GeezerJock founder sets an M40 goal: 200 in sub-25
Steve Boman has the bug. And no wonder. As co-founder (with his friend Sean Callahan) of GeezerJock magazine, Steve can’t help but be moved by the folks he writes about as editor-at-large. But in the latest edition, November, Steve takes a leap of faith with a column headlined “Back on track.” Steve says he met up with an old college friend and track teammate, “Don M,” and found himself betting that he (Steve) could again run a sub-25 200-meter dash. “The bet was major,” Steve writes. “The loser buys the winner one cold beer.”
Still, you can’t help but toast the guts of a guy willing to announce such a goal in print — in a magazine with 75,000 circulation.
Steve says Don thinks of him as a “40-something guy with three kids, a working wife and a mortgage.” But Steve notes that he won the 100 and 200 at a statewide all-comers meet in 2000 (and shares a photo of himself in white T-shirt leading the race).
In fact, Steve ran a 25.3 for 200 at an alumni track meet at his alma mater, Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minnesota. That was six years ago. Based on his graduation year of 1987, he was in his mid-30s when he ran that 25.3. So he’s probably a young M40 now.
Steve will find a sub-25 something of a stretch now. But he should also be advised that a track comeback often takes a couple years to reach full flower. In my first year, I pretty much stayed with the high jump. But in my third year, 1997, I ran a 25.3 at age 43. That remains my masters PR. And though he says his own all-time best is 23 seconds (whereas mine was 22.2), it’s still possible for Steve to get down into the 25s. Some masters surprise themselves.
I hope Steve trains as intelligently as he writes — and avoids the almost mandatory injuries of his event. If nothing else, he’ll gain appreciation for the freaks of nature who run sub-24, sub-23 and even sub-22 in his age group.
Please join me in wishing GeezerSteve godspeed.
Go get ’em, champ.
