Archive for December, 2008

Alisa Harvey’s latest sub-5 mile came 25 years after first

After learning of Alisa Harvey’s latest sub-5 mile (her 4:56 for 1600 meters indoors Sunday in Maryland), I wondered: When did she run her first sub-5? And can any woman claim a longer span? Question No. 1 is now answered. Alisa writes: “I believe my first sub-five mile was in February of 1983. I think […]

December 31, 2008   Posted in: Uncategorized  2 Comments

WMA still battling stories of Lahti worlds price-gouging

Posted on the WMA website is this eye-opening note: “Despite its better judgment and conviction, WMA has decided to augment its recent announcement on accommodation availabilities for the 2009 Lahti Stadia championships. WMA cannot and will not defend individual price levels, as those are not set by WMA and customarily reflect market rates. However, WMA […]

December 30, 2008   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

Forde, Harvey burn quick miles at indoor nationals site

M45 Kevin Forde and W40 Alisa Harvey on Sunday ran some great miles at the Maryland venue of indoor nationals in March, according to these partial results of the all-comers meet held there. Kevin ran the 1600 in 4:37 and Alisa, at age 43, clocked the same distance in 4:55.8 (basically the same as my […]

December 30, 2008   Posted in: Uncategorized  2 Comments

SoCal indoor-meet-outdoors director seeks your input

For the fourth consecutive year, Andy Hecker of Southern California is putting on a masters/open meet with “indoor” events in advance of masters indoor nationals in mid-March in Maryland. The 2009 “Southern California Indoor Meet . . . Outdoors” will be Sunday, March 8, at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana. (Here’s the meet […]

December 29, 2008   Posted in: Uncategorized  5 Comments

Who are we? USATF desperately needs a masters census

Several times a year, someone writes me: How many people compete in masters track? I hem and haw, and cite a few vague numbers — like 50,000 worldwide (Al Sheahen’s estimate from several years ago) or 8,500 in the United States (the latest figure I heard in Reno at the USATF annual meeting). But that’s […]

December 28, 2008   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

Discusdoc distills masters weight training to 609 words

M60 thrower Tom Fahey, a.k.a. discusdoc, our perennial national champion, teaches as well as he tosses. In a marvelous 609-word synopsis of accumulated wisdom, Tom answered this question on our Forum from M80 multi-eventer Bill Daprano in Georgia: “What would be the best weight training routine for track and field?” Tom began his reply by […]

December 27, 2008   Posted in: Uncategorized  5 Comments

You can talk back to USATF’s top enchilada via blog

Doug Logan has guts. And as the CEO of USA Track & Field, he can do his thing without consulting you and me. But as I learned when I interviewed him in September, he seems open to us geezers. And recently he opened his blog to comments. Courageous. Of course, you have to play nice-nice, […]

December 26, 2008   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

Masters gift for off-season: training videos for vaulters

Mike Soule is our Santa today. A champion M55 pole vaulter living in Minnesota, Mike has posted this series of videos on how to weight-train in the off-season for geezer vaulting. In fact, he calls himself vaultingeezer on his MySpace page. Mike stars in the videos, which depict exercises especially good for comebacking vaulters. This […]

December 25, 2008   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

Another eye-opener and muscle-stretcher routine

Dave Ortman, a.k.a. Perspiring Minds, who can run fast without warming up, sent me this link to a stretching article in his local Seattle paper. Dave wrote: “Old habits die hard.” But old tracksters love to experiment. So there. The article starts: “Sometimes you simply have to rethink a routine, and it’s fair to say […]

December 24, 2008   Posted in: Uncategorized  4 Comments

Mike ‘Cash Awards’ Daniels sets goal: No. 1 in 55m dash

Say what you want about the “cash awards program” Mike Daniels is promoting, as a masters sprinter, Mike has chutzpah. In a blog he started today, he announces: “I hope to finish the year in 2009 as #1 in the 55 meter sprint. As it is my last year in the age 55-59 for Indoors. […]

December 23, 2008   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments