Monica Joyce, Aeron Arlin Genet post nice times at Stanford
Monica Joyce, running at the Payton Jordan Invitational yesterday at Stanford, again broke the listed W50 world record for 5000 meters. This time she ran 17:13.42 — almost a minute behind the 16:19.1 she ran at Mt. SAC, but that was a mark that probably won’t get record recognition.  In the 1500, W40 Aeron Arlin Genet ran 4:35.12, which is behind her season best of 4:27.5. On her Twitter blog, Aeron wrote: “My 1500 was a long way off from what I was gunin 4. I felt every inch of 41, & those 2 back 2 back marathon expos. Need 2 refocus 4 next wk.” Don’t sweat it, Aeron. Just consider it a fast workout! Here is video of Aeron’s race. Here is video of Monica’s race. Thanks to Flocast!
Earl Fee fetches two more world records: M80 400 and 800
Earl’s next goal: sub-70 at 80?
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Earl Fee is feeling frisky. After turning 80 at Landover nationals, he’s taken aim at every long-sprint and middle-distance record on the books. Over the weekend, he snagged two more: M80 world outdoor records in the 400 and 800. They were set at the USATF Southeastern Regional Masters Championships (aka the Bob Boal meet) at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. Entrant Bob Weiner reports: “Earl Fee, 80 years old, of Ontario, Canada, set TWO WORLD RECORDS . . . for men 80 and over: 400 meters, with a 70.64 (old record 72.85), and 800 meters, with a 2:53.29, breaking a 27-year-old record of 2:53.5.” That two-lap record, set in 1982 by the legendary Harold Chapson, was the oldest 800 best on the books. Most men are thrilled to beat their age in the 400. Earl beat his age by nearly 10 seconds, one of the biggest differentials in masters history. (Wilhelm Selzer, 75, ran 65.34, and Hugh Coogan, 70, clocked 60.77.) On the Age-Graded Tables, Earl’s marks are equivalent to open (age 20-30) times of 42.96 and 1:47.49. Nice runs, Earl.
Jerry Wojcik and Suzy Hess, ex-NMN colleagues, now married
National Masters News arrived a few days ago, and Page 3 provided the biggest scoop of the year: Suzy Hess and Jerry Wojcik, the former publisher and editor of NMN, are married! They got hitched in late March, the weekend of Landover nationals. I’d known for a while they were a couple (they stayed in the same University of Hawaii dorm room during Honolulu nationals in 2005), but this was delightful news. So I wrote them for details, and Suzy graciously satisfied my shameless curiosity. “We decided to marry about two months before the wedding,” she writes. “We got married at Saint Mary’s Episcopal Church in Eugene” — the Oregon track town where they live.
W65 Suzy Hess and M75 Jerry Wojcik, power track couple.
Secrets of Willie Gault revealed in Yahoo Sports profile
Willie Gault keeps a distance from masters track. He mainly runs in elite, open meets. But in masters circles, his M45 speed and strength are legendary. How does he do it? That’s what world-class sportswriter Jon Littman wanted to know. Jon caught up with Willie at the Mt. SAC Relays last month. The result is this revealing look at Willie the phenom — who says he beat former WR holder Mo Greene five years ago during a workout. “We were all betting on who would win each race,” Willie told Jon. “We ran 100 meters seven times. The seventh time I beat Maurice.” Jon interviewed me for his column. (I had more to say than a couple sentences.) The bottom line, says Jon, is Willie’s incredible work ethic. Yeah, maybe so, but Willie is recently remarried. His bride is singer/actress Suzan Brittan. That’ll keep you young. BTW, I notice Willie has a Web site “coming soon.” This should be interesting.
Willie couldn’t hide a smile after his Mt. SAC 10.80 at age 48.
1981 oddity — the year with two masters outdoor nationals
While doing some spring cleaning over at mastershistory.org, I came across results for competing masters national outdoor championships in 1981 — one held in Atlanta (mid-June) and another held in Los Gatos (southwest of San Jose) in August. It appears the Atlanta meet was some rival group, called TFA. The Los Gatos affair appears to be the standard issue, since it was under the TAC umbrella (The Athletics Congress came before USATF). James Burnett is credited with setting an M40 world record in the 400 at the August meet — 49.36. Anybody recall that year — and why two masters nationals were held? What was TFA, and what happened to this group?
Oscar Peyton’s training focus: lotsa drills, high-intensity runs
Oscar Peyton, the M55 national sprint champion who edged Bill Collins in the Landover 200, yesterday gave blogger Pete Magill a comprehensive look at his training regimen. (Check it out here.)  It can be summarized thusly: Run a few sprint reps well. Do drills a lot. But his body isn’t yours (although he’s as skinny as me), so take care on trying to replicate his philosophy. I’m always going back-and-forth over run-fast workouts and run-lots-of-reps workouts. This year I’m trying the lay-a-distance-base then train-faster-come-summer approach. Actually, as long as you don’t injure yourself, it’s all good.Â
Kevin Morning eyes 2010 nationals, 2011 worlds in comeback
We’ve missed sprint great Kevin Morning in recent years, but he’s begun coming back. Almost two years ago he had surgery on his left knee (torn meniscus). “I now have arthritis, but I am able to move pretty freely,” Kevin writes from Northern California. “My biggest challenge is that I cannot do several hard workouts a week. I hope to find some balance between now and next summer as I want to compete in the nationals in 2010 and the worlds in 2011.” He hopes to run in the USATF Pacific Association Masters Championships on June 14. “My goals ultimately are to run under 12 and 24. Sounds like a tall order, but I think I can do it.” His recent M50 mark of 12.72 in March shows he still has that Morning mojo. Go Kevin!
Kevin Morning starred in masters exhibition at 2004 Mt. SAC Relays.
Thinking Lahti? Entry deadline for worlds essentially May 15
Ski jumps loom over track in Lahti, Finland.
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Unless you want my tortoise legs anchoring Team USA’s M55 relays at Lahti worlds, you’d better get your entries in. No kidding. A glance at the Status of Entries page for my age group shows only a half-dozen or so men entered, and only two women — javelin ace Linda Cohn and racewalker Marianne Martino. Of course, June 5 is the drop-dead deadline for U.S. entries, but May 15 is the deadline for avoiding a penalty of $34 per event. Yesterday I snail-mailed my sheaf of paperwork to Sherry Quack at USATF Indy. So my name doesn’t show up yet. But since stuff happens, it’s probably wise for y’all to send your stuff sooner than later. Team USA is usually several hundred strong at outdoor worlds, but only a few dozen are currently listed. This year the X Factor is the economy. Who will hold back to save money? Who will instead attend the National Senior Olympics in Palo Alto or the Sydney World Masters Games? Here’s entry info for American athletes going to Finland.
Aussies launch their own Masters Athletics Hall of Fame
Considering that Australia can make a claim to inventing masters track, this came as a surprise: They’ve just inducted their first class into a national Masters Hall of Fame. Among the inductees: John Gilmour, who tells the story of beating a Japanese guard in a 100-meter challenge when he was POW during World War II. Another story features Alan Bradford, who boasts of having set 30 world records. Can’t quite find the other inductees. The USA Masters Hall of Fame has been going for 12 years. Both halls share a sad commonality: “The current home of the Hall of Fame will be the AMA website, where information about inductees will be presented,” AMA says. “The Hall of Fame does not yet have a physical home.” Any other country with a Masters Hall of Fame?
John Gilmour jogs with some of his younger fans.
Siddons Games results repaired; M50 hurdle mark amazing
After several complaints, and the intervention of top officials at Santa Ana College, meet director Miriam Mitzel has issued this new set of results from the April 5 Al Siddons Games. Some question marks remain, but she promised to fix these as well. Miriam wrote an entrant: “I would like to apologize for the results again. I know how important results are for all athletes.” One of the marks I overlooked at first was an amazing M50 short hurdles race. Byron J. Duhon, 50, ran the 100 hurdles in 14.10 seconds — one of the greatest performances of the past decade. The winning time in this event at 2007 Riccione worlds was 14.61, and the world record is the legendary Walt Butler’s 13.57 from 1991. B.J. also ran the 100 in 12.16 at Santa Ana. Nice work.
