Canada’s Lenore Montgomery mauls W85 world record in 800

Lenore reaches finish line at a 2013 meet in

Lenore finishes 1500 at a 2013 meet in Regina.

Lenore Montgomery has been a Canadian middle-distance star for years, and she added to her legend over the weekend with a W85 world record at 800, clocking 4:39.14. She smashed the listed WR of 4:56.10 by Ukraine’s Vladylena Kokina in 2012 as well as a never-ratified 4:44.68 by Australia’s Margaret Prowse in 2009. On the Age-Graded Tables, her time is worth a 1:59.92. The marvelous mark came at the Trevor Craven Memorial Meet on July 4–5, 2015, in Burnaby, British Columbia. Lenore, with the Greyhounds Track Club coached by Harold Morioka, also broke the Canadian 1500 record with a time of 9:09.92. (The old record was 10:33.40.) Meet results are here.

July 6, 2015 No Comments

Bubka vows money for masters, IAAF role in WMA records system

I don’t know whether to treat this news as Christmas in July or pie-in-the-sky. But IAAF presidential candidate Sergey Bubka has announced that he’d throw money at WMA and even give IAAF a role in age-group records vetting. This could be huge. It’s also a sign of how desperate Sergey is in his race against Lord Sebastian Coe, the other IAAF’er looking to succeed Lamine Diack. Trying to win masters support is like hoping to gain a hundredth of a second advantage in the 100-meter dash. Not that big. In any case, the news broke Sunday with this post out of Paris.

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July 6, 2015 3 Comments

Track lovebirds Roger and Diane getting hitched after Lyon worlds

American medal hopes Diane and Roger won’t be married in these outfits.

The wedding is set: Saturday, Sept. 12. As noted in March 2014, M70 Roger Pierce and W45 Diane Tedford Pomeroy became engaged amid a shared love of track. I wrote Roger for details, and he graciously replied: “We will be married at the Hotel Hawthorne in historic Salem, Mass., … in a simple but lovely ceremony, surrounded by people we love very much.” They originally planned on getting married at the track at Gordon College in Wenham, Mass., but officials delayed on logistics. An elopement was consdidered, but “after some conversations with family and friends, we decided that we wanted to share our love and this event with an intimate and small group of friends and family.” He says: “September is a beautiful time of year in New England, and we will have returned from the World Championships in France looking and feeling our best (we hope).”

July 5, 2015 24 Comments

Petition: USATF should pay for pair’s travel to IAAF Beijing worlds

When I heard that the IAAF world meet would have masters exhibition races, I assumed that USATF would help with expenses if Americans were chosen. Boy, was I wrong. On Friday, Anselm LeBourne launched a GoFundMe drive to raise $3,000 to cover travel costs to Beijing and his masters exhibition 800. God bless the folks who’ve donated $300 so far. But I’m outraged that Anselm (and Renee Shepherd in the 400) have to bear these expenses. They’ll be outfitted as Team USA members, and they deserve the same privileges. So I started a petition. Privately, USATF masters officials are apologetic that they didn’t budget for Beijing masters races. But that’s no excuse for the Mother Ship. USATF should reimburse Renee and Anselm for any costs not handled by WMA or IAAF. Renee is recovering from an injury to her left foot instep (and may miss Lyon worlds), but she’s had this before and expects to be fine for Beijing in late August. Anselm, one of the oldest in the 50-plus men’s race, will be in the mix, too.

Here’s my latest petition. But hey, sometimes they work! Please click and sign.

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July 4, 2015 5 Comments

TV profiles Oscar Peyton, Kay Glynn, timed for Senior Olympics

The National Senior Games start today in Minnesota, with track on tap for more than a week beginning Tuesday. (Here’s the sked.) TV stations are spotlighting entrants including Iowa’s Kay Glynn, who is recovering well from shoulder, hip and knee issues. We’re also getting attention from The New York Times, where a blog post about “fitness age” vs. chronological age is the No. 5 most-emailed story on site now. (Senior Olympians were queried via an online form, and they rate 25 years younger.) Dash recordman Oscar Peyton, another 60-something star, got a spot as well. Looking great as always. (He’s my role model for skinny sprinters.)

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July 3, 2015 4 Comments

Irie Hill climbs higher still — tops 12 feet in latest W45 vault WR

Here’s Irie from a year ago, when she set her first W45 record — breaking a three-way tie.

Britain’s Irie Hill submitted a qualifying mark of 3.62 meters (11-10 1/2) for Lyon worlds. Sigh. It’s already out of date — a second time. Less than a month after raising her own W45 world record to 3.65 (just under 12), Irie did it again Tuesday. Back in her lucky country, Switzerland, she jumped 3.70 (12-1 1/2) in the “Abendmeeting” in Olten. (See results here.) Irie, 46, topped a field of five, mostly in their twenties. I wrote Irie for details, and she graciously responded: “The stadium is nestled between green hills, and under a full moon it offered the perfect setting for an international evening meeting. At 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees American) none of us athletes needed a long warmup and so the competition began.”

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July 2, 2015 No Comments

Reg and me: Peter Crombie’s last years with the sprint legend

Professional sprinter Reg Austin trains at Centennial Park, Sydney, 18 January 1981.

Centennial Park in 1981.

Peter Crombie, a disciple of fellow Aussie legend Reg Austin, shared his memories of the late sprinter — plus photos. Peter tells of how Reg apparently collapsed from a stroke, leading to his death. He writes: “I have been visiting Reg in his nursing home for some years now, and Magosia (Peter’s partner), and I would take him out for a coffee and morning tea which he used to love. In the early days, some years ago, Reg had had a few falls including down the stairs at home, presumably arising from small strokes. It was then decided it was safer for him in a nursing home where he could receive proper care. At the time, his speech was slurred and he could do no more than shuffle with a walking frame. He could not even hold a coffee cup, which would spill all over him when he tried to lift it.”

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July 1, 2015 2 Comments

Reggie ‘Reg’ Austin dies at 78; pioneering world-record sprinter

Reg the Hall of Famer.

Reginald “Reg” Austin, a professional Aussie sprinter who fought to compete in masters track and ended up setting a slew of records and winning many world titles, died Tuesday (June 30), say Australian sources including WMA President Stan Perkins. He was 78. Reggie was among a small number of athletes to compete in all of the first 14 World Masters Athletics Championships. Aussie officials tried to bar Reg from competing as an M40 since the IAAF at that time had a prohibition against “professionals.” But in 2010, Reg was inducted into his homeland’s Masters Hall of Fame. He was the first M40 sprinter to go sub-22 in the 200, and he set at least seven world records over the next two decades while winning 15 world titles. He shows up dozens of times on mastershistory.org.

Reg ran in professional races, where people bet on outcomes.

Reg once ran in Australian professional races, where people bet on outcomes.

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June 30, 2015 8 Comments

Historic marks: First M105 athlete is Poland’s Stanislaw Kowalski

Aside from the legend of Larry Lewis, the 106-year-old San Francisco waiter who supposedly ran exhibition sprints, we’ve never seen an M105 masters trackster. Until now. As expected, Stanislaw Kowalski of Poland competed after turning 105 in mid-April. The Polish track site shares details, including a records roundup at its masters nationals in Torun over the weekend. Italian statman Luigi Fasolato sent me word of Stan’s M105 records: Friday, Stan ran 100 in 34.50 (into the slightest wind) and threw the discus 7.50 meters (24-7 1/4). On Saturday, he put the shot 4.27 (14-0). Now it’s time for WMA to add a new row to the record books. Here’s Stan in May 2014:

June 30, 2015 2 Comments

Italians wrongly claim WR in M50 400 relay at Diamond League

Here’s what happens when typos creep into the record books. The Eurovets website is reporting that an Italian M50 relay team lowered the world record in the 4-by-100 to 44.65. (The mark came June 4 at the IAAF Golden Gala in Rome, part of the Diamond League series.) However, World Masters Athletics erringly lists a WR of 44.77 by Frey, James, Fulton and Barnwell. In fact, Randy Frey, Ben James, Tony Fulton and Val Barnwell clocked 44.47 at the 2009 Penn Relays. USATF records and even a hobbyist blog confirm this mark. (A year later, after testing positive for PEDs at Lahti worlds, Val was handed a 2-year doping suspension. But the record was never expunged.) Here’s video of the real record: