Time for a ‘retro’ meet! 100-yard dash, bamboo poles . . .
Westmont College in Santa Barbara is one of the last schools to chuck its old-style track and install an all-weather oval. But before they spike the old set-up, they’re going “retro” — holding a meet with old distances like the 100-yard dash and time everything by stopwatch. Check out this story on the meet. Made me dream: How about a masters meet somewhere with all “old-style” distances?
Andy Hecker’s SoCal meets sometimes offer retro events like the 180-yard-low hurdles, but why not go a step further with wooden or steel poles in the vault, sawdust for the high jump pit, and so forth? (Forget about USATF sanction, though, and make the entry form bulletproof from a liability standpoint.)
My only concession to modernity: Fuhgeddabout those old wooden hurdles — 20 pounds each with crossbeams of oak. Hit them and die!
The only problem: Do they still make stopwatches with sweep hands that mark the tenths?
Such a meet also would require retraining the timers. (Don’t use your thumb. Use your index finger. Go with the smoke, not the sound. Click the watch AFTER you’ve seen the runner cross the line; don’t try to stop the watch AS the runner hits the tape.)
And use a rootin’-tootin’ real finish tape — a string basically.
In the olden days (of 1971-72), my best high school 100 was 10.2. I never ran the 100-yard dash in college for time, so I missed a chance at 9.9. Now with all the metric distances we run and automatic timing systems we employ, nobody has a clue what they can run the good ol’ 100-yard dash in.
Pity.
Of course, accuracy went out the window in the old meets. It wasn’t uncommon for four watches to show 10.2, 10.2, 10.1, 10.3. But wasn’t it a blast to think that maybe the 10.1 was the true time?
Truly, it’s time for a retro meet for masters.
Here’s the old Westmont track:
3 Responses
Go Westmont—Though not a new concept. Club Northwest has run a “retro” meet a couple of times in the past few years. Events included the broad jump and the hop-step-jump (imperial measurements), 100 yd dash, a 220 yd dash, 440 yd dash, etc… I know David Ortman and I both enjoyed a return to the 180 yd low hurdles.
The shot and discus should be contested from dirt circles and the athletes should wear spikes.
What about saw dust pits? Straddle or Western roll?
if i ran a 10.2 100 yard dash in 1971 what whould that be today in meters !
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