Relay legs scrambled at USATF meet, cost masters team ‘record’
USATF and WMA championships don’t contest the distance medley relay, but that doesn’t stop teams from trying to set “records.” But one masters team, according to a message board posting on letsrun.com, was robbed of a record by an officials’ error. “(It was) the last event of the USATF New England Championships (Sunday) at Harvard U,” the posting started. “It is the DMR. Pretty simple order of relay legs (1200, 400, 800, 1600). So it seemed. the 1200 went alright, the 400m went alright, the 800m….the official had the 1600m leg get on the track for the relay exchange with only 3 laps completed for the 800m leg. therefore the 1600m leg had to be an 1800m leg.”
The posting continued:
But technically those teams were all DQ’ed for not running the proper distances.
it was an officials mistake that cost one team a huge price.
The Boston Based track Club…Eliot Track Club, primarily made up of Masters runners, were in it to try and establish and American and possible World Masters record. they put all their eggs in one basket for this opportunity to do it at New Englands. And the system failed them big time.
The 11:02 record would have went down easily with the legs they had lined up for the race.
And up to the point where the officials lack of communication failed, The Eliots had a comfortable cushion to establish the record.
The error not only cost the Eliot TC an American/ World Masters Record but also the recognition of being the USA New England Indoor DMR Champion.
There was no true explanation after the race by any USATF representative. The teams walked away from the race dejected and unsure as to what happened and who was accountable. Also none of the teams were addressed afterwards. As a matter of fact. I am not sure who was declared the winner.
It leaves a bitter sweet taste to know the USATF system failed the athlete. And the opportunity of a lifetime of a team that banked much of their season on this one ideal race.
I certainly hope that one/ or two…USATF Official can sleep tonite knowing her/ his actions truly sent a rippling affect of those athletes that ran that race and were cheated.
Anyone have more information on this team? Who was on it? Their ages? What were their reactions to the flub?
In any case, here are some masters results from that Harvard meet:
Mixed 60 Meter Run Masters
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Name Age Team Finals H#
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1 Joseph Sumrell 52 Unattached 7.74 1
2 Edward Proctor 47 Mass Velocity TC 7.77 1
3 Roy Charette 49 Mass Velocity TC 8.09 1
4 Thomas Gillen 56 Mass Velocity TC 8.37 1
5 Stephen Chase 62 Mass Velocity TC 8.73 1
6 Bill Robinson Mass Velocity TC 9.17 2
7 Ginny Richburg 51 Mass Velocity TC 9.38 2
8 Roosevelt Weaver 73 Unattached 9.59 2
9 Ocean Eversley 53 Mass Velocity TC 9.63 2
10 Henry Bushnell 70 Unattached 11.93 2
— Chris McConnell 54 Mass Velocity TC FS 1
Mixed 200 Meter Run Masters
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Name Age Team Finals H#
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1 Andrew Junas 43 Eliot Track Club 25.57 1
2 Michael Needham 50 Mass Velocity TC 26.00 1
3 Roy Charette 49 Mass Velocity TC 26.72 1
4 Carroll Blake 45 Mass Velocity TC 26.74 1
5 Roger Pierce 66 Mass Velocity TC 27.54 1
6 Scott Steeves 46 Mass Velocity TC 27.72 1
7 Ralph Souppa 63 Mass Velocity TC 28.50 2
8 Stephen Chase 62 Mass Velocity TC 29.31 2
9 Gail Johns-Rees 56 Mass Velocity TC 33.34 2
10 Paula Fortuna 50 Mass Velocity TC 33.35 2
11 Kimberlly Wlliams Mass Velocity TC 35.85 3
12 Henry Bushnell 70 Unattached 44.46 3
13 Herbert Waters 80 Unattached 48.88 3
Mixed 800 Meter Run Masters
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Name Age Team Finals
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1 Doug Williams 41 Eliot Track Club 2:08.91
2 Norm Bouthillier 45 Whirlaway Racing 2:09.95
3 Dan DiPiro 45 New Hampshire At 2:13.61
4 Scott Steeves 46 Mass Velocity TC 2:13.95
5 Aivar Koppel 41 Unattached 2:22.35
6 Bill Pullman 56 Mass Velocity TC 2:31.56
7 Diane Pomeroy 45 Unattached 2:33.13
8 Robert Segal 57 Mass Velocity TC 2:37.03
9 Stephen Peckiconis 51 Cambridge Sports 2:40.01
10 Jen Hegarty New Balance Bost 2:40.04
11 Rita Quibell 55 Canada 2:40.19
12 Jeff Weatherhead 60 Mass Velocity TC 2:45.10
13 Brad Johnson 64 Gcs Triad 2:45.52
14 Joan Miller 54 Liberty Athletic 2:54.17
15 Ginny Richburg 51 Mass Velocity TC 2:54.18
Mixed Long Jump Masters
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Name Age Team Finals
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1 Michael Travers 52 Mass Velocity TC 4.69m 15-04.75
2 tim toscano Unattached 4.42m 14-06.00
3 Susan Wiemer 45 Mass Velocity TC 4.14m 13-07.00
4 John Oleski 60 Mass Velocity TC 3.61m 11-10.25
18 Responses
I wasn’t there. But the 3rd leg (800m, 4 laps) runner should realize this error and yelled for everyone to get off the track, no? Or just bulldozed through the anchor legs?
This happened to me when I was a junior in high school (1978). It was indoors, at the Sunkist Invitational, and we were running the 4 x 880. My school (La Canada) was trying to beat the meet record, which was 8:00, and go for the National Best. This was in the days of 11 laps per mile tracks. I was the opening leg, and after 4-1/2 laps, the second leg runners were suddenly on the track, waiting for hand-offs. In the frame of mind you’re in at that point of an 880 – really zoned – I figured maybe I’d miscounted and handed off. I immediately realized the officials had made the mistake and tried to get them to stop the race. No dice. We won going away (our last three runners all broke 2 minutes for their legs, and I’d been on my way to about a 1:57). But we were the only 2 Mile Relay winner in meet history to get a “NT.” Fastest Sunkist 2M relay ever – no time. To this day, that makes we wince.
The Distance Medley event just seems like a contrivance and it’s ludicrous to talk about it in terms of world records. Does anyone even contest this outside the occasional effort in the USA?
We start sanctioning things like this for world records it’ll just start making the sport look silly.
who cares where else this event is run or if there are AR or WR kept for it.- it is fun for the competitors and the spectators.
Get a grip – if you do not like the event – do not participate in it.
this is why we keep it simple in Texas…
outdoors only!! LOL
The DMR is a great event. It isn’t run very often, but anyone who would even look at a DMR record would take that into account. It is so hard to put together a team and find a meet, that makes all solid masters relay records impressive in my book.
It is a shame the laps got messed up in this race, but I think the original LetsRun poster went a little over the top criticizing USATF and the officials. This was no conspiracy or failure of the “USATF system” but a simple error. I run a lot of track 10K’s, and have often had to correct the lap counter while I was racing. I always figure it is the athletes responsibility as much as the officials.
Mary
My post was directed at its relevance as a world record as that was the thrust of the article. It may indeed be fun to run and there’s nothing wrong with that.
In future perhaps you’d like to reply based on the topic of the article / my post. I suggest you “get a grip” of the topic under discussion.
I recently had surgery, and before going into the OR I consented to the procedure. I then let the surgeon do exactly what he wanted (of course, I was out the whole time). But what about track and field; is it the athlete’s responsibility or the official’s to keep track of the laps?
Let us say my name is Marty Metronome and I want to break 19:30 in the 5000 (outdoors) for the first time in my life. As a metronome I know that is 93.6 seconds per lap, and I run the first 12 in 94 each. I then kick like a banshee and finish in what looks like high 19:29s. I bend over to catch my breath, and the official says, “One more, Mr. Metronome.”
I shake my head, but he bellows, “I said one more, sir.” Do I start running again?
Similarly, if I cross the finish line in 18:01 (11.5 laps at 94 seconds) and the official says, “Stop,” do I stop? No way in the world I have done the full 12.5 laps/5000 meters. But if I start running again he may scream at me to get off the track, perhaps even threatening me with disqualification. It’s a tough thing.
Personally, I think it is the responsibility of the officials but that runners should know where they are for the inevitable protest (informal or formal) later on.
The way to go, lapwise, is to wear a chip. I was told to stop a lap short at Oshkosh. After discussion, Pratt(2nd place)and I were awarded the medals but no time which was fair. I have asked WMA about wearing the chip at Sacto. I’ll pass along the answer. In the early part of the 20th century, the Iranian 10K runners(25 laps on the track)carried 25 pebbles and dropped a pebble each lap. I’m glad we’re beyond this.(^_^). Smartty
The DMR isn’t counted as a “world record” on either the open or masters level, so it’s silly to denigrate it on that basis. It’s counted as a “world best.” I believe Kenya currently has the top mark. The DMR is also a very popular relay at both the high school and college level, and it offers a great opportunity for runners of different stripes to band together.
Having participated on the masters DMR relay that ran 10:19.11 for the world best, I’ve got a bit of a sweet spot for the event. Moraghan, if you don’t like the event, don’t participate in it or watch it – but name-calling events (and by extension, their participants) that you don’t like seems a little petty and immature for a masters track site … especially since, when you get right down to it, words like “contrivance,” “ludicrous,” and “silly” are very similar to those lobbed at our entire masters sport by those who think sport ends when all-time PRs are no longer possible.
Pete
I said it was ludicrous to call it a world record and you agree that’s not what it is.
I said it would be silly if we started recording world records for it and you don’t suggest we should.
Neither of these terms referred to the running of the event itself or the participants. So why do you pretend it does?
Butch Blakes 26.7 200m doesnt seem so impressive now that I know he is 45 instead of the 60 he has been pretending to be….. Go get um Butch.
Tony Plaster (real age 31)
awww….now i’ve got a headache….!
@Jerry, I knew one runner who used to deposit money in an ATM in the exact amount of miles he ran. This was his running log. But then Canada stopped producing $1 bills and that was the end of his log, because ATM don’t accept coins.
Speaking from a sprinter’s point of view, the DMR is a very exciting race to participate in because the lead changes often based on the strengths of the various teams. It is also one of the few times that both sprinters and distance guys are equally invested in the same outcome. BTW Pete, do you have video of our ‘world best’ DMR?
Cornell – You know, when I mention that DMR, your leg is always the one I highlight. People can’t believe a masters guy gave us a 49 leg for the 400! Given that I was the “slow” guy that day, I’ve always appreciated the incredible efforts that you, Angel Roman, and David Olds gave to get us that mark, and I’ll never forget Olds outkicking the guy from UC Northridge to give us the race win, too!
Unfortunately, there’s no video of the race. Can’t tell you how much I wish there was. When we all turn 50 (me in 3+ months!), we’ll have to make sure that our next relay record – um, I mean relay “best” – efforts are recorded.
Also, I agree that the best thing about the DMR is that distance guys get to pair with sprinters. I mean, come on, we distance guys are only distance guys because we can’t be 100 meter guys … or 400 meter guys … or 800 meter guys….
All the best to you, Cornell!
Can someone give a source or site for Masters’ DMR age-group “records” ( or “bests”)? Thanks.
I saw that this series of posts ran dry back in February but having not seen it until now thought I would offer up some info on who this team is and our reaction to the flub.
I was the 400m leg on the team, and also ran 49 that day, my split at about 350m… Also on the team (The Eliot TC) were New England based masters runners Andrew Darien, Christopher Simpson and Mark Gomes. Christopher was the USATF runner up in the Indoor 40-45 800m in 2010 and Mark took second in that event this past winter. A great group of guys who work hard and balance family, careers and training like all masters athletes do.
The circumstances of the race were difficult as we were not in the lead at the time that the official moved the fourth runners onto the track. Not only was the official saying “go” but the team ahead of us had already taken the baton. A lot of confusion, as is very common at indoor meets.
First it needs to be said that not only was this an honest mistake but this particular official has been a long standing and ardent supporter of track & field in New England. He gave up his Sunday to come to this meet, as he has no doubt done countless times. And of course we share responsibility- we’ve all been doing this for awhile and can count the laps. Mistakes were made but there was no malicious intent. Just a very chaotic scene.
Yes, we were disappointed- “world record”, “world best”, “personal best”, “the best time against other kids in the neighborhood”- this is why we run, right? We set goals and we try to achieve them- and it is all the better when they can be held up against some established standard.
With a club made up of long sprinters and short middle distance runners, we were excited to see that some standard existed in a race that we could train for and do as a group. And as you know, it is not always easy to get four guys in shape on the same day, especially for a race run as rarely as a DMR. So sure, we were bummed to miss out on the chance. But the sun came up the next day, we’re still working hard and have no ill feelings towards the USATF or the meet. We’ll just try again next indoors.
I hope that that provides some context for those still interested. And a good source for Masers records is http://www.world-masters-athletics.org/records
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