Archive for March, 2006

Coverage is copacetic from Boston nationals

Thanks to Jill Geer, a Boston-area resident, the USATF Masters Indoor Nationals are getting a fine splash from the get-go. Geer is the head media honcho for USA Track & Field, and a new mom. She’ll be commuting to the Reggie Lewis Center to file reports on the three-day meet, apparently. Results of the meet […]

March 24, 2006   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

Linz Web site has video — of outdoor events

Just discovered a cool video, supposedly 6 minutes long, showing the snowed-under cross country race and a half-marathon at the Linz worlds. Even though I have a cable-modem connection, the video was very jumpy. But it was professionally shot and edited, and has a jazzy sound track. Some is narrated (in German?). But it’s the […]

March 24, 2006   Posted in: Uncategorized  Comments Closed

Memorial service for M70 sprinter Johnson on Saturday

Texas sprinter Paul Johnson, who died with his wife and two others in the crash of his small plane Monday, will be remembered in his hometown of Lubbock on Saturday, according to this news about his memorial service. I also came across a story in the Kansas City Star saying his piloting helped avoid greater […]

March 23, 2006   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

Lap counting disaster in Linz: A medalist’s report

From Idaho to Hawaii to Austria, lap-counting has become the Achilles’ heel of masters track. On a sweltering day at last summer’s Hawaii masters nationals, the men’s 10K runners and women’s 5K racers were afflicted and aggrieved. At the just-completed WMA world indoor meet, older women were the victims. But they are not silent. W70 […]

March 23, 2006   Posted in: Uncategorized  3 Comments

World champions gear up for Boston nationals

Masters track is wacky. First you compete in the world championships and then, a week later, go for a national title? That’s the way it be, but nobody’s complaining. This weekend’s Boston indoor nationals will play host to hundreds of American and some foreign guests. Close to a dozen world champions from Linz will be […]

March 22, 2006   Posted in: Uncategorized  Comments Closed

Bill Collins adds USATF Athlete of the Week honors

M55 great Bill Collins is returning home from Linz to some stateside kudos. Today he became the second masters star this year to gain USATF Athlete of the Week recognition from the Mother Ship in Indianapolis. (The other masters runner so honored was W45 middle-distancer Marisa Hanson on Jan. 24.)

March 21, 2006   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

M70 sprint great Paul Johnson dies in plane crash

Monday’s tragic crash of a small plane in Branson, Missouri, claimed one of our own sprint stars: Paul Johnson, a dentist in Lubbock, Texas. He was entered in the 200/400 at this week’s masters nationals. Abilene Christian University detailed his storied track career, including his M65 world records in the 200 and 400 at the […]

March 21, 2006   Posted in: Uncategorized  Comments Closed

Darts and daggers to the wrongheaded WMA medals table

Before turning our attention to the Boston masters indoor nationals this weekend, I have a beef to unload (again). It’s the bogus and misleading medal chart posted on the Linz site. Besides contradicting the original ethos of masters track, it leads visitors to believe that Germans and Britons overwhelmingly supply the best masters tracksters in […]

March 21, 2006   Posted in: Uncategorized  6 Comments

My love letter to Linz organizers: Whatta Web site!

Haven’t had a chance to share my extreme admiration for the Linz 2006 Web site. Although the display of results could have been friendlier, I have to admit that its photo coverage and day-by-day summaries were world-class. There’s almost too much to take in. After a few days when only the German-language page was populated […]

March 21, 2006   Posted in: Uncategorized  3 Comments

Italian stallion gallops to M40 indoor record in 400

Pete Mulholland messaged at 4 a.m. Pacific time: “Enrico Saraceni has just left the track after winning the M40 400m in a WR of 48.99! He is of course now the owner of both in (and ) out WRs.” The official Web site put his winning time at 48.96 — 1 1/2 seconds ahead of […]

March 20, 2006   Posted in: Uncategorized  Comments Closed