Jon Pearlstone is an M40 javelin thrower living out my dream — joining the local college track team. (I keep telling coach Steve Scott at Cal State San Marcos that I have two years of collegiate eligibility left.) The Marin Independent Journal did a nice story on Jon’s adventure at College of Marin. Story also mentions that Jon’ son, Alex, sprints for the UCLA track team. The only way this story would be cooler is if father and son did the same events for different schools that met each other. No such luck here. But I envy Jon being able to compete collegiately. Sadly, the story says: “After NorCal finals on Saturday and possibly the state finals the next weekend, Jon will participate in the Regional Masters meet in Los Angeles in July, then expects he’ll call it quits.” No, Jon (pictured here)! Keep it going!

In case the link goes dead, here’s the text:
43-year-old COM javelin thrower seeking berth in state tournament
John Dugan
Marin Independent Journal
At the age of 43, most athletes have moved on from the competitive portion of their careers and into the pickup/charity portion. At 43, such athletic luminaries as Mickey Mantle, Carl Lewis and Joe Montana were long gone from professional competition. Heck, Sandy Koufax had been in the Hall of Fame for eight years when he was 43.
Jon Pearlstone is a 43-year-old college track athlete. This athlete, however, is in no form of decline. He’s better than ever, even if he does get a funny look from time to time.
“I’m always getting the awkward looks, and they call me ‘coach’ a lot,” Pearlstone said. “Then I throw the javelin and they all shut up.”
Pearlstone is a javelin thrower for the College of Marin track team, and is one of the team’s brightest stars despite being twice as old as most of his peers. Pearlstone was recently named a Masters All-American by USA Track and Field among men 40 years old and up. After placing sixth in the NorCal qualifiers Friday, he’s heading to the NorCal finals with a shot at the community college state tournament if he can place in the top six again. His coach attributes everything to an unparalleled dedication to improve.
“He’s got an unbelievable work ethic,” COM track coach George Adams said. “I wish more athletes I work with worked as hard as him.”
Pearlstone is an avid student of throwing the javelin. He seeks out nationally renowned coaches and badgers them over e-mail for throwing tips, training drills and any other information he can squeeze from the sport’s top minds. He has flown to Colorado and Arizona to attend javelin coaching clinics, and has even given coaches tapes of himself throwing for technique evaluation. He is, to borrow a basketball term, a track rat.
“I have an issue where I always want to get my personal best in competition,” Pearlstone said. “I’m always looking for what my best effort is, both physically and mentally. When I do something, I don’t want to look back when it’s done and say, ‘I wish I had done this or that.'”
Jon’s son, Alex Pearlstone, is a freshman runner on the UCLA track team. Alex says that his dad’s intense training is nothing new.
“During high school, we would always lift weights together,” Alex said. “It got intense. We had some pretty good battles in training.”
It was Alex’s workouts and track success that first piqued Jon’s interest in competition. Alex participated in a summer speed training class put on by Adams in 2003, and that fall Jon and Adams met at a Drake High football game. Jon inquired about what he would need to do to throw for the COM track team.
The school requires students to enroll in at least 12 units (three classes) to participate in athletics. So Jon Pearlstone, who graduated from college in 1984 and holds a CPA, decided to go back to school, enrolling in architecture and building design classes his first year.
“I wanted to get back into competing. I ran a business for 10 years and had a lot of success, but I got bored of that,” Jon said. “I’m always trying to find interesting things to do. I saw someone at one of Alex’s meets throwing the javelin, and I thought, ‘Well, I can do that.'”
These days, Jon’s class schedule benefits his training regimen. He takes coaching and sports psychology classes from Dr. Cheryl Goldman and has credited her with a lot of his development.
Alex can see how stoked his dad is to throw the javelin in such a competitive atmosphere.
“I’m happy for him that he’s found something he really loves to do,” Alex said. “He’s always looking for something new to try, and he wanted to be active. This seemed like a good fit from the start.”
Even if the javelin was a good fit, Jon wasn’t born a natural. His first throws with Adams topped out at around 46 meters, a decent distance but not spectacular, and not good enough to compete with the big boys. In the two-plus years since those first throws, Jon has increased his throws to as far as 50 meters. Jon currently ranks fourth in the country among Masters 40 men with an official throw of 49.53 meters.
“He’s right there in the top 12 in state,” Adams said. “He can compete with anyone out there.”
Jon thinks it’s his history of competition, and being in phenomenal shape, that puts him on par with athletes half his age.
“I’m not trying to be a kid again, I’m just trying to challenge myself with new things,” Jon said. “I think most adults could do this, they just don’t want to.”
Despite the age discrepancy between Jon and his teammates, the other COM athletes have accepted Jon. He even “picks their brains” for training advice, Adams says.
Although he is seemingly ageless, Jon knows he won’t keep with the javelin forever. After NorCal finals on Saturday and possibly the state finals the next weekend, Jon will participate in the Regional Masters meet in Los Angeles in July, then expects he’ll call it quits. So he’s just enjoying his time among the elite while it lasts.
“I don’t think I’ve found the fountain of youth,” Jon said. “But for a challenge and a competitive release, it’s great.”
Contact John Dugan at jdugan@marinij.com