Archive for March, 2009

Peter Taylor’s Landover memoir and masters T&F critique

When meet announcers finally become eligible for the Masters T&F Hall of Fame, Peter Taylor will be a first-ballot shoo-in. But in his latest report from the front, he’s a little forlorn, saying: “I didn’t have a very good meet at Landover, but I’m mature enough to accept that fact.” Of course, Bill Collins might […]

March 23, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  12 Comments

USATF quickly ignores world records at Landover nationals

Scanning yesterday’s results from Landover, I was in jaw-dropping amazed mode. Brooklyn’s Val Barnwell, stamping himself as the fastest over-50 man in the world, won the 60-meter dash in 7.13 seconds — crushing his own M50 world indoor record of 7.18 from Clermont-Ferrand worlds of 2008 — and without Everad Samuels to push him!   In […]

March 22, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  20 Comments

Samuelson’s 3K AR featured in today’s Washington Post

Nice little writeup by Carl Little on Joan Benoit Samuelson’s 3000-meter outing at Landover nationals Friday. “Moments after the gun fired, Samuelson’s left hip gave out and she said she felt like she was going to fall,” Little wrote. “But she managed to steady herself — it took her about a lap to work the […]

March 21, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  2 Comments

Athlete of the Year Kay Glynn: Hoping for a healthy 2009

W55 Kay Glynn of Iowa won the pentathlon on Day 1 of Landover nationals, and she’ll probably win a lot more on Days 2 and 3. And no wonder. Last week she was named co-Female Masters Athlete of the Year, honoring her 2008 season. It was her first AoY award, so she was eager to answer my questions. And […]

March 21, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

World records in pentathlon reported at Landover nationals

USATF’s Vicki Oddy reports from Landover nationals: “William Murray (Birmingham, Ala.) led the M55 pentathlon from start to finish, with individual wins in the first four events, to win with a world record 4,384 points. Murray began with a 9.41 in the 60m, leapt 5.28m/17-4 in the long jump, then tossed the shot put 12.21m/40-0.75 […]

March 20, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  3 Comments

Samuelson kicks off nationals with American record in 3000

W50 Joan Benoit Samuelson, the 1984 Olympic marathon champ, set an American indoor record for the 3,000 today on Day 1 of the USATF Masters Indoor National Championships at Landover, Maryland. Running solo in her age group, she returned to masters nationals for the first time since 2004 and clocked a 10:22.68, edging the listed […]

March 20, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  3 Comments

Mt. SAC masters hurdle field touted as greatest of all time

Richard Holmes reports a finalized field for the masters 110 hurdles exhibition next month at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, California. It’s a doozy. In a note to meet official Brian Yokoyama,  Richard declares: “Believe-you-me, this is the best Masters 110HH field ever assembled.  If you look to each athlete’s accomplishments within the open […]

March 20, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  2 Comments

Eurovets meet nearly triple the size of Landover nationals

We’ll have nearly 1,000 entrants this weekend at Landover nationals. But you want a big turnout?  Try next week’s European Veterans Indoor Championships in Ancona, Italy. Their five-day meet will have 2,872 athletes (2,149 men and 723 women). That’s a record for the event, according to the Eurovets Web site, which adds: “From March 25 to 29, the Adriatic seaport […]

March 19, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  9 Comments

Peter Taylor announces his Landover predictions (sort of)

Peter Taylor will call the races this weekend at Landover. And since he’s been studying up on the fields, I asked him to dope some of the more high-profile events at masters nationals. Showing how smart he really is, he declined to pick the winners. He also didn’t bite on some more controversial issues. But […]

March 18, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  7 Comments

Why doesn’t Sandy Pashkin have help vetting records?

Just curious: Who would be willing to serve on the USATF Masters T&F Records Committee? For years, this committee has had only one member — Sandy Pashkin. Given the recent controversy over John Hinton’s rejected indoor mile record, who might be able to lend Sandy a hand in vetting records? It’s a tough gig, but […]

March 17, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  6 Comments