Archive for June, 2006

One-lappers have love affair with rankings, lists

Among the first track people I got to know on the Internet was a Finnish 400-meter man named Georg Dunkel, who maintained (and still does) an all-time list of Finnish quarter-milers. Not long after, I met (and ran well behind) a 400-meter hurdler named Rick Easley from Texas. He also loves to keep lists, and […]

June 9, 2006   Posted in: Uncategorized  Comments Closed

New, improved Age-Graded Tables now in Hy-Tek

Hy-Tek is the Microsoft of track-and-field software. It’s basically a monopoly. So it’s good to hear that the 2006 Age-Graded Tables are now incoorporated into Hy-Tek’s Meet Manager program. Yesterday, Charlie Hodgson of Hy-Tek wrote me: “After considerable effort and last-minute corrections to the tables by Rex Harvey, the full set of age grading tables […]

June 8, 2006   Posted in: Uncategorized  Comments Closed

Bait-and-switch isn’t limited to USATF Masters

Y’all know about how the New York Armory said yes and then no the 2007 USATF Masters Indoor Nationals and how the Home Depot Center near L.A. pulled the same stunt on the 2006 USATF Western Regional Masters Championships. Now comes word that Azusa Pacific University has pulled the rug from under the USATF National […]

June 7, 2006   Posted in: Uncategorized  3 Comments

Firings at the Armory include W55 sprint champ

Ed Small is steamed — and saddened. Not just because he was fired last month as director of track and field at the Armory indoor track in New York City (after 13 years of service). It’s the bitter fact that Dr. Norbert Sander, his old Armory boss, is lying to people and saying Small, 68, […]

June 6, 2006   Posted in: Uncategorized  12 Comments

Morning, Thigpen show speed at Jim Bush meet

Kevin Morning lost his M45 world record in the 200 this spring but not his hunger for speedy competition. Yesterday at the Jim Bush USATF SoCal Association Open Championships at Occidental College, Kevin ran the 100 in a windy 11.38 (2.2 mps) and the 200 in a legal (0.9) 23.07. Kevin turns 50 this year. […]

June 5, 2006   Posted in: Uncategorized  5 Comments

New England USATF helps confuse masters records

WMA and USATF are the Big Boyz of masters track — and I hold them to the highest standards when it comes to records. Translation: I cut them no slack. But I’m peeved when even a Little Boy stumbles. That’s the case with USATF’s New England Association, which has posted a page of “records” set […]

June 4, 2006   Posted in: Uncategorized  3 Comments

Kenyan clobbers own W35 record in the 5,000

Does Kenya have masters track? It certainly has masters-age track stars. Friday night, a day before 22-year-old Meseret Defar of Ethiopia set the world record in the open 5,000 in 14:24.53 in New York, Kenya’s Edith Masai (born April 4, 1967) lowered her own W35 world record for the same event in Oslo, Norway. Edith […]

June 3, 2006   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

Diane Sherrer does her part to grow masters track

W50 trackster/roadster Diane Sherrer writes a running column for The Ithaca Journal in New York State. In her current offering, she says point-blank: “Track and field has been the heart and soul of running for centuries, and yet the prospect of racing around the indoor or outdoor oval is intimidating even for the brave of […]

June 2, 2006   Posted in: Uncategorized  Comments Closed

North Americans indeed welcomed to Brazil meet

Got confirmation today that the South American Masters Athletics Championships in November are open to athletes north of the equator. Gilson Fernandes, South American Masters president and head of the local organizing committee, writes: “Dear Ken, All masters athletes are welcome in our South American Championships. Our site is www.asudaverio-2006.com.br. It will be a great […]

June 1, 2006   Posted in: Uncategorized  Comments Closed

Seeking solutions to the masters records mess

In pointing out that WMA (and probably USATF) list dozens of plain-wrong age-group records, I got some people thinking. One thoughtful note came from masters meet announcer Pete Taylor. He wrote: “I’m more interested in US records than I am in the world marks.” And another Pete — Pete Mulholland of Running Fitness magazine in […]

June 1, 2006   Posted in: Uncategorized  9 Comments