Archive for May, 2017

‘Superman’ Dan Bulkley at finish line of masters career: 100 at 100

Last October, I wrote about Dan Bulkley of Oregon being entered at the Huntsman World Senior Games. At 99, he was set to run sprints and do discus and javelin. He didn’t make it to the meet. But thank goodness he made it to 100 (on May 4). In one of the greatest masters profiles […]

May 19, 2017   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

Irene Obera vows comeback for 2019; expect W85 WR rewrite

Mark your calendars for 2019. That’s when W85 world records will drop like pins on the PBA tour. That’s when Irene Obera is coming back. The Masters Hall of Famer periodically emerges from her Bay Area habitat to rewrite the record books. After winning 2016 Top Female Athlete of the Year Honors, she’s biding her […]

May 18, 2017   Posted in: Uncategorized  5 Comments

Chinese runner’s goal: Guinness world record for most gold medals

The Malaysian-based Star2 website posted a story about China’s Chen Xuhua of Jinan, Shandong province. “At the Perth 2016 World Masters Athletics Championships… Chen won the 5,000m and 2,000m steeplechase for women in the 75-79 age group,” it notes. (Her times: 25:56.79 for 5K and 11:30.55 for 2K steeple.) She also was fifth in the […]

May 17, 2017   Posted in: Uncategorized  7 Comments

W80 Christa Bortignon closing in on Irene Obera WRs in 100, 200

Christa Bortignon of Vancouver, British Columbia, continued her world record tear a couple weekends ago, claiming a W80 triple jump WR at the Dylan Armstrong meet in Kamloops. (See results here.) She spanned a legal 7.16 (23-6), destroying the listed WR of 6.55 (21-6) by Sweden’s Elsa Enarsson in 2010. But she’s still short of […]

May 16, 2017   Posted in: Uncategorized  8 Comments

Roald Bradstock as Babe Ruth — calling his M55 world record stick

Zak Vince taped Roald Bradstock’s M55 WR in the javelin, which shows him saying: “Six-six 12 — world record right here” — where the listed WR is 66.11. (Babe Ruth didn’t throw javelin, but legend has it he also called his shot.) The video also depicts the official calling out all three throwers’ names, the […]

May 15, 2017   Posted in: Uncategorized  5 Comments

M45 Anthony Whiteman wipes out own WR, screams 800 in 1:51.3!

What a loser. The 10th-place finisher in the B heat of the British Milers Club meet Saturday at Solihull had an 800 PR of 1:45.81 but managed to run only 1:51.3. His club, Shaftesbury Barnet, must be hanging its head in shame. But wait! What’s that? The runner is 45 years old? Oops, never mind. […]

May 14, 2017   Posted in: Uncategorized  10 Comments

Olympian Roald Bradstock adds M55 WR in javelin to his M50 mark

Two-time British Olympian and never-quit thrower Roald Bradstock is the listed holder of the M50 world record in the javelin at 76.16 meters (249-10). He threw that mark in 2012 at the National Training Center in Clermont, Florida. Well guess what? He’s baaaccck. Saturday at the NTC, he chucked the 700-gram stick 66.76 (219-0) to […]

May 13, 2017   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

M45 Whiteman wipes out Sal Allah’s 800 WR with leisurely 1:53.40

The best bet for a WR this outdoor season was the M45 800. The listed record of 1:54.18 has been held since 2005 by American Saladin “Sal” Allah. That’s because Britain’s Anthony Whiteman dipped under 1:53 indoors in February. Well Tony the Track Tiger did it Saturday. Athletics Weekly reports (and results confirm): “Whiteman ran […]

May 12, 2017   Posted in: Uncategorized  8 Comments

Have a yen for World Masters Games? Kansai, Japan, hosts in 2021

Former Kiwi decathlon champion Grant Chapman, now a New Zealand Herald correspondent, covered the Auckland World Masters Games and also competed in the discus — where he fell to fourth after being in the medal hunt. Great yarn. But at the end of his story, he writes: “So now that’s over, what next? Should I […]

May 11, 2017   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

Charles Eugster dies at 97; newbie sprinter inspired with book, WRs

Sad to report the death of a shooting star. Charles Eugster of Britain, who took up sprinting at 95 and became a viral video sensation and Daegu world champion, has died at 97 of complications from heart failure, according to Athletics Weekly and his own website. “His son, Andre, spoke briefly to say: ‘We fully […]

May 10, 2017   Posted in: Uncategorized  3 Comments