Archive for May, 2015

Irene Obera, Gunnar Linde set barrier records in California meets

In her first outdoor race of 2015, Hall of Famer Irene Obera ran the 80-meter hurdles in a wind-legal 19.14 Sunday at the USATF Pacific Association Masters Championships in Hayward — across the bay from San Francisco. That beats her listed W80 WR of 19.77 at 2014 Winston-Salem nationals. (As recently as 2013, the WR […]

May 31, 2015   Posted in: Uncategorized  2 Comments

Police and Fire nationals include age-group events in run ‘n’ gun

My wife the photographer discovered a shooter’s paradise Saturday in San Diego — a biathlon event at the U.S. Police and Fire Championships. Cops and firefighters run three miles and stop twice to discharge service pistols at a human-likeness target. They didn’t have five-year age groups, but it appears the best athletes were in their […]

May 30, 2015   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

Rochelle Stevens celebrates meet’s 25th year with W45 WR in 200

Breaking a Merlene Ottey record is no small potatoes. Holding a meet for a quarter-century is pretty snazzy, too. But Rochelle Stevens is a pretty nifty lady. As USATF detailed Friday, “Celebrating a successful 25 years of her namesake track meet, two-time Olympic medalist Rochelle Stevens was honored with a national resolution from USA Track […]

May 29, 2015   Posted in: Uncategorized  9 Comments

Would Pre still be tearing up track had he not died 40 years ago?

Steve Prefontaine died 40 years ago Friday. Oregon papers are going crazy with retrospectives. I get it. He was a great athlete with great quotes and great iconoclast attitudes. He was funny. Wore a “Stop Pre” T-shirt. But would he have burned out? He was only 24 when he died, having taken fourth in the […]

May 28, 2015   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

Britain’s Cushen recalls when longest women’s event was 800

Bridget Cushen, secretary of the British Masters Athletics Federation and longtime correspondent for National Masters News, has been involved in track since the early 1960s, and recalls how in her day the longest event for women was 800 meters (880 yards). She also talks with amazement about the early days of women’s hammer throw. (She […]

May 27, 2015   Posted in: Uncategorized  7 Comments

Video shows Kathy Bergen’s great position in WR takeoff jump

Kathy Bergen grew up long before Dick Fosbury came along, but her W75 world record jump Saturday at Orange Coast College shows how she’s mastered the flop. Her fast approach run of only 7-8 steps culminates with a great takeoff angle, and she glides over 1.21 meters (3-11 1/2) with a slight touch of the […]

May 26, 2015   Posted in: Uncategorized  5 Comments

John Goldhammer ups own M60 American record in superweight

The ideally named John Goldhammer, who won the masters exhibition hammer at Mt. SAC a month ago, followed that up with an M60 American record in the superweight — 44 pounds. That’s according to a video posted May 20. It shows John spinning the monster implement in Scottsdale, Arizona — which gave me the willies. […]

May 25, 2015   Posted in: Uncategorized  5 Comments

Striders Meet of Champions in pictures: Feast on the fast and strong

The 42nd annual Southern California Striders Meet of Champions is in the books. Weather was in the upper 60s and low 70s at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa — Orange County, California. Most of the shots in our photo gallery are by Chris Stone, who toted a heavy 400-millimeter lens on a Nikon body […]

May 24, 2015   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

Kathy Bergen clears W75 world record in high jump — 1.21 meters

Kathy Bergen provided the highlight of Saturday’s Southern California Striders 42nd annual Meet of Champions. On a day when headwinds of 2-3 mps hampered sprinters, she cleared 1.21 meters (3-11 3/4) on her first try to break the listed W75 high jump world record of 1.20 by Holland’s Rietje Dijkman in 2014. She flopped easily […]

May 23, 2015   Posted in: Uncategorized  3 Comments

Monster challenge: Eurovets building Top 10 lists in all age groups

Masters stat dudes in Europe are tackling a major chore — preparing all-time top 10 lists in each age group. Many events are missing, but they’re trying to do for Europe what mastersathletics.net heoically tried to do for the world. The Eurovets site details the efforts and urges folks to share their marks. “The idea […]

May 22, 2015   Posted in: Uncategorized  5 Comments