Archive for October, 2005

Pellmann a pole-vaultin’, 100-meter-dashin’, discus-throwing fool

And I mean that in a nice way — now that his sons have provided photographic proof of Don’s heroics at September’s Rocky Mountain Masters Games, where he set M90 world records in seven events. No doubt, also, that Don refuses to act his age. In e-mail correspondence, he signs off as “Old Don in […]

October 21, 2005   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

A chat with M90 Don Pellmann, sprints, jumps, throws superstar

Updated October 21, 2005 By Ken Stone Don Pellmann of Mountain View, California, was born on a farm near Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in August 1915. He lived and worked in that area until his retirement in 1972. He says he was active in sports in high school and two years of college, “but Depression and part-time […]

October 21, 2005   Posted in: Uncategorized  Comments Closed

Rocky Balboa — fighting his way back as an M60 geezerpugilist

This week brought the intriguing news that Sylvester Stallone, 59, is planning to make a sixth “Rocky“ movie, in which Rocky Balboa, at age 60, makes a boxing comeback against the world heavyweight champion. Cool. Stallone sez: “I am drawing on a lot of my feelings that are in synch with many people’s feelings about […]

October 20, 2005   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

Pellmann quitting while he’s on top — of M90 group

Don Pellmann has a passion for competition, as I noted here recently. But even the best masters reach a point where it’s time to quit. So it is with Pellmann, who at 90 might be considered the best athlete of his age group ever. I interviewed him via email several times over the past week, […]

October 19, 2005   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

General Assembly voting results arrive at last

On August 30, 2005, delegates from 61 WMA member nations gathered in San Sebastian to give up, down and sideways votes to 26 proposals (rules changes, Constitution amendments and the like). Detailed results of these votes have only now begun trickling out — seven weeks later. Sigh. National Masters News in its October edition summarized […]

October 18, 2005   Posted in: Uncategorized  4 Comments

Masters are 13-for-14 in World Double Decathlon Championships

Forget Ironman. That’s for wimps in Speedos. Try a DD — a double decathlon. A couple weekends ago, 34 certifiably insane track athletes gathered in Lynchburg, Virginia, for the World Double Decathlon Championships. Twenty-eight finished the two-day, 20-event grind, which included 5K, 10K, 400 hurdles and all the throws, jumps and sprints. That included 13 […]

October 17, 2005   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

Irongeezers make history at Hawaii Ironman World Champs

Forgive my going off-topic, but this news transcends track: Last night in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, an 80-year-old man and a 76-year-old woman were official finishers of the world’s toughest triathlon — the Ironman Granddaddy of them all. The Associated Press reported: “Robert McKeague, of Villa Park, Ill., became the oldest finisher in the history of the […]

October 16, 2005   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

Seth Brower is a lion among masters meet directors

When saints are declared in masters track, meet directors go to the head of the line. They do the dirty work, usually unpaid, that gives the rest of us a chance to have fun and stay fit. My Saint Du Jour is Seth Brower of Texas, an M45 sprinter/hurdler/jumper who puts on throws competitions at […]

October 15, 2005   Posted in: Uncategorized  3 Comments

Eugene wins 2008 Olympic Trials: a test for TJ

TJ is Tom Jordan, the just-retired executive vice president of World Masters Athletics. He’s also, with Barbara Kousky, the track majordomo in Oregon. And he’ll be majorly involved in helping the Oregon Track Club host the 2008 Olympic Trials at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon, site of three previous Trials and also the […]

October 14, 2005   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

Aussie sprinter uses Masters Games for elite comeback

Here’s a switch: Former world-class sprinter Tania Murphy of Australia competed in her country’s version of the National Senior Olympics as a tuneup for a run at a spot on her nation’s Commonwealth Games team. According to an article in today’s Herald Sun, Tania (better known by her maiden name Van Heer) hopes to make […]

October 13, 2005   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment