Fluffy Bunnies fall at USATF cross country championships
Track stars ventured out on the trails at the USATF Cross Country Championships over the weekend in Derwood, Maryland. Missing from the mix was perennial champ Pete Magill, spiritual leader of the Fluffy Bunnies club. He wrote on letsrun.com: “Congrats to the Baltimore/Washington Athletic Club on nipping my Fluffy Bunnies in the M40-49 team competition in Maryland yesterday! We sent a pretty strong squad, and it just goes to show that you can’t take any race for granted! As for me, I had the best pre-Nationals benchmark workout of the past 8 years on Monday . . . only to get knocked on my butt Thursday by a vicious bug that’s been making the rounds.” Pete hopes to resume running soon. Besides the letsrun thread that focused on XC masters nationals, our favorite blogging wildman, M40 Kevin Forde, described his experience at Derwood.
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Mathews ups weight record; masters men shine at Reebok
On Friday, George Mathews drove a couple hours down from his home in Hayden Lake to Moscow, Idaho, and threw his 20-pound weight with the collegians at the Vandal Invitational. The result: his second world record in two weeks. George pushed his M65 WR of 19.33 (63-5) out to a jaw-dropping 19.93 (65-4 3/4). Results are here and below. That’s within spittin’ distance of the listed M65 outdoor world record of 20.53 (67-4 1/4) by Norway’s Arne Lothe in 2003. Yesterday, across the country, the male milers and sprinters had some fun at the elite Reebok Games in Boston, where M45 Lonnie Hooker edged M50 legend Everad Samuels in the 200 — 23.41 to 23.59. The listed M50 world indoor record is Bill Collins’ 22.99. And M40 Joshua Brown won a tight-finish masters mile in 4:34.30. Great efforts, guys!
Spearchucker Ralph Roylance was the real deal in 1950s
Ralph Roylance, a gent I never heard of, was profiled in his local Utah paper this week. He hasn’t competed in masters track for a while, but still skis at 83. What caught my attention was this: “He toured Europe competing in track meets and learning how to better throw the javelin. Roylance earned All-American honors in 1949 — the first Aggie track athlete to do so. He had his sights on the Olympics and was the best U.S. javelin thrower at one time and his throws of more than 239 feet were tops in the world as well. However, just before the U.S. trials for the 1952 Olympics Roylance had a Malaria flare up. He picked up the disease in the South Pacific during World War II serving his country. Weakened by the disease, his throws were not good enough to qualify. ‘I was going to be an Olympian, I had the best throws in the world,’ Roylance said.” True or no? Another case of “the older I get, the farther I threw”?
Payton Jordan dies at 91; greatest masters sprinter, backer
Payton Jordan was The Man in masters track.
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Hall of Famer Payton Jordan, one of the most prolific masters record-setters in history and certainly our greatest age-group sprinter, died of cancer yesterday at his new home in Laguna Hills, according to news reports and his daughter. He would have turned 92 in mid-March. This is a stunning loss, and a personal blow to many, including me. I idolized him. Although obituaries will focus on his coaching career and his legendary 1968 Olympic team, I will remember him as a great cheerleader for masters track and a teller of amazing stories. I chatted with him a half a dozen times since meeting him in 1997 at the San Jose masters nationals, where he set an M80 world record at 200 meters that still stands. His picture graces my Wikipedia entry on masters track. Payton wouldn’t admit it, but his greatest disappointment may have been missing the Olympics during World War II (had they been held). He would have medaled.
Masters all-star hurdle race in the works for Mt. SAC Relays
Richard Holmes, a world-class M40 short hurdler in Southern California, is working with Mt. SAC Relays honcho Brian Yokoyama to offer an invitational masters 110 hurdles race (39-inch barriers, I assume) at the Relays this coming April in Walnut, California. Richard is the point man — meaning he picks the nine-man field. So if you’re interested, write him directly. His hope is to bring together the best M40 and M45 hurdlers in the country for a showdown at Mt. SAC, probably Saturday, April 18. (No Sunday meet this year.) Richard writes: “I’ve talked to Don Drummond and sent a message to Rod Jett, but it would be great to have Dave Ashford, Henry Andrade, Willie Gault and Karl Smith in the race, too. Given the state of the economy, if we plan ahead, plane tickets can be bought at a great price.” Great idea, Richard. Would be nice to collar Dan O’Brien and Roger Kingdom, too, if their coaching schedules permit.
Japanese gent crushes M60 world record in the marathon
Hosaka happy after record.
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Yoshihisa Hosaka of Japan can run a mile in 6 minutes. Not bad for a 60-year-old. But that’s effin’ INSANE as a pace for a marathoner. Last Sunday, ol’ Yoshi ran 26.2 miles in 2:36:30, beating the listed M60 world record of 2:38:15 by Italy’s Luciano Aquarone in 1991 at the WAVA world meet in Turku, Finland. “He was smiling broadly at his astounding achievement as he reached the finish line,” says this report. “Hosaka
began running at age 36 when he joined a friend’s eikeden team. At age 42 he won his first race at a local event in his hometown. For his first marathon he ran the popular Honolulu Marathon, where he ran a superb 2:31:19. Finding a deep joy in running, Hosaka had by the end of
2008 completed 70 marathons. To get ready to attack the world record in his first race as a 60-year-old Hosaka trained 30 km per day.” Incredible. Nice effort, Yoshi! Now come to the track and prove you’re a man! Run the 4.
Aeron Genet’s training secrets revealed by Coach Rubio
W40 miler Aeron Arlin Genet made a big splash in 2008. Now we know her secrets. Her old coach, Joe Rubio, stole the best ideas from a book called “Better Training for Distance Runners” by Dr. David Martin and Peter Coe (Seb’s dad). Coach Ross Dunton found a long discussion of Aeron’s training and sent it out in his newsletter last week. It’s reproduced (in part) below. Joe wrote: “These real-life examples illustrate pretty clearly that, even though there is a significant difference between a mile and a marathon, the training programs for each contain the same training elements.These real-life examples illustrate pretty clearly that, even though there is a significant difference between a mile and a marathon, the training programs for each contain the same training elements.” Joe’s philosophy also is summarized here.
USATF officials get an official Code of Ethics: No smoking!
The USATF National Officials Committee also did some business last December at Reno. They approved an official’s Code of Ethics. Unsure if this is a first, but it’s new to me. Among other things, officials can’t smoke, drink or chew tobacco while overseeing events. Didn’t know these were a problem. But now y’all know what to look for in an ethical official. Most officials I’ve been associated with have been pretty competent and courteous. A few have been horse’s asses. But I didn’t see equine derrieres mentioned in the code. So I guess you can’t legislate niceness.Check out the list.
Masters women at Millrose: Athena vs. Millrose AA a doozy
Julie Hayden of the victorious Athena Track Club and Terry Ballou of the runner-up Millrose Athletic Association have detailed the masters experience at Friday’s Millrose Games, including their dramatic 4×4 duel. As feared, the masters were again barred from the elite warmup area. Julie noted: “We were not welcomed on the completely empty, fenced off strip of matting,” and Terry reported: “Basically, the warmup area consists of the concrete hallways outside of the track. It was very crowded with college, high school, elite, and masters runners, so it was kind of tricky getting a good warmup in. Our warmup was basically a shuffle, as we threaded our way through the crowds from one end of the hallway to the other.” We’ll have to get crazy tough next year. Still, Julie and Terry were thrilled and honored to be there.
