Archive for October, 2014
Scary Halloween for money-grubbing Norbert Sander of Armory
My favorite muck-raking target, Dr. Norbert Sander, thought he was having a good week. Last Saturday, the Manhattan Armory Czar won a New York Road Runners award for “contributions to distance running.” But Friday, he was the subject of several critical articles about his efforts to bleed community groups for as much money as he […]
October 31, 2014
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W55 jump champion Martha Mendenhall calls it a masters career
Coach Martha Mendenhall of Tacoma, Washington, has been a star on our circuit for so long we take her high-flopping for granted. But alas, on Facebook recently she announced her retirement from track. I was shocked. Her friends were not. They were aware of her battles with hip ailments. Still, I didn’t want to let […]
October 30, 2014
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Canadian distance great Ed Whitlock taking break to heal injuries
Ed Whitlock at 83 is avoiding his favorite Ontario cemetery — the one where he famously trains and prepares for records on track and road. He’s not scared. He’s injured. According to this status report in Winnipeg, “Whitlock is hopeful the bad hip and shoulder that have stalled his career won’t slow him down for […]
October 29, 2014
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13 ribbons all told for the Stones, and we didn’t break a sweat
Normally, you have to enter a bunch of events to win so many ribbons. But my wife, Chris, and I collected 13 (four blues, four reds and five whites, and four first-place plaques) in our best street clothes Tuesday night at the San Diego Press Club awards banquet. More details are posted here. Chris won […]
October 28, 2014
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W60 half-mile champ is NOT retiring from WMA, Euro circuit
The headline said: Champion veteran athlete hangs up her gym shoes after 11 years helping recovering addicts. I said: Oh no! Who’s quitting the game? Turns out the British news report was the exact opposite. “Caroline Marler, 63, has managed the gym at The Bridge Project on Salem Street since 2003, helping hundreds of addicts […]
October 27, 2014
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Gray Pride event in San Diego: Should masters let hair go silver?
My wife, Chris, took pictures at a Silver Sisters Strut on Saturday, and wrote a nice story for Times of San Diego. It raises the question: Since masters athletes already are bucking societal expectations, should they rebel against “Beauty Terror” as well? In other words, gals, do you let your hair go naturally gray, white […]
October 26, 2014
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Masters road mile records sought at USATF Anaheim convention
Sprinters with long hair, and masters roadies who want to see age-group mile records should be happy with the latest USATF rules-change proposals. Check out this 23-page PDF. What’s up with long hair? Well, technically you face DQ if your tresses touch the ground ahead of the starting line of a sprint/hurdle race. But according […]
October 25, 2014
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Chiropractic as cure for masters ills? AW writer hypes his program
In a recent Athletics Weekly column that read like a paid advertisement, a chiropractor writes: “If there is a population in this world that needs the help of a physical therapist, it’s got to be athletes in the masters age groups.” The writer, Grant Pretorius, tells a “case study” of M50 sprinter Donald Brown, who […]
October 24, 2014
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How Gia Lewis-Smallwood got American discus record — at 35
Never stop learning. That applies double to older athletes. Just because your sainted high school coach told you one thing, it don’t mean you still gotta obey. That’s my takeaway from a great IAAF profile of Gia Lewis-Smallwood, whose American elite record in the discus this year is probably worth submitting as a W35 American […]
October 23, 2014
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National Masters News website gets face-lift, should eye new roles
National Masters News has been a part of our lives since 1977. In print. Its online portal quietly surfaced around 1999. Over the years, the website has gotten pretty unpretty. Too old-school and messy. Recently, the site got a refresh. Now it matches the slick, glossy magazine it promotes. Nice job. But as a USATF-subsidized […]
October 22, 2014
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