Archive for April, 2010

Help honor Hall of Famer Nick Newton at a celebration May 22

When I began masters competition in 1995, Milton “Nick” Newton was just this genial guy in the high jump — a friendly flopper in his early 60s! He gave me support and inspiration. Little did I know he was a legend and future Masters Hall of Famer. A WAVA world champion and World Masters Games […]

April 23, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  7 Comments

Jeff ‘Decamouse’ Watry leaves Gill, returns to Wisconsin roots

Jeff Watry, a national-class masters decathlete and jumper, is perhaps better known as a multi-event meet director and force behind the decamouse website. But he’s also a world-class engineer who has worked for Gill Athletics in Illinois since the mid-1990s. He helped design and test wind gauges (like the one featured here from the 2008 […]

April 22, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  8 Comments

M35 world record in 4×800 quietly smashed as April dawned

Jason Rhodes, commenting elsewhere on this site, notes that a team he was on shattered the M35 world record in the 4×800 relay on April 3 — two weeks before the record attempt at Mt. SAC. The College of William and Mary, reporting on its Colonial Relays in Williamsburg, Virginia, said: “The day started off […]

April 21, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

Philly not City of Brotherly Clubs; PMTC prez tried to bar GPTC

Trivia question: How is Joel Dubow like Jimmy Carter? Answer: Both wanted to keep athletes from competing in their dream event. Joel is president of the Philadelphia Masters Track Club. But fortunately for masters runners at the rival Greater Philadelphia Track Club, Joel didn’t pull a full Jimmy. No boycott. A week ago I was […]

April 21, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  8 Comments

Pino Pilotto endures double-difficult indoor multi in Helsinki

Masters statman and blog regular Pino Pilotto of Switzerland, a masters multi-eventer (oops! combined-eventer), is one of my heroes. Not because he excels, but because he tries. Like my friend Dr. Richard Watson of Yuma — who will enter a dec at the drop of a hat — Pino loves to do as many events […]

April 21, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  9 Comments

Lucky Oregonians: They get to race and watch themselves online

Anyone who ran track before, say, 1996 was cheated out of a truly cool experience: watching videos of themselves online. In 1971, I saw a film of myself running the 180-yard low hurdles at the Chaffey Invitational in Southern California. Just once. Today, that race would be online. Instant access, all the time. In Oregon, […]

April 20, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  7 Comments

WMA errs by a country mile on Daprano’s W70 world record

Over the weekend, 73-year-old Jeanne Daprano ran a fantastic mile. She clocked 7:02.86 at her association masters meet in Statesboro, Georgia. When I got the results from Jim and Joyce Hite, the meet directors, I checked the USATF records. I saw Jeanne was about 15 seconds off her own W70 American record. Then I proceeded […]

April 20, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  5 Comments

Carol Young adds name to American record list in hammer

Ed Burke, meet Carol Young. The same weekend that M70 Ed threw a possible WR in the hammer at Mt. SAC, W70 Carol threw an American record in the same event — across the country. At the USATF Georgia Association Masters Track and Field Championship at Georgia Southern University, Carol had this series in the […]

April 19, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

Drake masters 800 features another big (and well-traveled) field

Before Penn dominates our attention, a quick nod to another great masters exhibition: the same-weekend Drake Relays, which again hosts a masters 800-meter race. A field of 23 gets the gun about 1:30 p.m. Friday (Des Moines times). Some great athletes have won this event over the years, including David Nash (2008 and 2009) and […]

April 18, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  4 Comments

Ed Burke nails M70 hammer world record at Mt. SAC Relays

Ed Burke, the three-time Olympian who took up the hammer again at age 65, didn’t wait long after turning 70 to claim his latest record. He celebrated his 70th birthday in early March. This morning at the Mt. SAC Relays, Ed threw the 4-kilogram hammer 57.59 meters (188-11) to destroy the listed M70 world record […]

April 17, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  7 Comments