Latest time-suck: Boston indoor nationals goes Facebook
Mike Travers, co-meet director of the 2010 masters indoor nationals in Boston along with trusty veteran Steve Vaitones, reports on our Forum: “Check us out on Facebook!” Here’s the link (if you’re a Facebooker). Although I belong to all major social networks, I don’t do much with my accounts. It’s mission creep. Don’t need yet another demand on my time. (Clubs are different, though. Mass Velocity makes good use of its Facebook outpost.) For those who like to connect with meet organizers and others attending the Boston event, Facebook is a safe forum. But I have a conflict of interest. We have a Forum here as well. To each their own.
Masters vaulter Boyce stars in wild-and-crazy YouTube clips
Don’t do this at home. This YouTube video making the rounds shows a vaulter named Andrew Boyce, 44, fetching an errant Frisbee at his home in Illinois. It was posted in August, about a month after Oshkosh nationals, where he went 1.90 (6-2 3/4) and 4.10 (13-5 1/4) in the M40 high jump and vault, and 6.31 (20-8 1/2) in the long jump. So he’s serious. His kids obviously are part of this production for the residuals. But after watching it a half-dozen times, I still can’t figure out where the pole was planted. Andrew is promoting his Web site, defiantpictures.com. His other jumping-related video shows him careening over a car.
Masters floppers can benefit from high jump curve calculator
Floppers over forty, take note. Peter Hlavin, my Lahti housemate, writes that former NCAA high jumper Todd Acheson “has created what I believe is the first high jump curve calculator that is available to the general public on the Internet. . . . This . . . would be a valuable tool for masters jumpers. Why? Using easy-to-gather information (e.g., average stride length of final 5 strides on curve), it establishes the optimal curve for each jumper (based primarily on speed and takeoff angle), as well as beginning of the curve mark. Very easy methodology to draw out the curve and then run curve over and over in practice. Of course, some trial and error work is usually involved but, hey, having a starting point is better than nothing.” Todd, 41, tells Peter he may even get into masters track. Here’s the site.
Get your stride length and plug in the numbers. Repeat every couple years.
What’s next? Masters on the cover of National Enquirer?
Another breakthrough for our niche. We made People magazine! Yes, in the same issue that covers Jon and Kate, Zac and Vanessa and Brad Pitt, we see W100 thrower Ruth Frith and M80 vaulter Hiroshi Miyamoto — doing their World Masters Games thing in a double-page photo spread. This season already included Nadine O’Connor featured in USA Today and several masters in Sports Illustrated. But People is as mainstream as it gets. But we won’t be satisfied until Bill Collins is touted by Weekly World News with the screamer “GOLD MEDALIST EXPOSED AS SPACE ALIEN!” and Phil Raschker is on the cover of Star under the banner “Revealed: Usain Bolt is my love child!” My thanks to Michael Kountze for calling my attention to this week’s issue of People (with M35 tennis star Andre Agassi on the cover).
You’re not truly a celeb until you’ve made People magazine. Good onya, Ruthie.
USA masters indoor nationals results posted 1975-present
Another coup for mastershistory.org, our USATF-sponsored masters museum. Thanks to National Masters News publisher Randy Sturgeon (who gave permission), most all results from the U.S. national masters indoor championships are now online. (See them here.) The first meet’s results, in 1974, are missing. So are 1976 and 1979. But we now have results from 1975, 1977, 1978 and 1980 to present. These results were printed in the early masters newsletters and National Masters News. Many of the posted PDFs include results from other meets, including national masters pentathlon championships. For the record, Boston hosted indoor nationals the most: 11 out of 36 meets. Make it a dozen if you include Cambridge in 1982. The first meets were under the AAU umbrella. Later, the meets were TAC (The Athletics Congress). Finally the USATF brand began in 1993. The PDFs of the printed results are searchable. Go find your friends!
Masters racewalk records chair takes backseat to nobody
Bev McCall
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According to this post on a racewalk message board, Bev McCall is in charge of masters racewalk records. And she’s taking her job seriously enough to ask for help in vetting marks on the USATF records page. We learn: “Please take some time (especially if you or someone you know broke a record this year) and click on the links to the masters’ RW records and make sure that the information for the “Pending” record is complete, And even more important, that if you broke a record this year, that it recorded there and marked “Pending” (a lite shade of blue). If a record change isn’t currently indicated on this website and it should be please contact Bev as soon as possible.” We could learn from Bev’s example. How hard is it to post a note?
Earl Fee topping himself, plans new book: How to reach 100
Earl Fee, the megarecord man, gave a speech at the Ontario Senior Games in October, which forms the bulk of his blog entry at Pete Magill’s site. Really interesting stuff. In it, Earl reveals he’s working on a new book titled: “100 Years Young the Natural Way — Body, Mind, Spirit Training.” If it’s half as good as his opus, “How to be a Champion from 9 to 90,” it should be terrific. Earl gave a speech at Ontario, saying: “With an optimistic attitude you will live 7.5 years longer. . . . My main training secret which has resulted in 53 masters world records in running and hurdling in the past 24 years is to age slower than my rivals. My main competitor in the 100 at these recent World Games was also the same age. He had it right when he said to me, ‘You are much younger than me’ — meaning in body. So I urge you to adopt this goal also of aging slower than your rivals.” He also says: “Remember the journey, the training and the friendships along the way are more important than the final destination or the medal.”
Nursing a masters career: Ruthlyn Greenfield-Webster
Ruthlyn V. Greenfield-Webster of Yonkers shared this nice profile of her some time ago. She writes: “My hospital (NYU Hospitals Center) published it. . . They interviewed me and did the photo shoot a year ago (thought they had forgotten about it). Couple corrections: The shot of me jumping is me long jumping, not triple jumping, and this summer I ranked third in the world at the World Championships, not overall! Now if only I can get them to sponsor me. LOL!!! рџ™‚ ” In the profile, Ruthlyn says: “I want to inspire others. I want people — especially women — to look at me and say, ‘If she can pursue her goals and dreams, then I can pursue mine.’ That’s my reward.” I was privileged to meet Ruthlyn in Lahti. You’re our reward, RGW!
Ruthlyn, a W35 jumper, has a long career ahead of her.
Wanna be on the Beeb? Interview subjects being sought
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The Beeb is the BBC — some foreign radio channel or something. Don McGrath of the 50 Interviews project writes: “I was contacted about helping with a documentary for the BBC on senior athletes over 65. They are looking to feature communities of senior athletes that are inspirational and motivating to the younger generation in the UK. I’ve provided them contacts for people in the Southeast U.S., Southwest U.S. and Mountain region. They are also looking for good contacts in active communities in New York or the Northeast U.S. I thought I’d reach out to see if there is anyone on this list who can help me find someone who would be a good contact. If you have interest or know of someone who could be such a contact, let me know ASAP.” Interested? Write Don here.
Oscar Peyton tells his weekly workouts in SpeeDemon blog
Oscar Peyton says he never ran track in high school or college — and basically started sprinting after he turned 50. That explains why he’s spilling the beans on his training regimen. (He didn’t know that elites keep their workouts top secret.) Now Oscar, the M55 star who beat Bill Collins indoors and out this year, has launched a blog to divulge details of his preparations for 2010. He wrote me yesterday: “I just finished reading your blog about Bill Collins and Dr. Stephen Peters. A lot of people do not believe Dr. Peters when it comes to his training, but I do. Mine is similar except I throw in a few drills . . . and very rarely give 100% to any sprint or repeat. A lot of people have been inquiring . . . about my training, . . . and I have been gracious enough to share it with anyone interested in the masters track world.”
Maryland’s Oscar Peyton won the 200 final at Oshkosh masters nationals in July.
