Archive for February, 2009

Chairman Gary picks Brower, Funkhouser to lead panels

Bob Fine died more than two months ago while jogging in the Reno dawn, and today USATF Masters T&F Committee Chairman Gary Snyder announced Bob’s successor as chairman of the USATF Masters Race Walk Committee —  Ray Funkhouser, a former masters Race Walker of the Year. (Gary doesn’t mention who will assume Bob’s role as […]

February 20, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  4 Comments

Karla Del Grande grabs W55 world indoor record in 400

Karla Del Grande of Toronto had a good day Sunday. Competing at a Toronto “mini-meet,” Karla clocked a dazzling 8.57 in the 60 to set a Canadian W55 record and just miss the listed world indoor record of 8.53 by Germany’s Ingrid Meier in 2004. But in the 400, Karla really went krazy, sprinting 65.91 […]

February 20, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  6 Comments

Bob Weiner savoring the Democrats’ return to power

Bob Weiner, chairman of the USATF Masters T&F media subcommittee, has been popping up all over Washington — in radio interviews, in press releases — now that his fellow Democrats are back in power. After eight years in the wilderness, Bob is ramping up his presence and the work of his PR agency.  Of course, […]

February 20, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  7 Comments

Willie Banks representing masters track on USATF board

Willie Banks set a world record in 1985 — and again in 2001. Yesterday’s track chatter was all about the new USATF Board of Directors. One name immediately leaped out: Willie Banks. Of course, I was thrilled to see my masters track friend and county neighbor named to the 15-member board. But then I gulped.  “I hope he does […]

February 19, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  5 Comments

Nadine O’Connor adds indoor hurdles record to collection

Multi-eventer Nadine O’Connor of Del Mar, California, smashed the W65 American record in the 60-meter hurdles Sunday at the USATF West Regional Indoor Championships in Flagstaff, Arizona. Nadine, 66, clocked 11.03 to beat the listed AR of 12.53 by Barbara Jordan at Idaho nationals in 2005. The listed indoor WR is 10.58 by Belgian Edith […]

February 18, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  3 Comments

New T-shirts tout Oshkosh, Lahti masters championships

Thanks to the artistic skills of my son, Bobby, our masterstrack.com shop has several new designs for your inspection, including the ones below. To save on price, we’ve taken off the masterstrack.com logo from the backs of these shirts — which bumps up the price appreciably. We’ve also added some generic USA, Canadian and British […]

February 17, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  2 Comments

Italian lady, German gent set indoor WRs over weekend

Emma Mazzenga of Italy, who set the listed W75 world outdoor record for 800 meters last August (3:36.11), dropped down to the 200 over the weekend and apparently became the oldest woman to go sub-40 in that event indoors, as this report indicates. Emma clocked 38.88. The previous listed record was 40.13 by Germany’s Ingrid […]

February 17, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

Distance legend Henry Rono enters masters indoor nationals

Henry Rono, who trains in Albuquerque, has fought to slim down in his 50s. Three years ago, 1970s distance god Henry Rono sparked an explosion of interest by announcing his goal of taking down the M55 world record in the mile. The letsrun.com thread grew to a mile long, but he fell way short of […]

February 17, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  2 Comments

Masters vaulters to be showcased at 100th Drake Relays

Who says only sprinters and middle-distance types can represent masters in major outdoor meets?  A bunch of world-class geezervaulters (some in their 60s) will compete in a masters exhibition event at the 100th Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa. Doug “Bubba” Sparks made the announcement on Becca Gillespy’s site.  Bubba, who won M55 silver at […]

February 17, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  2 Comments

Australian Masters Athletics playing mum on Sydney WMG

A week ago, I wrote Australian Masters Athletics Inc. about reports that it had been frozen out of involvement with the 2009 World Masters Games in Sydney — even though the WMG track meet was sanctioned by World Masters Athletics. My questions (reproduced below) were simple: Why is AMA not listing the WMG on its […]

February 16, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  2 Comments