David Pain made sport go viral, like video by Rita Hanscom’s son
Profiles of masters track founder David Pain and W75 star Jeanne Daprano are featured in running magazines this winter. In the December issue of Running Times, 5K superstar Pete Magill quotes David as saying: “When I started masters, I got a phone call from a guy who’s a captain in the Navy, and he said, ‘I’m going to introduce swimming to masters.’ And he did! Age-group competition changed athletics. And now there isn’t a sport that doesn’t have masters competition—in bowling, weightlifting, and God knows what!” See column here. And hubby Bill Daprano sends a note from Georgia: “Jeanne has a cameo in the March issue of Runner’s World. (page 20) about her winning her age group in the Fifth Avenue Mile.” That one isn’t online yet, but look for the magazine. Finally, as I catch my breath from a busy week at work, here’s a video shared by proud mom Rita Hanscom, who says her son Scott is “living in L.A., trying to make a career in Hollywood as a comedy writer, [and] has made a couple of short videos. This latest one has gone viral. Over 700,000 views in 5 days.”
My apologies for making fun of Finnish green skies! They’re for real!
My snarky remarks on the 2012 Jyväskylä worlds website haven’t gone unnoticed in Finland. Professor Jouko Ylä-Liedenpohja writes: “Your web-page recently wondered whether the logo of the indoor Worlds describes the sunset or the Northern Lights. Aurora Borealis was excellent last night in Lapland.” Jouko also sends a link to a gorgeous sky video of green magic. See this video.
Click on image to see a video of the sun-fueled Aurora Borealis in Finland.
Houston Elite pioneer John Hartfield dies at 67; jumps record-holder
Bill Collins writes: “It it with a sad heart that I have to inform you of the death of John Hartfield, one of the original members of Houston Elite, and a former world recorded holder in the high jump as a master.  He had been battling cancer for the past few years. John’s service will be held Saturday, January 28, 2012, 10:00 a.m. at Brentwood Baptist Church Lifelong Learning Center, 13033 LandMark St. Houston, Texas 77045.” John was 67, and he was a long jump record-setter, too. In 1992, the Houston Chronicle reported: “John Hartfield … a 1967 graduate of Texas Southern University, was a high-jump champion in college and set a Southwestern Athletic Conference record of 7-1 in 1966. That mark stood until Carlos Garcia of Prairie View broke it in 1986 with a leap of 7-2 1/2.” He was a member of the Drake Relays Hall of Fame. John’s last appearance in the masters rankings was in 2005, in the shot put, according to the site. In 1992, he teamed with Russell Austin, Robert Mitchell and Bill Collins for an over-35 world record in the 4×200 relay, clocking 1:29.85. Our condolences to his friend and family.
John also is the listed world indoor record holder in the M50 pentathlon.
WMA explains Porto Alegre 2013 change of dates, in greater detail
Confirming my report of Sunday, World Masters Athletics has posted info on how Porto Alegre, Brazil, pushed back the dates of 2013 worlds by a couple months — to October 15-27. See statement here. The main points: “The change of dates had been requested by the LOC after an announcement that the Government had agreed to fund a complete renewal of the athletics and community facility known as CETE. Government officials met with WMA President Perkins and Secretary Winston Thomas in November to detail their plans and at that time confirmed that the full cost of the project had been approved so that work could proceed.” So how does this change affect y’all? Mess up vacation plans?
Half of finishers at Olympic Trials in 50K walk were masters age
With 39-year-old Tim Seaman taking second, five of the 10 finishers at Sunday’s Olympic Trials for the 50-kilometer race walk team were over 35. But since winner John Nunn, 33, made only the “B” standard for the London Games, he’s the whole team. I covered the race in Santee, California (10 minutes from my home) for sister Patch sites. Check out my photos and videos. (And you’ll be helping my traffic, too. Good for job security.)
M45 Allen James took seventh in the U.S. Olympic Trials with a time of 4:39:24.
Hartshorne Diary: Peter Taylor regains his focus after car scare
Peter Taylor
Nolan Shaheed chops 6 seconds off own world indoor mile record
Nolan Shaheed
Nolan is shown finishing in WR time at Saturday's Hartshorne mile at Cornell.
Porto Alegre changes dates for 2013 WMA world championships
After weeks of “sensitive negotiations,” organizers of the 2013 world masters outdoor championships in Porto Alegre, Brazil, have settled on new dates for the meet. Originally, the meet was set for July 24 to August 4. The new dates are October 15-27, I’m told. A source inside World Masters Athletics writes: “Finally we have a resolution in the track upgrading. The government is totally renewing a facility (known as CETE) and this work has now commenced and is due to be completed in June 2013. Apart from the track, there is a sports academy being built at the venue that will provide great future facilities for the city and very good facilities for the WMA Championships. There is still no final decision in doing up a further venue with a new track but that is expected to be known no later than February.” This also avoids a head-to-head fight with the World Masters Games in Turin, Italy, set for August 2013. Here’s an old promo for Porto Alegre:
Isett soars again at Pole Vault Summit in Reno, but no record
PV goddess Becca Gillespy Peter is live-blogging the Pole Vault Summit in Reno, and reports that Don Isett went 3.25 Saturday. That’s short of the WR he set recently. Masters results will be here eventually. Becca tweets: “72-year-old Don Isett of Dallas, Texas jumped 3.25m today which betters the M70 world record. He also jumped 3.35m two weeks ago.” Sorry you didn’t go higher, Don. But you’re still amazing.
Here's Don at the Pole Vault Summit, photographed by Becca Gillespy Peter.
Records by the dozen: Weia Reinboud notches her latest HJ mark
W60 Weia Reinboud of Holland, the high jump specialist and world stat expert, may have set a record for records in the event: She wrote Friday: “Tonight in my hometown Utrecht I have improved my own indoor record of last year. This 1.43 [4-8 1/4] makes a dozen world records. It was a mixed meet and the prescribed starting height was 1.38 [4-6 1/4]. After clearing that in my first attempt, the record height of 1.43 took two attempts. [Her listed indoor WR was 1.41] In fact it was not a really good jump, technically, but a record is a record. The next height of 1.48 [4-10 1/4] was clearly too high.” See results here. She adds: “Jan Huijbers [set a] national record M60 of 1.58 [5-2 1/4], first meet after a long injury, he is absolutely able for bigger heights.” Age-Graded, Weia’s 1.43 at age 61 is worth an open mark of 2.08 [6-9 3/4]. Jan’s 1.58 is worth 2.17 [7-1 1/2] Great efforts, Weia and Jan!
An oldie but a goodie image of Weia originally posted in 2010.
