks familiar with Carmel Papworth-Barnum’s groundbreaking Women Running Together site and blog won’t be surprised that her work is celebrated in a newspaper article. My only comment: What took ’em so long? Check out this great little article (with photos) in the Reno Gazette-Journal. It’s headlined “For the love of running,” and my favorite quote is: “The Web site was been a wonderful opportunity for new friends to flow into my life.” I know how it is, Carmel. How cool is her development? She goes from managing editor of National Masters News, with a tiny American circulation, to webmistress of a site popular around the world! But surprising yourself is what this sport is all about. As Carmel herself says: “If you had told me in my 20s that in my 40s I would have been competing in the World Championships, I would have said there was no way. I just would have laughed.”
NSG qualifying meets conflicting with 2010 Sacto nationals
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With 2010 being the qualifying year for the 2011 National Senior Games, some Senior Games are overlapping the dates of Sacramento USATF masters nationals. One W50 athlete writes: “The (Washington) State Games . . . are scheduled 23-25 Jul 2010. The (Wyoming) State Games . . . are scheduled for 21-25 Jul 2010. USATF National Outdoors 2010, as you know, are in Sacramento over that same period. Now why would those State Games folks do such a thing? Surely they are aware of a meet of the caliber of Sacramento 2010, and surely they did not deliberately decide to force athletes to choose one vs. the other?” Of course, meet organizers in the states have bigger fish to fry than accommodating masters track, especially when they have a dozen or more sports to contend with. (And maybe the dates of other sports’ nationals took precedence.) But if you’re interested in attending 2010 Sacto nationals and 2011 NSG, you might check your state calendars as well. Any other states with a conflict?
Will America join Germany in thumbing nose at WMA rules?
USATF may go rogue. Just as the Germans balked at accepting the WMA’s new rule on first hurdle run-up distance for the M60 and M65 groups, American rule-makers may say “nein” to WMA discus specs in the upper age groups. These are among proposals to be mulled in a few days by USATF masters delegates at the annual meeting in Indianapolis. A whole slew of rules changes and bylaws tweaks are on the docket. Check out the “documents library” posted for the Indy convention, which takes place December 2-6. Another rule change would declare that masters road running starts at age 40, instead of age 35, as World Masters Athletics has decreed.
M80 Perry Huff: started sprinting at 63, now shooting for 120
Perry Huff of Mississippi, an M80 sprinter, was profiled recently in his local paper. I like his attitude about training: “I always say it’s like going to church,” Perry said. “I always exercise first thing in the morning. It’s like getting up on Sunday and going to church. It’s what I do.” And when it comes to racing, he’s not coy: “I don’t run just to compete. I don’t run to do the best I can. I run to win!” It’s worked so far. He won a couple golds at the National Senior Olympics. And he’s not unaware of the USATF circuit, since he speaks admiringly of fellow Mississippian Emil Pawlik.
Perry says of the NSG: “I don’t know where they’ll hold the games in 2019,
but I plan to be there, and I want to set (an M90) record.”
Start the campaign: Recruit London for 2015 outdoor worlds
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Lord Sebastian Coe, who now has masters cooties after awarding Rita and Guido their world awards, says the 2012 Olympic Stadium will keep its track. Great news. “What we do know is the commitment to leave a track and field facility within that stadium is rock solid, no-one is moving a millimetre off that,” Sebastian said. “Whatever size it ultimately ends up as, track and field will play a strong part of that.” This leads me to think: London should bid for the 2015 World Masters Athletics Championships! The 2011 meet is in Sacramento and the 2013 meet is in Porto Alegre, Brazil, so 2015 will be decided at the 2011 General Assembly. The Brits last hosted outdoor worlds in 1999, so it’s time for them to return to the rotation. And we really, really want to run on an Olympic track! Start banging the drums!
