Archive for January, 2016

Backwards mile milestone — first sub-6 goes to a submaster

Aaron Yoder once ran the equivalent of a 4:13 mile at Fort Hays State, but didn’t really attain four-lap glory until this week, when he posted a video of a mile he ran in 5:54.25. Backwards. At age 30, on Nov. 23, he broke the backwards mile best of 6:02.35 set by D. Joseph James […]

January 22, 2016   Posted in: Uncategorized  4 Comments

Trautmann, LeBourne indoor WR miles fall through the cracks

As Peter Taylor noted in comments, John Trautmann’s M45 indoor mile of a year ago is listed as an American record but not a world record. But M55 Anselm LeBourne, who also beat a listed WR indoor mile (twice), isn’t listed for any record. What’s up with that? A clue is Jeff Brower’s Google Doc […]

January 21, 2016   Posted in: Uncategorized  3 Comments

M65 indoor high jump AR likely typo, but USATF has worse glitch

Did Frederick Monesmith jump 1.65 meters (5-5) on Jan. 16? Probably not, since 1.65 would beat the listed American record of 1.62 by the legendary Jim Gilchrist. (And Fred has another listed jump of 1.22 (4-0), also on mastersrankings.com. No biggie. But of greater concern are USATF masters records showing 0000-??-00 for dates of most […]

January 20, 2016   Posted in: Uncategorized  10 Comments

Sue Frisby’s hypo in hep: Lyon medalist’s courage amid diabetes

In an amazing story out of the UK, we learn how W55 star Sue Frisby won the Lyon heptathlon bronze despite diabetes. “Competing in seven events over two days is grueling by anyone’s standards, but Sue had the constant pressure of having to monitor her sugar levels constantly throughout. … Despite suffering her first hypo […]

January 19, 2016   Posted in: Uncategorized  2 Comments

W80 stalwart Fei-Mei Chou battling stage 4 stomach cancer

Joe Biden, get a cancer cure. We’ve just learned of another victim. Our California sprinter-jumper friend Fei-Mei Chou, returning home from Taiwan, reports that she’s been diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer. “It has spread and there will not be surgery,” writes Christel Donley. “She will start chemo on Jan. 27. … It was the […]

January 18, 2016   Posted in: Uncategorized  10 Comments

Coach Carl Wallin conquers prostate cancer: ‘I want to get back’

Carl Wallin, the famed retired Dartmouth track coach and 1989 masters world champion, is carving out a new legend — his recovery from prostate cancer. I spoke with him Sunday to learn his status after George Mathews gave me a heads up on Carl’s return to throwing competition at the Dartmouth Relays indoor meet. Last […]

January 17, 2016   Posted in: Uncategorized  5 Comments

Dick Camp’s daughter recalls his long friendship with Dave Sime

A friend sent me a wonderful blog post by Kathy Camp, daughter of former world-class M70 sprinter Dick Camp, now about 80 and battling Parkinson’s. She wrote that her dad ran masters in his 60s and 70s because of Dave Sime. “My father’s heart hurts today,” she wrote the day Dave died. “Life is a […]

January 16, 2016   Posted in: Uncategorized  7 Comments

Hall of Famer Dave Sime dies at 79; WR man had masters brush

Sprinters who recall the heyday of the 1950s are mourning the death of Dave Sime (pronounced sim). He held world records in the 100, 220 and low hurdles and won silver behind Armin Hary at the Rome Games. The New York Times does his legacy justice. It had an intriguing aside: “At 35, as a […]

January 15, 2016   Posted in: Uncategorized  5 Comments

‘Run for the Dream’ indoor meet in Fresno loses track, bites dust?

Four years ago, we were giddy to report how Jeff Laynes at 41 ran 6.38 in the open 55 meters at the Run for the Dream indoor meet in Fresno, which featured a slate of masters events. Now we’re grumpy. The meet may be dead, says the Fresno Bee. “The annual Run for the Dream […]

January 14, 2016   Posted in: Uncategorized  3 Comments

The alternative universe of India’s national masters championships

India’s outdoor masters nationals were held Jan. 5-9 in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh state, according to the Free Press Journal. We learn: “In the competition in which each and every state took part, Manipur was the leading winner who won 76 gold medals, 45 silver medals and 53 bronze medals and overall 156 medals.” But no […]

January 13, 2016   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments