Archive for February, 2010

Masters Hall of Famer Bert Morrow dies at 97; was oldest hurdler

Bert Morrow, my hurdler friend, died last week in Canada, reports Norm Green. He was 97. Although this news is saddening, I’m relieved to learn that Norm was able to ship Bert’s Hall of Fame plaque to him while he could still appreciate it. Bert’s last meet may have been the San Diego Senior Olympics [...]

February 17, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  10 Comments

Italy’s Carla Forcellini again lifts W50 indoor vault world record

Poor Nicoletta Incerti and Miriam Galli. They no-heighted at an indoor meet yesterday in Florence, Italy. But worse yet — they lost to a woman three decades older! W50 Carla Forcellini broke her own pending world indoor record in the vault with a 3.30 (10-10) jump. See results here. Carla opened at 2.80, clearing on [...]

February 17, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  2 Comments

Darrell Green’s claim of being fastest 50-year-old is utter hokum

Darrell Green used to play football, got paid lots of money. But his claim of being the fastest boomer and $2.25 will buy him a cup of coffee at Starbucks. Read this nonsense. On Monday, Darrell turned 50 and said, via his Twitter account, that he ran a 40-yard dash in 4.43 seconds. “Quick update [...]

February 17, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  38 Comments

Kamloops posts detailed time sked; Canadians share huge roster

A detailed time schedule for Kamloops worlds is now posted here. And the latest entrant list is pretty much complete as well. Also, Canada’s roster — organized by province — lists nearly 540 entrants. Biggest contingent will be host British Columbia, which has 280 athletes (almost as big as Team USA). Most of the big [...]

February 17, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  6 Comments

World records to Bergen, Wettenhall, Kortbeek over the weekend

Nothing like aging up to stoke your athletic fires. Just ask California’s Kathy Bergen, who turned 70 in late December. Competing at the USATF Mid-America Regional Masters Indoor Championships at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Kathy set world age-group records in the 60-meter dash and high jump on Sunday. Her 9.29 in the [...]

February 16, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  5 Comments

Müller, Happ improve own WRs at German indoor nationals

Like clockwork, the German pair of Guido Müller and Christel Happ set new age-group PRs at German masters nationals this weekend. (See results here.) And PRs for them are world records for the rest of us. At Sindelfingen, site of 2004 worlds, Guido lowered his own M70 WR in the indoor 200 to 26.87, improving [...]

February 15, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  3 Comments

Local masters help raise money at Leon Roach Vault-a-thon

Several masters vaulters, including M50 Charles Brown and M55 Mike Hogan, were among 40 taking part Saturday in the Leon T. Roach Vault-a-thon, a fund-raiser and memorial at UC San Diego. (Results are here.) Leon was a sophomore vaulter at UCSD who died in September after missing the pit during a rope drill. Leon’s father, [...]

February 15, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

Hayward Masters Classic returns in June after skipping a year

After a two-year absence, the Hayward Masters Classic returns this summer to the University of Oregon. A new Web site, based on the runnerspace video archive, features clips from the 2008 event, which included a half-dozen world age-group records. The 2009 Classic was canceled because of renovations at Hayward Field and an inability to move [...]

February 14, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  2 Comments

Cornell Stephenson injured, puts off comeback until 2013

Cornell Stephenson, a world-record sprint relayist and author of our only masters track novel, reports sad news: His track comeback has been delayed. Cornell writes:  “I broke my (left) humerus bone (between elbow and shoulder, completely shattered) while at work and was hospitalized for three days due to complications. So I’ve decided to hang up [...]

February 13, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  13 Comments

Forbidden manual posted: All about ultraweight pentathlon

George Mathews and Ivars Ikstrums love the ultraweight pentathlon. For some age groups, this means throwing a concrete cylinder weighing 300 pounds. Over the past 25 years, this event (whose roots are in the Scottish Highland Games) has grown in popularity and acceptance. Now it has its own USATF masters national championships. But scoring, specs [...]

February 13, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  5 Comments