Archive for October, 2010

Oldest reference to masters track? July 1910 paper covers vets race

Masters track didn’t really start until the late 1960s, but veterans athletic clubs had been around for decades before—especially in Australia. Now comes proof that America had masters track a century ago. Thanks to sharp-eyed Jeff Davison of Southern California, we learn of a handicap 100-yard dash won by an 86-year-old in New York. A […]

October 31, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  7 Comments

Rex Harvey’s mea culpa on drug-testing: He meant ‘random’

Rex Harvey opened a hornet’s nest in his IAAF Masters Committee report, which he sent me a few days ago. In the course of summarizing Briton Bridget Cushen’s request about seeking WADA funding for WMA, he made a booboo. Rex said Bridget wanted to seek funds for “out-of-competition” drug-testing. In fact, Bridget is interested in […]

October 30, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  9 Comments

Sit-ups will make a monkey out of you, according to weird video

Sit-ups are bad for you, some experts are saying. How bad? Well, they make you grow hair on your feet and fur on your face. At least that’s according to a 3-year-old video only recently discovered by a masters thrower friend of mine. He sent me a clip, not realizing it had already been seen […]

October 29, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

National Senior Games aggressively marketing its 2011 meet

The National Senior Games must really be hurting. They sent me this note today: “Congratulations on qualifying for the 2011 Summer National Senior Games presented by Humana! Online Registration is NOW OPEN for the Games which will be held in Houston, Texas June 16-30, 2011. You will also be receiving a registration packet in the […]

October 28, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  13 Comments

Correction: Random masters drug testing sought by British rep

Rex Harvey lost the WMA presidential election by a single vote in summer 2009, but he’s still involved with masters track at the highest levels: the IAAF. He’s a member of the IAAF Masters Committee. And his summary of the group’s activities is an eye-opener. The biggest revelation: “Bridget Cushen (GBR) asked that IAAF encourage […]

October 27, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  12 Comments

Athlete of Year Neni Lewis limping, faces surgery in November

Only weeks after being named USATF Masters Athlete of the Year, Neni Lewis is set for arthroscopic hip surgery November 5, she writes in reply to questions I sent her last week. “Apparently I was competing with a torn labrum tendon in my right hip for most of the outdoor season, which explains why I […]

October 26, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  3 Comments

U.S. premiere of ‘Herbstgold’ has boffo reception, and revelations

They laughed. They cried. But of course. For the audience at the U.S. premiere of “Herbstgold” — the masters track movie featuring Lahti worlds — the German documentary was a revelation. “Oh my God,” exclaimed one lady Saturday afternoon as she watched M90 sprinter Herbert Liedtke of Sweden perform an exercise on the “Brutal Bench.” […]

October 25, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  5 Comments

Keith Bateman runs M55 Aussie records for 3,000 meters and 1500

Simon Butler-White writes from Down Under: “I thought I’d pass on the early season progress of Keith Bateman, Rich Burns’ friendly long-distance rival. Keith broke the 34-year-old Australian 3000-meter record (John Gilmour, 9:20) on October 16 at Sydney’s Narrabeen track, running 9:14.27, and yesterday (October 23) broke the 29-year-old Australian 1500-meter record (Jack Ryan, 4:17.6) […]

October 24, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  8 Comments

‘The older I get, the faster my competition is’ That how it goes?

I love dumb copy editor stories. Here’s the latest. Some newspaper in Northern California has this story on M55 sprinter Hal Tacker, and quotes him as saying: “And there is a guy in Texas who is 55 who ran a 10.1 100.” Don’t know if Hal is referring to Bill Collins, who ran that fast […]

October 23, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  14 Comments

Algerians go AWOL, cancel African regional WMA championships

What if they had a continent without a masters track championships? Well, we have one now. The Eurovets website reports: “The hosting Algerian Athletics Federation informed that the 8th African Masters Championships in Biskra (ALG), planned for the last weekend of October, are cancelled. Here is the original version of the Algerian Federation (in French): […]

October 22, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  4 Comments