Archive for May, 2005

Preview of coming attractions: Early WAVA meet results

A long time ago, in a country not so far away, middle-aged and older ladies and gents gathered for the first World Masters Track and Field Championships. The meet was held Aug. 11-17, 1975, in Toronto, Canada. And thanks to Canadian marathon great Ed Whitlock (and our respective postal services), I have in my hot […]

May 21, 2005   Posted in: Uncategorized  Comments Closed

My masters track fantasy: a database of everyone

A few years back, I volunteered to research members of the USATF Masters Track Hall of Fame and send the results to USATF webmaster Keith Lively for posting online. I got much of it done, then got stuck. I didn’t have nearly enough basic info to complete the job. So I dropped it (or rather […]

May 20, 2005   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

Kevin Morning blazed 11.1 and 22.5 (hand-timed) at Visalia

Kevin Morning, a 1997 and 2001 world champ from northern California, is in his late 40s, but he hasn’t slowed much since his M45 200 world record of 22.13 in 2002. At last weekend’s Visalia Masters Classic in central California, he clocked a hand-timed 22.5, with a legal wind, reports meet director Bob Higginbotham. Morning […]

May 19, 2005   Posted in: Uncategorized  Comments Closed

Veterans Games are sometimes for veterans

At the beginning of the masters track movement, the word “veterans” was a point of contention. Did it mean old folks or did it mean war vets? By one vote, the world organizing body was named the World Association of Veteran Athletes. Then a few years ago, WAVA became WMA — World Masters Athletics. But […]

May 18, 2005   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

Masters sprinters invited to elite New Jersey meet

Penn Relays and Mt. SAC notwithstanding, it’s still generally rare for elite open meets to include masters events. For example, you rarely see masters compete in Golden Spike-type U.S. meets (like the Prefontaine Classic, directed by Tom Jordan, a top official in World Masters Athletics.) But Frank Schiro in New York informs us of an […]

May 16, 2005   Posted in: Uncategorized  2 Comments

Keston crushes M80 world record in mile

John Keston, age 80, has been a force on the masters middle-distance scene for years. On Saturday, he added to his legend by running the mile in 6:48.3 — and beating the old record by more than a minute! The man from McMinville, Oregon, was competing in the Fountain of Youth Masters Mile at Canby […]

May 15, 2005   Posted in: Uncategorized  Comments Closed

More details on why Edwin Moses aborted his comeback

At the 2003 IAAF World Championships in Paris, Ed Moses announced a comeback with the goal of making the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials. He bailed out in early 2004, finding that M45 hurdling takes a toll. He complained of knee injuries. A new interview with Moses provides a few more details.

May 15, 2005   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

Look for shockers at Visalia masters meet

Tomorrow is the annual Visalia Classic Masters Meet in central California. The Fresno Bee’s Nick Giannandrea did a good preview of the meet (appended below). I’m counting on Keith Nelson, who lives in the region, to finally nail the M50 American record in the high jump. And M45 Kevin Morning is always a threat to […]

May 13, 2005   Posted in: Uncategorized  Comments Closed

Timing ourselves in practice made easy

Get a digital video camera. Put it on a tripod. Get someone to yell: Bang! Then let the camera roll as you sprint from the blocks. Rinse and repeat. Then import the video to your computer and check it out in some appropriate editing software. That, in a nutshell, is how to time yourself to […]

May 12, 2005   Posted in: Uncategorized  Comments Closed

Wanna meet? Check out San Clemente Masters

M65 sprint stud Doug Smith, a force behind several masters meets in Southern California, is hoping for a good turnout at a new meet Saturday, May 28, at San Clemente High School in south Orange County. He’s also looking forward to the event for personal reasons: a match race with his training partner (and friendly […]

May 11, 2005   Posted in: Uncategorized  Comments Closed