Lahti rest day: Walking tour, Peters chat and Forum debut
Doug Thompson of Arizona, a former Mormon missionary who lived in Finland in 1979-80, gave me and Tom Hartshorne of Ithaca, New York, a quick tour of Lahti on Friday, the meet’s first rest day, while describing local foods, history and customs. We explored the town’s central courtyard, visited the lakefront and the nearby Sebilius concert hall and marveled at the architecture while Tom, a developer with some design training, described nuances of construction. At lunch, we chatted with Dr. Stephen Peters of Britain, a world champ and record-holding sprinter, with his tax-accountant lady pal and some friends. He claimed he doesn’t jog in warmup — just does a series of four ever-faster 100-meter sprints (ending with 11.5 pace). He also said he doesn’t do weight training. True or not, he’s an amazing guy.
Stephen Peters and friend Hazel Barker take in the lakefront ambiance at Lahti.
Lahti Day 3: Perfect weather for an American W45 record
Over the main stadium in Lahti, the sun peeked from behind the clouds and went into hiding several times. But the temps were in the low 70s, and the wind was light — sometimes slightly aiding in the 100 prelims. The news of the day was Renee Henderson’s American record of 12.10. She told me it came as a surprise to her as well. Although she had turned 45 on Tuesday, she didn’t have the record in mind — at least not in prelims. Her mark of 12.10 (with legal 1.6 mps wind) destroyed Phil Raschker’s AR of 12.50 from 1995. Renee, who hails from Merchantville, New Jersey, also ran 12.10 at Oshkosh nationals. Can she crack 12 — territory explored only by Merlene Ottey? Another great effort came in the W50 high jump, where Martha Mendenhall of Tacoma, Wash., won with a jump of 1.52 (about 5 feet).
Martha Mendenhall shows her colors after winning the W50 high jump.
Lahti Day 2: Rain at end can’t dampen thrilling multis, WRs
Emil Pawlik won the M70 decathlon, running the 1500 in a downpour last night at worlds. Rita Hanscom learned she had broken Phil Raschker’s W55 WR in the heptathlon at the awards ceremony. Bill Murray needed three massage/chiropractic sessions to survive a pinched nerve in his back to win the M55 deca and set an American record. Becky Sisley fell short of her own record in the W70 hep but took home gold. And Marie Kay (W45) and Rolf Geese (M65) set stunning world records on Day 2 of the Lahti meet. No time for details (I have a 100 heat to run soon. Day 3 dawned sunny, FYI). But check out the first photos for my Lahti Gallery.
Bill Murray gets nice air as his M55 decathlon rivals celebrate his golden effort.
Lahti Day 1: Gorgeous weather, stunning marks, lost blogger
Didn’t have WiFi connection last night at my guest house, so this entry was delayed. But now, at 8:35 a.m. local time Wednesday, I’m pecking away at my son’s Toshiba Satellite laptop in the Netcafe at the vast hall where info booths are set up, people pick up their packets and declare for events. (WiFi is free here: Connect to WMA-Netcafe; username is Internet, with no password.) Day 1 was gorgeous! Very little wind with temps in the high 60s or low 70s. Partly cloudy in morning and overcast in the afternoon as decas and heps concluded Day 1. Taking huge leads were Germany’s Rolf Geese in the M65 (with a 63-second 400), Australia’s Marie Kay in W45 (with her 4003-point total setting her up to smash her own world record) and America’s Bill Murray, winning probably every M55 event in sight. Lahti results are here.
Lahti welcomes World Masters Athletics Championships
Opening ceremonies were held tonight in a downtown square — with entertainers singing on a small outdoor stage as my bus from Helsinki arrived about 7:20 p.m. So I saw maybe 10 seconds of the hoohah, witnessed by hundreds of milling, standing age-groupers from around the world. Lahti has old and new areas, new signage and stunning architecture. Sue Grigsby, on the bus with me, said the region reminds her of Seattle. But the trees are shorter. Downtown, most lampposts have WMA-themed banners. Storefronts have their own greetings to WMA athletes. Stays light outside past 10 p.m. Partly cloudy today, with highs in the low 70s. Decathlons start tomorrow morning and about five of my housemates (a rented house in Lahti) have stocked the fridge with bananas, grapes, sports drinks and yogurt cups — plus a case of beer. Breakfast of deca champions. I’m bushed after three flights totaling about 13 hours. But we took a shortcut from Seattle to Copenhagen over Greenland. Throws champion Carol Finsrud of Texas, the daughter of Norwegians, shared the same plane on my last leg. Met a Swiss statman on the bus trip. Lots of fun to come.
Becky Sisley’s sparkling W70 season showcased by paper
Becky Sisley’s masters track career is long and storied. But now that she’s 70, she’s really capturing reporter imaginations (while rewriting the record book). The latest news blast appeared yesterday in her hometown Eugene Register-Guard, which put her on the sports front page. It even glossed over her current role as active athletes rep on the USATF Masters T&F Executive Committee, an elected position that also makes great demands on her time. But her season has only just begun. She’s now in Lahti, prepping for worlds. She’s entered in seven events — including the seven-event heptathlon. Go get ’em, Beck!
Sorensen shares Oshkosh memories: sickness and survival
Jim Sorensen
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Is Jim Sorensen a warrior or what? Silly question. Anyone who sets M40 world records at 800 and 1500 (as he did two years ago) has to be one tough cookie. But his Oshkosh experience adds to his legend. He went to nationals intent on running the 8, 15 and 5K. But he finished only the half-mile after suffering an incredible one-two punch of sickness and injury. Al Oerter once said: “These are the Olympics. You die for them.” Jim’s motto: “These are masters nats. You upchuck for them.” And while I’ve seen many runners compete sick at nationals (notably a food-poisoned Doug Smith, who escaped a Decatur hospital to run M65 sprints in 2004), few have shown the intestinal fortitude of Jim under these conditions in his debut masters nationals. In the interview below, Jim, 42, kept his sense of humor and understatement, noting: “Oshkosh didn’t go as planned. I came in feeling fit and confident that I would win the 5K, 800 and 1500. I was excited and eager to race. I entered four races, planned on running three, started just two and only finished one.” In the 1500, he stepped off the track after about 380 meters — felled by a recurring calf injury.
Jim (left) accepts congrats after winning the M40 800 at Oshkosh nationals.
Missouri masters sprint pair profiled as longtime track rivals
Track isn’t just a sport for life. It’s a sport for friends. Marvelous example of this comes in a slice-of-life article in the Columbia Missourian, the local paper produced by journalism students at the University of Missouri (archrival of my William Allen White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas). But I’ll forgive my rival this time, since it did a great job profiling a pair of mid-50s sprint rivals, who have been competing against each other for more than 40 years! Jack Uhrig and Steve Terry are the subjects. But masters track is the backdrop. A cameo appearance is made by my old Southern California masters friend Ernie Snodgrass, the sprinter in the photo below — unnamed in the article but well-known to masters tracksters around the country.
Olga! Olga! Olga! Olga! Olga! Olga! Olga! Seven WRs in W90!
A week ago, the Canadians held their masters nationals at Kamloops. The star of the show was no doubt Olga Kotelko, a 90-year-old ironwoman. Doug Smith, the Ontario masters maven, reports that Olga set seven world age-group records in three days! It helps that WMA doesn’t list WRs for W90s in several events. So she’s the pioneer. We’ve also learned that Wolfgang Knabe triple-jumped an M50 world record at German masters nationals July 18. He went 14.44 (47-4 1/2) with no wind to shatter the listed WR of 14.07 (46-2) by Finland’s Stig BГ¤cklund way back in 1990. Wolfgang also had jumps of 14.39 and 14.43 in the series. Results are here. Age-Graded, Wolfie’s 14.44 is worth 17.53 open (57-6 1/4). Interestingly, Wolfie submitted a mark of 14.51 (47-7 1/4) in the Lahti entrant list.
Q&A: WMA president hopefuls Rex Harvey and Stan Perkins
Rex Harvey (left) and Stan Perkins
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Rex Harvey of Ohio and Stan Perkins of Australia, candidates for president of World Masters Athletics, have graciously submitted responses to my questionnaire. See Rex’s here and see Stan’s here. I won’t comment on their answers — just yet. I’ll let you be the judge. But notice how carefully they craft replies where Europe is concerned. This is a nod to the hegemony of the European delegations, who hold the key to the presidency. Among other things, Rex and Stan parry my agenda-freighted queries on records, doping and the WMA’s pathetically dull Web site. I salute both for their honesty and willingness to endure my brutal interrogation. Biographical info is covered in earlier profiles here for Rex and here for Stan. The WMA elections are August 5, 2009, at the Lahti General Assembly.
