Bart Thomas claims M40 American record in outdoor pentathlon
Bart Thomas of Texas says he “worked like a madman” for two years, and got his chance May 21 — a shot at the world record in the M40 outdoor pentathlon. The result? He beat the listed American record by 212 points but fell short of the WR of 3909 by Germany’s Joerg Lorenz by 189 points. Official results aren’t online yet, but Bart has begun submitting record paperwork to Sandy Pashkin. His 3720-point performance at the Queen City Pentathlon Classic at UNC Charlotte exceeded the 1998 AR of 3508 by Michael Janusey, he says. “They knew I was coming and everything was official,” Bart writes. “USATF officials followed me like a hawk. Great guys, though, and [a] great meet. They weighed implements before and after competition, measured all marks with steel tape. If I could run even a decent 1500 I would have broke world record pretty handily also, but ran a 5:50.09!”
According to his postings on mastersrankings.com, he long-jumped 6.52 meters, threw the javelin 61.06 meters, ran the 200 in 23.18 and spun the discus 42.05 meters. (Can someone supply the feet-inch conversions? I gotta hit the hay.) Then his 1500 in 5:50. Nice work, Bart.
BTW, in April 2010 — more than a year ago — Bart posted this comment on a blog entry on Kip Janvrin:
Greatest long term all around athlete ever. Kip has inspired me to prove to myself I can compete at high levels through 40 at least. Same obstacles – 4 kids all playing sports and a supportive wife. Will pursue pentathlon 35+ World and American record this year at 39 and 40+ pentathlon World and American records next year at 40. To do a full dec at such a high level at this age is unbelievable. Kip is a great inspiration for me. Pulled me away from my desk for a few years.
Guess Kip should be posting an attaboy himself now2
16 Responses
Bart is a heck of an athlete…I competed vs him before he turned forty…he made me have to run!!
He is the brother of former NFL linebacker Zach Thomas of Texas Tech, Miami Dolphins, Dallas Cowboys, and Kansas City Chiefs…
Bart is a great guy and so is his family!!
welcome to masters track BART!!!
Congratulations to Bart Thomas! I too am a former decathlete (from NC State 1995). I was recruited as a HJ’er but wound up starting the DEC as a sophomore at NC State. It was obviously a very short career, but I ended up taking All-ACC honors (2nd at 1995 ACC Champs) and falling in love with the DEC. Until last year, I had taken 15 YEARS away from track (that’s a LONG TIME for a sport like this!), thus, my return so far has been injury plagued. However, reading and following the stories of Kip and now Bart have really inspired me.
I’ll be 40 next year and just wanna exceed the All-American standards in the Indoor/Outdoor Pent and Outdoor DEC. Bart is way out of our league, so it looks like the rest of us are gonna simply have to settle for SILVER at best for years to come! Geeez, thanks BART! (LOL!) I mean, hey, this is a guy who’s run 23.0, jumped 6-2 and 22ft, vaulted 13-6, and is an unreal thrower still…all at the age of 40! He’s legitimately probably the best DEC man (40+) in the world right now. SO AGAIN, GREAT JOB BART!
Cogratulations to Bart & good luck with the all-important bureaucratic process of getting your record ratified!
I was under the impression that Marek Wensel’s mark of 3534 from the 2009 nationals in Oskosh, WI was the previous record, but I guess that it’s another one for the never-ratified records list.
Nice job Bart, fantastic javelin throw!
21-4.6, 200-3.3, 136-8, and 200m is 656 feet.
Great job Bart! I am soon to be 40 myself and am a former decathlete from NC State (’91-’95). Reading about both you and Kip have inspired me tremendously. I hate though that I spent 15 YEARS away from anything track related…I started my comeback last year and I have been injury-plagued ever since! Still working through a grueling adductor injury from last year.
So I think it’s safe to say that, if you’re planning on a prolonged stay in the Masters ranks, then the rest of us need to get used to competing for 2nd place each meet for years to come! LOL!
Again, fantastic job and thanks for setting the high bar. You’re marks are just jaw-dropping for a 40 year old!
Peter I witnessed Thomas personally at nationals. I love Marek but he’s not in the same ballpark with this guy. His 3720 was scored with a 5:50 1500. That is unheard of. Thomas is the most explosive athlete I’ve seen. Just imagine if he would train himself to run a good 1500! This guy could be Olympic quality seriously as a decathlete. Don’t know what his plans are but it sure would be interesting.
I met Bart in Sacramento last July where he told me that he was training hard to break the record. I wished him luck. He obviously didn’t need it.
Great job, Bart!!!
So, let me try to set the record straight on the record. 🙂 In 1998 at the Nike World Games in Eugene, Or. I scored 3586 pts. in the M40 pentathlon. The paperwork was submitted and accepted for a new american record. From that year on, 3586 pts. was listed as the record. However, sometime in 2006-07, the 3586 pts was mysteriously reduced to 3509 pts. To make a long story short, my 3586 pt. total was tossed out because it was wrongly thought that the men were still using the old rules javelin before 1999. The fact is that the men’s javelin rules changed in 1986, it was the women’s javelin that changed in 1999. Sandy Pashkin discovered this error and resubmitted the paperwork at the 2009 convention and my record was reinstated. Marek had a excellent meet at Oshkosh and, knowing the correct total, probably would have been able to dig a little deeper and still broken the record.
Regardless, Bart’s the man now!!
Thank you, Michael, for the detailed explanation. Apparently, your mark went from 3586 (achieved in 1998) down to 3509 (because of error) and then back up to 3586. Thanks to Sandy Pashkin for discovering the error and resubmitting.
I looked at http//www.usatf.org about 5 minutes ago; the listed mark (yours) is 3508. Thus, instead of changing it back to 3586 by adding 77 points, someone simply subtracted 1 point and made it 3508. Oh, well.
You can see that it does get tough for people like me (occasional announcer) to know what is correct. For example, I just looked at Antwon Dussett’s amazing 200 at Albuquerque (M35) again. I started my watch on movement because I couldn’t see the gun (added 0.30 sec for that reason).
I got him in 21.32; adding 0.30 gives me 21.62. His time in the results is 21.67 (record is 22.02), but the 21.67 never even made “pending” even though the 24.32 of Bill Collins in M60 at the same meet is already the official new world record for that group.
Back to Bart Thomas; he is obviously “the truth” and should do more great things in years to come.
Pete, the new age factors, implemented for multi-events in 2010, reduced the 3586 to 3508.
I use duct tape to keep my head from exploding, if you need some let me know. 🙂
Now there’s the ticket, Mike. Imagine explaining all of this to the local reporter from the Cleveland Plain Dealer trying to cover the nationals in Berea, Ohio, this summer. Right.
PT
PS Hold the duct tape.
When you have to explain this level of detail to the beat reporter from the local paper, that explains why we keep getting the simple story of “look at the 90 year olds running the 100.” Beyond that, they can’t understand the detail, much less regurgitate it back in an article.
Congrats to Bart on an incredible meet and the new AR. It appears that the AR controversy will soon be over. A couple of friends contacted me in regards to the issue.
For the record and what it is worth, the official posted record that I went after in 2009 was 3510. I scored 3534 at Nationals in Wisconsin. I spoke personally with Sandy the following day, and she agreed that my score surpassed the record. In fact, my 3534 was listed on the official USATF website as the record for several months. It was only when a friend contacted me, and I checked the site that I saw that it was no longer listed as the record. It appears to be a mute point, but I left Sandy a voicemail for clarification.
BTW- Michael, thanks for the kind words about digging deeper to break the 3586, but I think 3534 was about all I had. Sans my 200, I competed about as well as I could have hoped for (my JT & 1500 were lifetime PR’s). That is why I valued the accomplishment so greatly.
It was an honor to hold the AR? however briefly, but I agree with Ken that Bart is truly deserving of holding the AR. Those times and distances all from one M40 athlete are incredible. Congrats again to Bart.
Apparently, I bring out the best in M40 Pentathlete competitors, as I “competed” against Marek when he scored 3534 in Wisconsin and also this past week when Bart scored 3720 in Charlotte. They are both very gifted athletes and great guys. My only consolation is that I did beat Bart in the 1500 and the fact that I will be in M45 next year! Great job Bart!
Congrats [bart] you are up there with kip. GOD SPEED
Just wanted to say thank you for all the nice comments. I was just happy to stay healthy long enough to make an attempt at both Marek and Micheal’s marks. You both are great athletes. Also I want to say it is very true that Chris beat me badly in the 1500. I saw about 9 butts come past me after lap 1. Giving me Marek’s 1500 legs sure would have taken the pressure off in the first 4 events! Anyway it’s just an honor to compete at that level with you guys. Maybe we can have a pentathlete record holder reunion one day…let Kip Janvrin host. He’s still the man of multievents.
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