April showers attention on masters at big relay meets
Between the indoor nationals of March and the outdoor nationals of August, masters have lots of options for competition. But perhaps the biggest thrill is running in front of 44,000-plus spectators on Saturday’s slate at the Penn Relays. It’s one of a handful of “open” meets that are masters-friendly. USATF Masters does have a “masters invitational program,” but it’s fairly limited at this point to selected events at the open indoor and outdoor nationals and the Mt. SAC Relays (800s) and Drake Relays (mile), organized by Mark Cleary of Orange County, California.
At Mt. San Antonio College (aka Mt. SAC) east of Los Angeles, masters also have been contesting a women’s handicap 100-meter dash and men’s scratch 100 and 200 for at least 10 years. This year, the women’s handicap race has been replaced by a scratch 100, and the event’s organizers are Elaine Iba and Brenda Matthews.
A traditional 100/200 men’s event at Mt. SAC still lives on, and M60 world sprint champ Stan Whitley is in charge of organizing those events. Last year, I tweaked Stan (a fellow Kansas alumnus) for not advertising the events, resulting in a tiny field in the 100-meter dash. This year, I hope people will contact him for entry into the 100 and 200, generally limited to folks under 50 who can really, really fast.
But the big kahuna of masters exhibition events is Penn, expertly organized by Phil Felton of New Jersey. In addition to men’s and mixed-sex sprint relays in various age groups, the Penn schedule offers 100-meter sprints in various age groups, up to a 75-plus division (which once included 100-year-old Everett Hosack of Ohio.) Also some racewalks.
Bottom line: If you want to join one of these events, you need to get in contact with organizers pretty soon. But it’s well worth the effort.
