Archive for December, 2009

Free at last! USATF bylaws now grant automatic transfers

New USATF bylaws “permit an athlete (over 18) to be a member of any Association within 100 miles of his or her bona fide residence.” In other words, automatic transfers! No other masters trackster will have to go through what Linn Dunton, my wife Chris and I did this year — as detailed in my October entry […]

December 16, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  22 Comments

John Andrew’s 11.40 ‘world record’ removed from rankings

Yeah, everyone suspected a hoax. And everyone was right. The 11.40 credited to M55 John Andrew was too good to be true. As detailed here three weeks ago, this superfast 100-meter mark found its way onto mastersrankings.com. How good is 11.40?  Well, it beats Bill Collins’ listed M55 world record of 11.44. Now the mark […]

December 15, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  14 Comments

Time to go ‘Elf yourself’ with hilarious digital greeting card

M55 vaulter Mike Soule reminds me that it’s that time of year again. Yup! Time to create an “Elf yourself” greeting card for your friends and family. Mike reminds us that you can send these out and not worry about being late with your regular Christmas cards. These clips change every year (here’s a classic […]

December 14, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

Germany sending a skeleton crew to Kamloops WMA meet

Deadline for entries is still three weeks off, but according to the Koops’ site, only 21 Germans have entered the 2010 World Masters Indoor Athletics Championships in Kamloops, British Columbia. How bad is that? Well, in 2006, when indoor worlds was held in Linz, Austria, nearly 900 Germans signed up. So don’t expect many heats, […]

December 13, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  12 Comments

Dr. Steve Peters the super-shrink profiled in BBC blog story

M55 superstar Stephen Peters has a day job worth noting, as I’ve frequently noted before. He’s a psychologist for the British Olympic cycling team. Now the BBC’s Tom Fordyce has discovered Dr. Peters and featured him in great story on his blog. Sample: “Peters has a way with animal-based metaphor — he once said all […]

December 12, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

Debi Lurie’s letter to Santa: Be generous to masters coaches

W50 sprinter Debi Lurie, whose Senior Olympic quest was chronicled in essay form last July, has sent me something new. Just in time for Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, comes a bright little memo to Santa (who brings eight times as many gifts for Jewish children). “Please include all masters track coaches on your ‘good’ list also,” Debi tells […]

December 11, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

Blog post taken down; my mistake and my apologies to all

Early this morning, I posted an entry about the USATF ledgers from 2008 that showed how much various committees paid officers and subcommittee chairs. I mistakenly said these folks were subject to the same Code of Ethics prohibitions that Dave Clingan was when USATF clawed back $2,500 of a $4,500 check he was sent. Turns […]

December 10, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

Vaulter as victim: USATF tells 94-year-old to take flying leap

Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no! USATF’s decision to sweep aside records set at the National Senior Games is considered a closed book. But not to me. USATF is picking on the wrong guy. It’s dissing the wrong superstar. I’m talking about 94-year-old Don Pellmann, whose pole vault WR at Palo Alto […]

December 10, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  13 Comments

Reynaldo Brown recounts biggest high: beating kidney failure

Reynaldo Brown’s greatest leap wasn’t the 7-3 he straddled in September 1968 to make the Olympic team at age 17. It wasn’t the 7-0 1/4 he cleared at Mexico City to take fifth behind the gold and silver of teammates Dick Fosbury and Ed Caruthers.  His greatest effort came several years ago while hospitalized with kidney […]

December 9, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  6 Comments

Huntington Beach HS in SoCal has series of all-comers meets

It’s subfreezing in many parts. But now is when a masters’ fancy lightly turns to thoughts of January all-comers meets.  One such series is at Huntington Beach High School, south of Los Angeles. It’s a hand-timed affair, but the price is right: $5 per event. And masters sprint star Doug Smith calls the new track […]

December 9, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  5 Comments