Archive for November, 2005

No masters events at Fresno indoor meet in January

Sigh. A couple months back I got my hopes up for masters events at a Fresno State indoor meet on Monday, Jan. 16, 2006. Now I learn it’s mainly for high school and college kids, with a few invitational events. No open events for masters. However, two days before the indoor meet, a Bulldog Weight […]

November 11, 2005   Posted in: Uncategorized  Comments Closed

Masters track: contradicting black supremacy in sprints?

Rick Reilly’s column in the current issue of Sports Illustrated (with a cover depicting long-haired Steelers safety Troy Polamalu) revisits an issue that got an exhaustive exegesis four years ago: Are blacks naturally faster than whites? A book by Jon Entine called “Taboo” provided plenty of scientific evidence for the belief that blacks (actually descendants […]

November 10, 2005   Posted in: Uncategorized  10 Comments

The end of the era of world records? Ha!

Funniest thing I’ve read lately is the scholarly conclusion that track and field has nearly reached its limit on new world running records. Besides the laughable idea that many records are “already nearing their limits,” the study is ageist on its face, not recognizing that world records are constantly being set in the age-group realm. […]

November 9, 2005   Posted in: Uncategorized  Comments Closed

Catching up with history — Buffalo, Gateshead and Brisbane results

And the beat goes on. My 9-month-old pursuit of complete results from world masters track championships continues today with the posting of thee PDFs — the results books of the 1995 Buffalo WAVA meet (link fixed) , the 1999 Gateshead WAVA meet and the 2001 Brisbane WAVA meet. Monster files all (as much as 11 […]

November 8, 2005   Posted in: Uncategorized  3 Comments

Waiting for the AGT, aka Rex “Godot” Harvey

The Age Graded Tables, a fixture of masters track for two decades, have been revised several times since the 1980s. The currently available version came out in 1994 — about a thousand world age-group records ago. The new AGT were supposed to be out two months ago. WMA Veep Rex Harvey promised me he’d ship […]

November 7, 2005   Posted in: Uncategorized  Comments Closed

New life for dream of day-of-meet registration?

Andy Hecker tilts at windmills. A Southern California USATF official, meet organizer and talented M50 hurdler, Andy has been trying in vain for years to persuade local, regional and national masters track organizers to drop their requirement that athletes register early (sometimes months in advance) for meets. He demonstrates this can be done by allowing […]

November 6, 2005   Posted in: Uncategorized  2 Comments

Chairman George seeks help, but still doesn’t get it

November’s issue of National Masters News carries a plea for help by USATF Masters T&F Chairman George Mathews. As part of the strategic plan process, his executive board assumes that growing masters track will take the skills, savvy and grunt work of a handful of volunteers. George writes: “Among the major tasks I have been […]

November 5, 2005   Posted in: Uncategorized  6 Comments

Eurovets give in to trend, becoming Euromasters

Another “veterans” association is biting the dust. According to the German masters site run by Annette and Robert Koop, the EVAA (European Veterans Athletic Asociation) is gonna switch handles to European Masters Association, or somesuch. This follows the lead of WMA (formerly the World Association of Veteran Athletes) and the British veterans organization, now calling […]

November 4, 2005   Posted in: Uncategorized  2 Comments

World-class M45 runner Castillo dies in accident

Sad word has arrived that M45 middle-distance star Roberto Castillo of Miami died Oct. 23 — he was killed by a motorist. He was buried Tuesday, and the Florida Sun-Sentinel reported his passing. In 1998, Roberto won the M40 golds at 800 and 1500 at the Maine masters nationals in 2:00.67 and 4:07.02. He took […]

November 3, 2005   Posted in: Uncategorized  8 Comments

Altitude didn’t help Pellmann, Held holds

Hall of Famer Bud Held, who’s had some success at the spear and the jumps (and also with engineering), has weighed in on the issue of whether M90 Don Pellmann, a fellow Californian, had the benefit of Fort Collins, Colorado, elevation (5,000 feet) when setting seven world age-group records there during the Rocky Mountain Masters […]

November 2, 2005   Posted in: Uncategorized  Comments Closed