Archive for February, 2011

Kiwi in crisis: World record holder evacuated after boulder hits

Kiwi Tony McManus, whose M60 season last year included a mile world record, survived the killer 6.3 quake that struck Christchurch on Feb. 22. “Life has changed dramatically for us,” he writes from Down Under. “No running water or electricity. Our house is livable; however, we have been evacuated due to a visitor—a boulder which […]

February 28, 2011   Posted in: Uncategorized  2 Comments

Added benefit of Andy Hecker meet: video from the finish line

Andy Hecker’s annual Southern California Indoor Championships — Outdoors is a February staple of the SoCal masters calendar. Two weekends ago, Andy added a wrinkle: video of the finishes. See a sample below and the rest on his results page. Andy writes: “I set up a hi-def camera on the finish line, just recording the […]

February 28, 2011   Posted in: Uncategorized  4 Comments

Godbout, Scotti claim masters exhibition titles at USA nationals

Mike Godbout — the M40 world hurdles champ from Lahti — and national sprint titlist Amanda Scotti won their exhibition 60 hurdles and 60 flat races yesterday at the USA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Albuquerque, site of masters nationals next weekend. In an elite race, M35 Bernard Lagat won the 3,000 in 7:57.17, […]

February 27, 2011   Posted in: Uncategorized  14 Comments

Sign of distress for National Senior Games? Deadline extended

This happens every time: The National Senior Games looks at its numbers and sends out an appeal for entrants, extending the deadline. If the Houston event (actually the meet has been shifted to Humble) is worried about turnout, the reasons are mainly two: Sacramento and heat. If you’re not affluent with lots of vacation time, […]

February 25, 2011   Posted in: Uncategorized  15 Comments

Silly season turns serious: Seed times at Sacramento under scrutiny

A lady entering Sacramento worlds had a serious question: What’s with the bogus seed times? She drew a long reply from former WMA stadia VP Rex Harvey and a shorter reply from an IAAF gent who will officiate at worlds. The athlete wrote Rex: “In the printed booklet that is downloadable from the USATF website […]

February 25, 2011   Posted in: Uncategorized  7 Comments

Joy Upshaw honored with Pan Am Games gig, not London 2012

Many people have been congratulating Joy Upshaw on her selection as a national coach. But not the kind of coach a USATF news release suggested. Contrary to context, Joy isn’t an assistant with the London 2012 team. But she is thrilled to be a multi-events maven for another major team. She writes: “Yes, I have […]

February 24, 2011   Posted in: Uncategorized  21 Comments

Chronicle needs contact info for locals competing at Sacto worlds

A friend of mine writes that he knows folks at the San Francisco Chronicle who may be interested in doing a feature on the upcoming world masters championships in Sacramento, “but they need a local angle. I know there are a whole slew of masters stars down there in Southern California, but do you know […]

February 22, 2011   Posted in: Uncategorized  5 Comments

Relay legs scrambled at USATF meet, cost masters team ‘record’

USATF and WMA championships don’t contest the distance medley relay, but that doesn’t stop teams from trying to set “records.” But one masters team, according to a message board posting on letsrun.com, was robbed of a record by an officials’ error. “(It was) the last event of the USATF New England Championships (Sunday) at Harvard […]

February 22, 2011   Posted in: Uncategorized  18 Comments

Ida Keeling profiled on ABC Evening News as fastest W95 in USA

ABC World News, apparently tipped off by this article in the New York Daily News, ran a feature Sunday night on W95 sprinter Ida Keeling. Great stuff. But of course, what’s not to love about a “4-foot-6, 83-pound bundle of wonder”? She apparently became the oldest female sprinter in world history last week at the […]

February 21, 2011   Posted in: Uncategorized  11 Comments

Sacramento worlds making provisions for shade in the stands

Shade was lacking at 2010 Sacramento nationals — unless your club set up tents. At worlds in July, Sacramento organizers are making it easier to find respite from the sun. Besides the three-hour afternoon break (previously reported), the Sacto LOC now advises: “To assure comfortable conditions for athletes and spectators, Sacramento 2011 organizers have arranged […]

February 20, 2011   Posted in: Uncategorized  7 Comments