USATF names Nolan Shaheed as Athlete of the Week for WR
Nolan Shaheed has been USATF Masters Athlete of the Year (twice, in 2006 and 2007). But this is a first for him. USA Track & Field today picked Nolan as its Athlete of the Week (for the whole sport, not just old folks). See the press release. Tom Surber, writing for the Mother Ship in Indy, noted Nolan’s Hartshorne mile and said: “Shaheed ran in the men’s 50-59 mile race where he finished eighth, but his time of 4:57.06 is a new world indoor record in the M60-64 age group. Shaheed’s performance bettered the old mark of 5:01.76 set by American Dan Conway in 1999. Shaheed’s new indoor record is faster than the listed American outdoor record of 4:58.2 by James Sutton from 1991.” USATF normally tells its Athlete of the Week picks on Tuesdays, but we forgive the delay! The folks at Hartshorne share in this honor,
About Ken Stone
Ken has followed track as an athlete, writer and web-master since the late 1960s, and saw most sessions of track and field at the 1984 Los Angeles and 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He also attended the 1988, 1992, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 Trials, the last three as a blogger and Patch correspondent. [More...]
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7 Responses
That is a great honor and couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. I also admire his musicianship.
Congratulations Noland – a well deserved honor.
Keep on smiling Nolan…it only gets better like good wine. You are the absolute best.
Does this WR need to be recognized officially? By Sandy?
I am submitting the paperwork today for Nolan’s record to Sandy Pashkin. I am applying for a WR and of course AR. The USATF seems reluctant to grant Hinton’s world record even though his American record (4:20.18)is faster than the listed WR (4:21.90) by Albie Swenson. If Tony Young this past weekend had repeated the 4:20.72 mile he recorded here in 2006, the USATF would have had the interesting dilemma of looking at my appication for a M45 world record in the mile but NOT an American record. What do you do with that? If the USATF is going to maintain a site that ostensibly keeps up with world records for masters track & field than they ought to do that or just give it up – close down the world record link and focus on American records.
I just want to say what a delight it has been knowing Nolan Shaheed these past 15 yeares. My first meeting with him was a race in the 1500 indoor USATF National Championships in Coumbia, Missouri in March of 1994. It was only my third indoor race in 20 years and I conservatively went out in 2:15 for the 800 meter mark leading a pack of about 8 guys. All was well and I was feeling great. Only problem. . . there was this guy 50 meters ahead at 800 meters who went through in 2:06. It was Nolan. Racing at age 44 in his first indoor masters race Nolan was unfamiliar with the pacing on the 200 meter loop. He came back to us and I almost caught him at the finish line. I hit 4:12 and Nolan dipped just under 4:10. Little did I know that was probably my only chance in life to beat Nolan. Quickly Nolan modified his pacing to suit the 200 meter loop and the rest is history.
The real delight has been getting to know Nolan as a person. We all remember the story of Babe Ruth pointing to the stands and then hitting the ball out of the park. Nolan did that quietly last Saturday at Cornell’s Barton Hall with very little fanfare making it seem like it was the rest of us who lay down a world record. His ability to share the moment is prescious in a ME-ME world where a cyber chat seems more important than talking to the person standing next to you. I have the opportunity to race Nolan at the nationals every five years, as with last spring in 800 at Landover when I was 55 and Nolan 59. Unfortunately for me, we were back to the split separation for the 800 that ocurred when we first raced each other on the track. I was racing really well. . .only problem was there was this guy way out ahead running like he was in another race – yep, Noland Shaheed.
As always, Nolan “you the man” and Jeannie, you two look great – and then I realized the photo was taken at Oxy – my home away from home – for more than 20 yrs. It is a place to smile!
Nolan, how many great races have you run there?
J. see you tomorrow (Friday) and Nolan a few weeks later.
Christel
Nicely put, Tom, about the records. As you know, Aaron Munzer, the local reporter, did a nice job on the meet. In writing about the M40+ race he said about Tony Young, “Young led the pack for most of the race on world-record pace.” Clearly he had to be talking about the M45 world record, which is 4:21.90 by Al Swenson. The problem, as you note, Tom, is that that time is not as good as the American indoor record for M45, which is 4:20.18 by John Hinton.
Had Tony Young indeed run 4:20.72 or thereabouts in Saturday’s race, we would have had to explain to the reporter that Tony had broken the world record at Hartshorne that day but not the American. And where was that American record set, at some minor meet? No, it was set at the Hartshorne in 2008. This would indeed have been hard to explain.
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