Archive for May, 2013
Porto Alegre worlds portal registration working now, WMA says
Online registration for worlds messed up? News to me. But I’m not going to Brazil, so no wonder. In any case, WMA reports a fix: “Thanks to the dedication of [former USATF webmaster] Keith Lively, the WMA Stadia Championships Online Entry Form has been fully adjusted and is now ONLINE again. It is displayed on […]
May 29, 2013
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Taking a break to mourn Al Stone, my brother and webmaster
Friday morning, my brother Al rang the bell near his bed in his Santa Monica apartment — a signal for me, sleeping on an air mattress in the adjoining living room, to come relieve his pain and anxiety. He was hours away from starting hospice care for the ocular cancer that spread to his liver. […]
May 26, 2013
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Reward for being oldest human steepler: M90 WR for Charlie Ross
Charlie Ross has been on our radar before, but he really lit the place up Saturday when he became the first M90 runner to complete the 2K steeplechase — or at least any we know of. The local paper reported: “Ross jogged the first 50 meters or so before settling into a fast walk. He’d […]
May 18, 2013
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Hal Higdon on losing a record: Don’t also lose memory of setting it
I’m lucky that nobody at Valencia High School in Southern California will ever again run the 120-yard low hurdles. That’s because my 1970 sophomore time of 13.7 seconds for a “C” school record will never be beat. Hal Higdon can’t say that about his steeplechase records. In a wonderful essay called “Losing a record,” this […]
May 15, 2013
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Brad Barton takes down Hal Higdon’s legendary M45 steeple record
In 1977, competing at the second world masters championships, Hal Higdon set an M45 world record in the 3000 steeplechase of 9:39.0. The WR fell eventually, and now is held by Norway’s Nils UndersĂĄker at 9:16.1. But who would have predicted Hal’s mark lasting as an American record for almost 36 years? On Saturday, competing […]
May 12, 2013
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Wolfgang Ritte begins potential record rampage with WR vault
So it begins. Germany’s Wolfgang “Wolfie” Ritte has been a world champ and world record holder in the vault for years. Now he’s added to his legend with an M60 WR in the vault of 4.11 meters (13-5 3/4) in his first outdoor meet of the year, according to World Masters Athletics. He turned 60 […]
May 11, 2013
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Medal standards for USATF masters nationals? Fuhgeddaboutit!
So in the March issue of National Masters News — in essentially a three-paragraph column — USATF nationals masters chair Gary Snyder asked: What do y’all think of setting a standard for medals at nationals, so folks can’t earn one if they go superslow in solo races or field events? In the months that followed, […]
May 8, 2013
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World Masters Athletics unveils a virtual Hall of Fame (with PDFs)
With no fanfare, our world governing body has posted illustrated mini-profiles of the 18 IAAF World Best masters athletes since 2004. They appear in a section of the World Masters Athletics website labeled WMA Hall of Fame. That might be a stretch, since I’m not aware of any official Hall of Fame for geezer track […]
May 6, 2013
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