Allen Johnson says he’ll enter 2009 masters nationals
Allen Johnson, 1996 Olympic champ at 110 hurdles, says he’ll enter the M35 hurdles at the 2009 masters indoor nationals, according to a press release from Bob Weiner. He’ll be 38 when the indoor nationals are held at the Prince George’s Sports and Learning Center in Landover, Maryland. (He could do masters now, but he still has an outside shot of making the Beijing Olympic team.) The M35 world indoor record for 60-meter hurdles is 7.40 by Britain’s Colin Jackson and the listed American record is 7.56 by Greg Foster. In 2004, Allen tied Foster’s American record for open 60 hurdles — 7.36 seconds.
Here’s the release from Bob, which confirms what we already knew about Maryland winning the 2009 masters indoor meet:
POTOMAC VALLEY TRACK CLUB TO HOST 2009 INDOOR NATIONAL MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIPS WITH WORLD RECORD HOLDERS AND OLYMPIANS, VOTED TODAY BY USATF NATIONAL CONVENTION
(HONOLULU, HI) — The Potomac Valley Track Club won the bid to host the 2009 USA Track & Field Masters Indoor Championships, in a vote just taken at the USA Track & Field National Convention in Honolulu, HI, according to Bob Weiner of Accokeek, MD who organized the bid and also serves as National Masters Track Media Chair. The meet will be held at the Prince George’s Sports and Learning Center in Landover, MD. The event will be held March 22-24, 2009, with the guidance and partnership of the Potomac Valley Association of USATF, who joined PVTC in making the bid presentation.
The championships, which have been held in Boston for eleven of the past twelve years, bring more than 40 world record holders and ten Olympians, including Frank Shorter, Bill Rodgers, Joan Benoit Samuelson, and Sullivan Award finalist Philippa Raschker in recent years. Alan Johnson, Olympic Gold Medalist hurdler, a graduate of Lake Braddock High School in Fairfax County, VA, now 36, told Weiner yesterday that he would like to run the 2009 locally based National Masters as probably his first masters meet. The event is open to competitors over 30 and draws more than 700 individuals up to and sometimes over 100.
The host hotels will be the Radisson and Holiday Inn Express in Largo, MD.
Organizers for the meet include:
Craig Chasse, Fairfax, VA, Meet Director
Henry McCallum Jr., Glenarden, MD, Co-Director
Jennifer Stephens, Fairfax, VA, Assistant Director
Jay Wind, Arlington, VA, Assistant Director and Results Coordinator
Jerry Bookin-Weiner, Columbia, MD, National Field Events Chair
Thomas A Jones, Glenarden, MD PVA Masters Track Chair
Bobby Briggs, Springfield, VA PVTC Chair
Bob Weiner, Accokeek, MD Local Organizing Committee and Media Chair
Dr. Bill Price, Smithsburg, MD and Sal Corrallo, Millsboro, DE, Officials Coordinators
3 Responses
“won the bid” suggests that there was a contest – ie more than one bid. If in fact there was more than one bid many I suspect would be interested in knowing who also bid. However I suspect that the term “won” is just being used improperly. And next year we will be hearing again the moaning and groaning about either a lack of bids or that Boston is the only bidder. Personally I love having the meet in Boston, it is home for me, however the problem remains the same – a lack of bids from other parts of the country.
I am looking for information on the Masters Track & Field Hall of Fame and who the inductees are. Where can I find that information?
Bob–Look in the Masters’ section of the USATF website: http://www.usatf.org/groups/Masters/. There’s a “Hall of Fame” link to a page that lists inductees.
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