Masters News and Muse

Here is the link to all results.

Ken's mentioned link gets you to Herbert Jaehtzen's report on the 5 and 10 k. Highlights: 15.89 m Karl-Heinz Marg (M70) world record shot put; Wladislaw Kowalczyk (M 70), javelin world record 51.25 m; Kurt Goldschmidt M65 world record shot put 15.78 m; Guido Mueller (M70) 100 m 12.88, 400 m 57.55. Yes, around 1000 athletes M 50 and up started. 639 athletes went to the masters championships no. 1 for masters athletes up to M 50 at the end of June . Some athletes saved themselves and their money for the European Championships later this month. By the way, the Germans called the participation of 639 athletes under the age of 50 'disappointing'.

Let's see, Germany has about 27% of the population of the US and yet it got about 1000 for 50+ and another 639 for under 50. Hmmmm....I will not go there, as athletics (T&F) is no doubt more popular in Germany than in the US.

Back to our meet (Spokane: August 7-10), we are actually doing not too badly. I just counted 1006 event entries (not entrants -- an event entry is one person in one event). Using an average of 2.3 events per person (an average that is very close to historical means) we have an estimated 437 entrants. This weekend (July 19-20) must be absolutely huge, however, as this is the last weekend before the regular deadline. We really have to rumble at this point if we are to hit 1100. Again, I hold out the likely possibility that a lot of the mailed entries have not been logged in.

And Canadian entrants don't show on the website, right? (Or maybe non-US I should say.)

Yes, those from outside of the US (except for one Canadian sprinter whose name I will not divulge) do not show. I have a funny feeling that we are going to roar this weekend, but it's hard to say.

Any updates on how we're doing for numbers now being the final weekend before the first deadline?

Competed yesterday in my first Masters Regional Champs, the NW Region Champs held as part of the Seattle Classic. First off, great meet, well run, nothing bad to say.

Talked with some other more "experienced" masters athletes who commented that the turnout was very low, even with the meet being split into two days for the first time.

Hopefully not a sign of things to come for Spokane.

Okay, you've got at least one more entry now. I just registered. I also know a couple of people who are definitely going but haven't registered yet. By the way, I didn't know that Canadian entrants don't show on the website. (FYI: I'm non-US living in US, and my name is on the list.)

The Japanese also have about 1.5 veterans championships in many years. They are so fond of distance events that the older categories in the 5000, 10,000 and walks are sometimes held in a separate meet.

Quick Silver
Hong Kong

Unfortunately, Mellow Johnny, Kimmy, and others, we did not get the explosion I was hoping for this weekend. Just took a count of the event entries (again, I am figuring that the average entrant is in 2.3 events; this is a number that has stood up well historically). If that is the case, at 6 pm EDT (3 pm Pacific time) today (Monday) we had 595 entrants, of whom 121 were in the 200 dash (obviously most of that group was also in the 100, etc.).

From now on (because of number of entrants) I will simply count entrants in the 200 dash and multiply by 4.92 (the current factor) to obtain an estimated total.

To believe that we can reach 1100 entrants(deadline for regular entries is this Thursday night) I think you have to have several things going on: (1) some minor delay in posting mailed entries (my friend from Colorado was indeed posted after a delay); (2) a faith that in today's world people are so comfortable with technology that they do not mind holding off until almost the very end and then entering by Internet; (3) more entries from outside the US than we think; and (4) a willingness of more people than we could expect to pay the $50 late fee. If everything falls into place we could still get 1100, but we must put on a closing burst that perhaps no one has ever seen before for this meet.

Looks like a ton of new entries just showed up today from what I can see...with today being the last day to avoid the $50, looks like several people decided to get in right before the deadline. Either that or perhaps snail mail entries that are just now appearing?

Yes, Mellow Johnny, it looks like people are very comfortable with the idea of entering at "the last minute" (apparently they are not worried about encountering technical difficulties with the site because of overload). Personally, I have been having problems with the site today (Thursday). More important, the entries are rolling except for the 30 and 35 groups.

It's Saturday (July 26), and I had nothing better to do over the last 21 minutes than to count the event entries (and looking at the names refreshes me for my upcoming announcing). Mellow Johnny, I counted 2091 event entries -- divided by my time-honored number of 2.3 events per contestant gives me 909 entrants at this point. Just running through the entries gives the impression that there are about 900 actual competitors.

Hmmmm....To get 1000 (if 909 is close) means that we need a few more people to fork over $50 (late entry), that we need a few mailed entries that for some reason have not been logged in, and we need a lot of foreign entries that would not show (I know of only one non-US resident who would show up on the list, and she is not entered).

Of course, 1000 is an absolute minimum for a satisfactory nationals. Interestingly, only two even-year nationals (the even-year meets have an advantage with no Worlds and, more recently, no Senior Games) in the modern era have failed to reach 1000 entrants. These two meets were in 1992 and 1996; both, interestingly enough, were held in Spokane.

Thanks for the update. 909 is a lot higher than it was or appeared it would be but clearly less than the average.

In talking with other masters track athletes at regionals, the reasons they mentioned why numbers appeared to be down for Spokane were:
1) getting there- not the easiest place to get to
2) weather- may not be Charlotte with the humidity but the heat can be oppressive
3) lack of covered seating- may seem minor but combined with the weather and a healthy but more seasoned population of people, a tough combo