Masters News and Muse

M40 pole vault icon Jeff Hartwig has responded to a 41st happy-birthday greeting I sent him after he received a touching farewell in Germany last weekend -- probably his last elite competition. Jeff writes: "Just got home a couple days ago and been playing catch up. Aachen was really awesome. I can't think of a better way to finish. Well, maybe a little better weather. The crowd was amazing as they always are, and it was really great to have such a high energy atmosphere for my last meet." Following is a short Q&A with Jeff, who leaves the door slightly ajar to a masters comeback down the line.

Masterstrack.com: Are you done competing, period? Or just as an elite, drug-tested open dude?

Jeff Hartwig: Yes, I am done. Of course the big question now is what will I do in the future and that will somewhat determine if there is a chance to jump again sometime in the future.

Would you consider competing on the masters circuit? If yes, when and where?

Not at this point. I am going to try to enjoy some time off.

What will you focus your attentions on now?

My main goal now is to stay close to the sport. I am actually going to start a management company working as an agent for athletes. My goal is to improve on what current agents do in terms of marketing of athletes.

I also would like to start some sort of coaching. I would love to work with some high level athletes but for now I will probably focus on starting a club situation where I can work with local athletes on a regular basis. I am also talking with some of the other athletes about working to start a pole vault circuit. Street meets, beach vaults, Mall vaults. Another way to boost the visibility of the sport and provide opportunities for athletes who don't have the chance to go overseas.

Ever thought about trying some other T&F events, now that you're "free"?

Actually, I have thought for years that I would love to do some other events. I actually talked with some of the guys in Europe about doing a decathlon because I think it would be a fun challenge.

Please detail the Beijing competition. I've seen various accounts of how screwed up the event was run. What are your recollections?

Beijing was bittersweet for me. All the things I expected to be bad were actually pretty good, except for the meet. Championship meets are always tough. The organisers and officials try so hard to make it perfect and follow every little rule that they always end up screwing it up.

The issue with the standards follows the same situation. Nearly every championship meet, they try to get fancy with electronic standards and they always break which causes delays. For me, I simply ran out of gas.

The competition was really long, we started warming up around 6:30 p.m. on the practice track, then to the call room and onto the track with 18 guys on each pit. We had roughly one hour on the track for an 8:40 start. I felt great, but the amount of time and energy I spent staying loose and trying to maintain the intensity, just took it out of me. I took my last attempt at 5.65 just before midnight.

It obviously affected many of the others as well, not only in the prelims but it carried over to the final for all but one guy. Steve did an amazing job of dealing with everything that happened. In the end, it was still a great experience to be there.

Then Jeff concluded:

In the end, it was a really great year. The best part at the end of the season was to be in Aachen with all my friends. Brad Walker stayed in Europe despite being very tired and that meant a lot to me. I consider the other vaulters more than just friends. As Igor Pavlov ( Russia ) told me at a street meet in Berlin, "Even though our governments may not always agree or even get along, we as vaulters are all brothers!" This rings true around the world.

Posted by Ken Stone at 5:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Three weeks after the fact, women's results are now posted for the USATF National Masters Ultraweight Pentathlon Championships in Seattle. Click here to see how the seven women did. USATF doesn't list records for the ultraweight penta, so maybe the Seattle winners are record-holders by default. In any case, congrats to gold medalists Laura Jinkins (W40), Carla Edman-Surina (W45), Joyce Taylor (W50) and Georgia Cutler (W65). You're the vanguard of a new breed of strongwoman. Why should guys have all the fun?

Posted by Ken Stone at 4:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Jock Jocoy last competed in 2001, in M75 sprints.

Former San Diegan Steve Robbins, the M65 sprint champion, wrote me:

Jock, Ed Oleata, and I made a number of trips together from San Diego up to the L.A. area for masters meets. Jock would entertain us both up and back with amazing stories of the people he met and worked with as a vet to some of the top thoroughbreds in the country.

He spent a lot of time at the Del Mar track hobnobbing with the rich and famous. Jock was a gracious and classy guy. He'll be missed by a lot of us with San Diego ties.

I first met Jock Jocoy in 1982 when the first WAVA decathlon was held at SDSU. I was 45 and Jock was 56. He had been a "physical culturalist" all his life. But he had confined himself to running 10Ks and weight lifting.

He found out about masters track and decided to do the decathlon. After training only a few weeks, he entered. The M55 division was won by Jack Greenwood and Jock finished far down the line. He was amazed about how good Jack Greenwood was and was determined to better himself.

Someone suggested he train with me so he came over and introduced himself to me and we started training at least once a week from that time on until he had a massive stroke four years ago.

He ended up finishing in the top three many times in the USA championships and won at least once. He also won a couple of other national championships in the indoor 1000 and the two mile. He was also a member of a 4x1 relay team that set a world record with Greenwood, Watanabe and Hart.

He won many All-American certificates and at the time of his stroke he was training to try and make the All-American standard in the 100 and 200 the next year when he turned 80.

He loved all sports, especially track and field, football and boxing. He competed in the first two in high school and in boxing while in the Navy during WWII. He grew up right on the beach -- two houses north of the Mission Beach amusement park. He went to La Jolla High school and was a lifeguard at Mission Beach before going into the Navy during WWII.

When he went through boot came right here at NTC San Diego he was such a good swimmer that the Navy wanted to keep him right there to teach other sailors how to swim. A cushy job right in his home town.

"No way," said Jock. "I want to go overseas and fight." So that is what he did. He loved the Navy and his Naval service.

During his undergraduate years at Colorado State, he was on the rodeo team and picked the toughest event, which was bull riding. He did confess to me that he never stayed on a bull for the full 8 seconds.

During our many workouts, we had many a heated discussion about politics, current events and sports. He was a fun guy to be around and knew more about horse racing than anyone you'll ever meet. I'll miss him.

From September 7, 1988:

Del Mar veterinarian Dr. Jock Jocoy, who is 62 but looks 48, was singled out in the September United States Track Athletic Congress publication as tops in three divisions.

A gifted athlete all of his adult life, Jocoy is listed in the age 60-64 division as excelling in the long jump, the pentathlon and the decathlon.

The magazine credited him with a 15-0 in the long jump, with 3,118 points in the pentathlon and with 6,347 points in the decathlon.

Jocoy has been the track veterinarian at Del Mar in recent years and maintains a breeding kennel in Del Mar featuring Jack Russell dogs. He has a champion sire from England named "Bouncer" and also has other fine breeding stock.

"Jack Russell dogs are ratters and almost immediately endearing to their owners," said Jocoy.

A native and lifelong resident of Del Mar, track veterinarian Jock Jocoy is the man who has the final say about whether a horse runs.

After 33 years as a practicing vet at Santa Anita, Hollywood Park and Del Mar, he went into semi-retirement and works only at Del Mar because he "found there was more to life than racing."

In his professional life, that means "looking into the health and racing soundness of the horse," says Jocoy, whose field has become so specialized it's now known as equine sports medicine.

Jocoy arrives at the track to work with the animals as early as 6 a.m., and doesn't leave until after the day's notes have been recorded, which may be 8 p.m.

Familiar with the horses, he checks their gait as they walk and gallop toward the starting gate. If he sees something he doesn't like -- for example, an odd stride or excessive sweating -- he'll radio the outrider to bring over a horse for inspection. He then can scratch a horse, although there are times, he says, when jockeys override his veto.

"Most of the time," he says, "jockeys are happy because they don't want trouble. And the public is ensured of getting a decent run for is money; they don't want to see any disastrous results. Sometimes they'll yell at me if a horse has been scratched. Most of the time I'll give them courteous answers."

Occasionally there are breakdowns. "When you've got 1,000-pound animals running at 25 miles per hour," says Jocoy, "you can't control every step."

There have been several spills already this year, and four horses have had to be humanely destroyed.

"To this day," says Jocoy, "I don't like to see broken legs or horses in pain." All it takes to put a horse to sleep is 100cc, or about three tablespoons, of a barbituate injection. "When it comes to euthanasia I always have depression, sometimes even get sick to my stomach. These are beautiful animals. There are some strong similarities between them and human athletes."

Dr. Jock Jocoy, official veterinarian for the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, has been named Senior Athlete of the Year by the San Diego Athletic Assn. Jocoy, a trim athlete at the age of 59, won the 55-60 division in the National Masters Decathlon meet last June in Indianapolis, Ind.

Posted by Ken Stone at 3:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

It's 5 days to Christmas or Hanukkah, and you don't know what to buy your running, jumping or throwing dad, wife or neighbor! What to do? Have we got a store for you! Thanks to my son Bobby and his design skills, masterstrack.com now has an outpost on CafePress featuring all manner of masters track products -- shirts, caps, mugs, bags and much else. CafePress, which hosts 2.6 million online shops (see Wikipedia's article), has a great reputation for high-quality products and service. It does all production and delivery. (Here's another review and a company profile.) We just supply the designs and set the profit margin. (Which is minimal in our case.) Why go beyond our original T-shirt and mousepad offerings? Because you deserve greater choice, and because this CafePress site allows for easy expansion. Bottom line: It's a great way to promote masters track and help masterstrack.com deliver independent coverage of our sport. (And it might defray some of my Lahti expenses.) The site isn't set in stone, however. (Forgive the pun.) We can tweak designs to meet popular demand. We can add slogans. You can help us devise more clever mottos than "Old hammer throwers do it with steel chains" or "Old vaulters do it with a slight bend." We hope to add a 2009 calendar with some of the great photos seen in our Gallery. Got ideas? Write me. In the end, this is your store! Let's have some fun.

Posted by Ken Stone at 6:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Coach Ross Dunton of Tennessee has emailed a newsletter that lists 15 men and 10 women as nominees for the USATF Masters Hall of Fame. Among the shoo-ins are sprinter Roger Pierce and all-around runner Marie-Louise Michelsohn. Tom Langenfeld and Audrey Lary are also a lock. My friends Kathy Bergen and Jim Selby of Southern California are longer shots, but very deserving. The source of these names isn't given, so don't consider this a definitive, official list. New inductees will be announced at the USATF annual meeting this December in Reno, Nevada.

Here's what Ross reports:

USATF MASTERS HALL OF FAME NOMINEES

Kathy Bergen (La Canada, CA)

Ann E Carter (Aiken, SC)

William C (Bill) Carter (Marlow, OK)

Georgia L Cutler (Eugene, OR)

Patrick Devine (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA)

John M Elwarner (Sterling Heights, MI)

Ray E Feick (Gilbertsville, PA)

Mary Hartzler (Gahanna, OH)

William Jankovich (Racine WI)

Wm Joe Johnston (Apoka, FL)

Robert H Keating (Nashua, NH)

Joe King (Central Point, OR)

Tom Langenfeld (Edina, MN)

Audrey Lary (Fredrick, MD)

Linda Lowery (Decatur, GA)

Jim Manno (Oradell, NJ)

Marie-Louise Michelson (New York, NY0

Charlie D Miller (Sanger, TX)

Roger B Pierce (Essex MA)

Gordon E Seifert (Birmingham, AL)

Jim Selby (Fallbrook, CA)

Lillian Snaden (Florence, SC)

Irene Thompson (Syracuse, NY)

Bob D Ward Dallas, TX)

Evelyn Wright (Safety Harbor, FL)

Posted by Ken Stone at 5:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Don't trust anyone under 35. If you really want to be a serious runner, wait till you're 35. Although I hesitate to discuss roadies on a masters track blog, I can' resist crowing about the latest masters superstar: Haile Gebrselassie, who broke the 2:04 barrier today in the Berlin Marathon. Check out the IAAF report on the race. In the women's race, 36-year-old Irina Mikitenko became the fourth-fastest ever at the distance with her winning time of 2:19:19. Nice runs, guys! I think Geb is now the oldest WR setter on the current books.

The listed masters WR for the marathon is 2:07:12 by Portugal's Carlos Lopes at the 1985 Rotterdam Marathon.) Irina also bettered the listed women's WR in W35 -- 2:21:29 by Russia's Lyudmila Petrova in 2006.

Pat Crandall, a masters jumper and hurdler in Florida, noted this on the T&F News Message Board:

2:03:59 is

26 x 1 mile in 4:44 each - zero seconds rest in between

52 x 800 in 2:22 each - zero seconds rest in between

104 x 400 in 71 seconds each - zero seconds rest in between

208 x 200 in 36 seconds each - zero seconds rest in between

How many of you can run ONE 400 in 71 seconds? Not I.

Posted by Ken Stone at 9:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

They're up. Nearly 400 photos taken by my wife, Chris, and moi tell the story of last month's Spokane nationals unlike any written narrative. Click here for series of shots, including Liz Palmer step-for-step with Joy Upshaw-Margerum in the 80-meter hurdles. Rita Hanscom passing a falling Amanda Scotti just yards from the finish of the W50 200. Bob Lida losing an M70 sprint as his "runner's knee" collapses near the finish. Bud Held setting an M80 world record in the pole vault, and getting a joyous embrace from his love, Nadine O'Connor. And on and on. A bonus album shows masters founder David Pain, his daughter Robin and wife Linda as they visit with stars of the meet, the 40th anniversary of his first masters nationals in San Diego. Enjoy!

Haven't had time to write captions. Will do eventually.

For the best experience, use the slideshow function (see buttons at upper left of the album), and set the size to "maximum."

Thanks for your patience on this project.

Posted by Ken Stone at 7:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Mirko Jalava of Finland is considered one of the world's top track statisticians, but I'm having doubts about his fact-checking (or at least keyboarding). In Roger Ruth's latest data dump -- searching for over-35 athletes on Mirko's 2008 season lists at his pay site -- two sprinters are listed with wildly inaccurate dates of birth. While perusing the 400-meter lists, two names (and DOBs) caught my eye. According to Mirko, Americans Johnny Thomas ran 48.76 at age 44 and Kevin Hawkins ran 48.62 at age 43. Yowza! Those are near WR times in their age group. How come I haven't heard of these gents?

Uhm, that's because they're still kids. Johnny ran for a Texas high school this season and Kevin competes for the Air Force Academy.

Mirko got the marks, venues and dates of competitions right -- but gave the athletes wrong dates of birth (or Roger transcribed the DOBs in error).

First, here is Roger's latest stat blast:

As I wrote in the initial post of this series, the procedure is to sort Mirko Jalava's 2008 World Deep Lists < for each event by age of birth, starting with 1973 and backward from there, to identify all athletes on the list of masters age levels (35 and older on the date of competition). In summarizing the lists, I've bold-faced the data for the oldest on the list, and also have noted the youngest athlete on the world list in each event.

Masters on Men's 400m World List for 2008

N=2392

List threshold=49.00

402 46.92A Anderson dos Santos BRA 23 Apr 72 Cochabamba 31 May

723 47.45 Dedrick Evans USA 4 Feb 73 Atlanta GA 17 May

734 47.46 Aleksey Aksyonov RUS 5 Jun 72 Chelyabinsk 28
Jun

1241 48.07 Jata Shankar IND 20 Jun 72 Bhopal 29 Feb

1581 48.38 Flávio Godoy BRA 13 Dec 69 Rio de Janeiro 7 Jun

1700 48.48 Marc Foucan FRA 14 Oct 71 Montpellier 18 May

2062 48.76 Johnny Thomas USA 3 Aug 63 Austin TX
9 May

1861 48.62A Kevin Hawkins USA 18 Mar 65 Laramie WY
3 May

1903 48.65 Jimmy Jean-Joseph FRA 15 Oct 72 Aix-les-Bains 4 May

2282 48.93 Sean Adams USA 24 May 71 Walnut CA 8 Mar

2326 48.96 Ruslan Mashchenko RUS 11 Nov 71 Sochi 27 May

Youngest athlete (15) on this list:

1388 48.21 Curtis Woods IRL 93 Mannheim 22 Jun

Masters on Women's 400m World List for 2008

N=1069

List threshold=55.75

215 53.11 Donna Fraser GBR 7 Nov 72 Birmingham 12 Jul

695 55.00 Natalya Tsyganova RUS 7 Feb 71 Moskva 4 Jun

771 55.18 Jearl Miles-Clark USA 4 Sep 66 Gainesville FL
4 Apr

814 55.25 Patrizia Spuri ITA 18 Feb 73 Tivoli
13 Jul

892 55.43 Lena Aruhn SWE 22 Apr 70 Celle Ligure 24 Jun

921 55.50 Anja Rücker GER 20 Dec 72 Nürnberg 5 Jul

Youngest athlete (13) on this list:

965 55.57 Tiffany Terry USA 95 Omaha NE 27 Jul

Johnny ran his 48.76 at the Texas state high school championships on May 9, 2008:

Event 414 Boys 400 Meter Dash 4A
=======================================================================
National: ! 45.25 1993 Calvin Harrison, Salinas N. Salinas,
State: + 45.24 1994 Marlon Ramsey, Beaumont West Brook
Conf 4A: * 45.64 1991 Deon Minor, Paris
Name Year School Finals Points
=======================================================================
Finals
1 Kevin Furlough Dallas Wilson 47.77 10
2 Joe Barb Denton Guyer 48.10 8
3 Travis Cunningham Rockwall Heath 48.35 6
4 Johnny Thomas Texas City 48.76 4
5 Stan Smith Crowley 48.86 2
6 Spencer Eggleston JR Pflu Connall 48.88 1
7 Justin Krautz Nederland 49.28
-- Brett Parker Gregory-Portland DQ 4 steps out of lane

And Kevin's 48.62? That came May 3, 2008, at a meet in Laramie, Wyoming, as he tuned up for his specialty, the 800, at the following week's Mountain West Conference championships.

Event 26 Men 400 Meter Dash
===================================================================================
Name Year School Seed Finals H# Points
===================================================================================
1 Hoerner, Tyler SO Northern Colorad 47.87 47.81 2 10
2 Terry, Nate SR Colorado 47.90 48.16 2 8
3 Effler, Collin SR Northern Colorad 48.53 48.55 2 6
4 Hawkins, Kevin SR Air Force 48.55 48.62 2 4
5 Fox, Brian FR Colorado State 48.40 48.63 2 2
6 Tucker, Cole SO Colorado State 47.79 49.54 2 1
7 Cronin, Shane SO Colorado 50.20 50.31 1
8 Hansen, Sam FR Wyoming 50.85 50.55 1
9 Stenzel, Andy JR Colorado State 50.67 2
10 Severino, Chris FR Air Force 51.14 51.83 1
11 Palicia, Noah FR Air Force 48.89 53.28 2

But now I have to suggest that Roger's lists not be taken as gospel.

The Mighty Mirko is striking out.

Posted by Ken Stone at 4:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

David O'Meara, 45, had barely returned home to Sarasota when he sent me a note thanking me for supporting his mile quest (which included his 20th sub-5 mile Sunday at Fifth Avenue). (See him in a cute NYC video here.) I replied with a set of questions, led off with the key one: So, like, when will you run masters track? He graciously replied: "I would like to compete on the masters track circuit when I am 50. I am going to continue promoting the 'mile' and that is why I would like to attend the indoor nationals as it is the only nationals that runs the mile event." So there! Then he'll get to meet some of the big boys. Of course, Hartshorne Mile organizers should contact him as well. Money is involved.

Here's the rest of my Q&A with David:

Masterstrack.com: You must have battled some injuries, aches or strains. What were the worst, and how did you deal with them?

David O'Meara: Due to my extensive body work (training, massage, and chiropractic), it is a real testament that I only suffered one injury. I realized that all it took was one pulled hamstring and my packed racing schedule would have been finished.

My only injury occurred the day after my race in British Columbia. I was going out for a 1 hour recovery run and I simply bounded off a curve and felt pain in my lower back when I landed. I felt a little tightness, but continued on my run as I have jumped off a curve thousands of times without any difficulties.

However, after my run, my back began to tighten. I tried to train in Vancouver for three more days before flying to Texas. When I arrived in Texas, I could not even straighten my left leg. I have never had anything like this before and it really freaked me out!

I was supposed to race in 48 hours -- so time was of the essence. Race director Mike Flores took me to a local chiropractor, Dr. Freeze, on Thursday, but it did not make a difference. The problem was with my right hip (IS joint). I went again on Friday, and it did feel better. I rested all day and then realized I had a chance to race.

Dr. Freeze's adjustments really helped. I ran a 4:50 early Saturday morning. Other than that, due to my numerous massages and chiropractic appointments, I stayed injury free. As we get older, we must increase our recovery procedures. I will be writing about this on my blog this fall/winter.

Did you meet or chat with any of the other masters milers at Fifth Avenue? Any interesting exchanges?

I had so many friends and family there at the end that I did not have the opportunity to speak to many master runners after the Fifth Avenue. I did meet Neil Fitzgerald and Bill Zink after the race -- they were very supportive.

Tony Young ran 4:16 this year, and he's older than you. How tough is a 4:16 at your age?

Tony Young is incredible. The best I can run on the track is in the 4:30s. I am not even in Tony's league. There is no comparison. It is so tough to run a 4:16 at 45+ -- it just shows how great master runners like Young, Hinton, McGill and Forde really are. They are absolutely amazing!

How much faster is a road mile than a track mile -- in your case. Or is track faster?

After running road miles since May, I can say it all depends on the road course. I tried to run everything during this journey: some flat, some downhill, some uphill, turns, straight, altitude, sea level, islands, peninsulas, small towns, big cities, point to point, turnarounds, East Coast, West Coast, Midwest, USA and Canada.

One of the things that made racing so interesting over the 5 months were the road courses. I had no idea what the course was until I got to my destination. There were times after seeing the course that I said, "I do not think I can break 5 minutes on this course."

So I had to dig deep and find the strength to break 5 minutes. On the track, I always know where I am and I know when I am slowing down. I love road miles, but I can float a bit out on the country road and not realize that I am slowing down. Some road miles are faster than the track, others are a lot slower. There is more rhythm on the track and more changes on the road course.

What kind of sponsorship did you have on this 20/20/5 journey? How much did you get? How much did the entire season of travel cost you personally?

I received very limited sponsorship. Most sponsors gave me product endorsements. HeadBlade was the one who gave me a check. I knew from the beginning that I had to pay for this long event. No sponsor was going to support it. Todd Greene, the owner of HeadBlade, was very supportive for a small company.

I have not added up all the receipts from this trip. Let's just say I could have put a student through one year of college with my expenses. I just felt it was my duty as a motivational speaker to put it on the line. If I am going to ask my clients to take a risk a day, find courage and strength, and have faith -- then I must be an example of that. It was money well invested in an amazing experience.

How often did your wife travel with you to road miles?

Sekyen took great care of me from recovery massages to shooting the video work for the website. She attended 17 out of the 20 races.

What have your client athletes said about your road miles? Are they eager to have their coach back?

I have just returned to Sarasota, FL. My local clients were very supportive. It is time to spend time trying to train and inspire them to the best of my ability. Also, I am recapping my 20/20/20<5@45 event at the PFA Conference in Nashville, TN on 11/8 as I am the keynote speaker at their 50th Anniversary.

I am going to be discussing how I managed to get through this 5-month journey and what older athletes must do to stay active and perform well.

Are you tired of the mile yet? How about an 800?

Not at all. The mile is and always will be my favorite event. I still remember Bannister's thoughts about running 4 laps in under 4 minutes (when we had quarter-mile tracks) -- there is something so majestic about that. I am going to be spending my time in the fitness circles trying to promote the value of the mile (you can read my blog entry on this topic under "How Metrics Killed The Mile.") It can really make the difference to peoples' fitness levels that they desire.

What was the hardest mile on your trip? Why?

I said at the beginning that if I did not break the 5 minute barrier in any race due to weather, sickness, poor racing, etc. that it did not count towards my goal and that I would have to make it up during the 20-week period. I never thought I would be perfect. I did not get any real bad weather until the last month.

My 20-week period runs out on 9/27, but I always wanted to have the Fifth Avenue Mile be my last event of the 20/20/20<5@45 event. I did not want to run any "fun runs," but featured road mile courses that are properly timed. So excluding the two races that Mother Nature beat me up with rain and a headwind, I have to say that the Main Street Mile in Boise, ID was one of my most difficult events.

Boise is a great city and the runners I met there are very inspirational. But I had a lot of trouble breathing the high desert air at about 2,200 feet. The course had 8 turns (as you run the city block in downtown Boise which is about 1/2 mile -- twice). I passed the 800 meter mark (they marked the course in meter signs) at 2:28 -- so I knew I was in trouble. So I pushed the second half a bit more to finish in 4:54, but I was coughing and wheezing for three days after that race.

The different climates around this country make running so different. I had a lot more respect for the altitude and dry heat of Boise. It is something you have to train in for a while to get accustomed to it. I know the master runners participating in next summer's outdoor nationals will feel the Florida humidity in August.

What advice would you give to anyone trying to replicate your feat?

After traveling over 45,000 miles in 5 months by airplane, automobile, and by boat, my advice for anyone is to go for it. I wanted to bring my journey across North America and try to inspire others to use speed work to achieve their fitness goals.

Besides getting a lot of body work (massage and chiropractic), my advice is to have a burning passion for something they want to accomplish. Through all the races, training, travel, hotel rooms, etc., that internal inspiration will be THE fuel for their feat.

Posted by Ken Stone at 3:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

The German track Web site reports that 5,000 spectators waved white handkerchiefs in an emotional farewell gesture yesterday to M40 Jeff Hartwig, who turned 41 today. Jeff apparently competed in his final elite vault competition at Aachen. Despite low temps and rain, Jeff took fifth out of 12 with a jump of 5.40 (17-8 1/2), a foot short of his M40 world record set at the Eugene Olympic Trials. Some of Jeff's Beijing experiences are recounted in this Phil Hersh blog post. A vault fan posted this about Jeff on Becca's site: "Congrats on an amazing career!! and best of luck with whatever pursuit comes next for you. PB 6.03. 9 meets over 6.0m. 102 meets over 5.80." Thanks for the memories, Jeff. But rest up and come back stronger at M45!

Here's a rough translation of Jeff's last elite meet:

Pole Vault: 5000 Aachen adopt Jeff Hartwig (USA)

The last time took pole Jeff Hartwig (* 1967, USA) on Wednesday evening when Domspringen in Aachen in a race to the rod with 5.40 meters, he was at his victory 14 years younger countryman Brad Walker (5.70 m) fifth. But the emotional highlight was when the audience with Jeff Hartwig waving white handkerchiefs adopted. 5,000 spectators were on his last jump on, fired at him and revealed a visibly taken Jeff Hartwig also repeatedly thereafter to start on the bridge to get him to be able to celebrate. This was the meeting of Aachen for his farewell from the Wettkampszene chosen because it is "the hottest marketplace Goto of the World" was.
However, the victory went to his teammate and world champion Brad Walker, the extra to Aachen had to leave when his friend to join. When he skipped only 5.70 meters. At 5.80 meters, a new meeting record, he nearly failed. Best German was the Filstaler Alexander Straub, skipped the 5.60-meter, the Leverkusen Lars Börgeling was third with 5.50 meters, Germany's Tim Masters Springer lobing (* 1972, LG Stadtwerke Munich) with 5,30 m seventh. Low temperatures and rain always intercurrent conditions were not optimal, shortly once the race had to be interrupted. An enthusiastic audience, which caused mood, but this was offset.

Results
1st Brad Walker (USA) 5.70 m
2nd Alexander Straub (Filstal LG), 5,60 m
3rd Lars Börgeling (TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen), 5.50 m
4th Fabian Schulze (LAZ Salamander Kornwestheim / Ludwigsburg) 5.50 m
5th Jeff Hartwig (USA) 5.40 m
6th Danny Ecker (TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen), 5.40 m
7th Tim lobing (LG Stadtwerke Munich), 5,30 m
7th Malte Mohr (TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen), 5,30 m
9th Richard Spiegel Castle (TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen), 5,30 m
10th Rens Blom (* 1977, Netherlands), 5,30 m
11th Hendrik Gruber (TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen) 5.10 m
12th Kim Yoo-Suk (South Korea) 5.10 m

Posted by Ken Stone at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We love to see masters athletes promoted at work, especially when they're track coaches. (Gives them more opportunities to train!) So we're delighted to pass along the news that Sara Davis, a national-class sprinter who competed at 2006 and 2007 masters nationals, is the new women's track coach at Texas A&M University's Commerce campus. She has no marks listed for 2008, but we hope that changes in the world champs year of 2009.

Here's a note I got a couple days ago:

Texas A&M University-Commerce athletic director Carlton Cooper announced today the hiring of Sara Davis as the head women¹s track and field coach.

"We are very excited to have Sara Davis join our Lion athletic family. She brings a wealth of track and field knowledge to our program and his relationships in the track and field community will keep us focused on the vision of becoming a national leader in college athletics," said athletic director Carlton Cooper.

Davis, who founded the Sprinters Elite Track Club, brings to A&M-Commerce valuable experience as a former runner at UCLA and as a coach. As the founder of the Sprinters Elite Track Club, she was involved with teaching young, talented athletes to train and compete at their optimal level. Davis still competes in track and field at the Masters level, where in 2006 and in 2007 she was second in the nation in her age division in the 100 and 400-meter sprints and ninth in the world in each distance.

At UCLA, she was coached by one of the nation's most successful track and field coaches Bob Kersee and was a teammate to standouts Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Gail Devers and Florence Griffith-Joyner "FloJo." She earned All-American honors in the sprints and was a member of a school record setting relay at UCLA, where she graduated with her bachelor's degree. In addition to her experiences in track and field, Davis is a certified personal trainer by the National Academy of Sports Medicine.

Posted by Ken Stone at 12:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Roger Ruth ranked the track 10K in his latest review of masters-age (over-35) athletes on the 2008 seasonal world lists. And he notes: "Wow! (Haile) Gebrselassie ranks even higher than Derek Miles did in the pole vault. Can any master-age athlete rank higher on this year's world lists than Haile's #3? What do you think?" Geb qualifies. He turned 35 last April -- well before taking sixth in the Beijing 10,000. And you might think that Geb's season best of 26:51.20 is a masters world age-group record? Hahahahaha. Think again. The listed WMA M35 record remains as always: 27:17.48 by Portugal's Carlos Lopes in 1984.

Here is Roger's list du jour:

Well, the masters did fairly well on the speed event, with a few more representatives on the 2008 100m list than in the pole vault, although not as highly ranked. So, if masters can compete in speed, what's next? How do they make out in an endurance event? Let's try the 10,000 meters:

Masters on Women's 10,000m World List for 2008

n=438

List threshold=35:29.75

41 31:39.20 Dulce María Rodríguez MEX 14 Aug 72 Stanford 4 May

53 31:57.71 Irina Mikitenko GER 23 Aug 72 Menden 3 May

61 32:07.54 Fernanda Ribeiro POR 23 Jun 69 Lisboa 28 Jun

62 32:07.69 Adriana Fernández MEX 4 Apr 71 Stanford 4 May

70 32:14.01 Irina Permitina RUS 3 Feb 68 Kazan 17 Jul

85 32:26.91 Saadia Bourgailh-Haddioui FRA 1 Jan 72 Saint-Maur 6 Jun

90 32:29.52 Alina Gherasim ROU 10 Nov 71 Istanbul 12 Apr

96 32:31.45 Kirsten Melkevik Otterbu NOR 29 May 70 Roskilde 25 May

103 32:37.64 Harumi Hiroyama JPN 2 Sep 68 Kawasaki 27 Jun

116 32:53.74 Dorota Gruca POL 5 Dec 70 Ostrava 12 Jun

129 33:07.49 Helena Javornik SLO 26 Mar 66 Istanbul
12 Apr

141 33:16.61 Tetyana Mezentseva UKR 17 Jan 72 Istanbul
12 Apr

171 33:27.09 Tomoko Yamaguchi JPN 14 Feb 72 Kushiro 16 Jul

178 33:29.1h Edith Masai KEN 4 Apr 67 Nairobi 27 Jun

180 33:29.6h Catherine Ndereba KEN 21 Jul 72 Nairobi 27 Jun

198 33:38.60 Elva Dryer USA 26 Sep 71 Eugene OR 27 Jun

215 33:48.09 Liza Hunter-Galvan NZL 25 Jun 69 Walnut CA 18 Apr

233 33:56.04 Gloria Marconi ITA 31 Mar 68 Rubiera 11 May

306 34:31.05 Lilian Magnusson SWE 18 Oct 68 Helsinki 29 Aug

313 34:34.43 Jo Wilkinson GBR 2 May 73 Watford 14 Jun

358 34:50.89 Márcia Narloch BRA 28 Mar 69 Rio de Janeiro 4 Apr

359 34:51.59 Maria Baldaia BRA 29 Aug 72 São Paulo 25 Jun

360 34:52.04 Nadir de Siqueira BRA 4 Sep 70 São Paulo 8 Jun

362 34:52.28 Jaana Niemelä FIN 1 Jun 72 Helsinki 29 Aug

372 34:55.84 Caroline Hoyte GBR 30 Jun 70 Watford 14 Jun

392 35:08.6h Lucilla Andreucci ITA 19 Dec 69 Roma 10 May

393 35:08.7h Carmen Siewert GER 10 Jan 72 Güstrow 31 May

Youngest athlete (17) on this list:

270 34:15.66 Zhang Jingxia CHN 15 Jul 91 Luohe 14 Sep

Masters on Men's 10,000m World List for 2008

N=941

List threshold=30:29.69

3 26:51.20 Haile Gebrselassie ETH 18 Apr 73 Hengelo 24 May

222 28:41.90 Masatoshi Ibata JPN 20 Aug 72 Kobe 26 Apr

227 28:43.41 Hiroshi Yamada JPN 26 Aug 68 Shibetsu 8 Jun

268 28:51.59 Tsuyoshi Ogata JPN 11 May 73 Miyoshi 17 May

274 28:53.04 Hendrick Ramaala RSA 2 Feb 72 Stellenbosch 14 Mar

331 29:04.63 Mostafa Errebbah ITA 1 Aug 71 Valsugana 12 Jul

361 29:09.65 Erik Sjöqvist SWE 4 Dec 72 Västerås 1 Aug

476 29:27.47 Ian Hudspith GBR 23 Sep 70 Watford 14 Jun

554 29:37.93 Jesús de la Fuente ESP 9 Sep 70 Vigo 12 Jul

568 29:38.85 Vital Gahungu BDI 69 Jambes 2 Jul

613 29:45.04 Kenjiro Jitsui JPN 16 Dec 68 Kumagaya 17 May

621 29:45.57 Guy Fays BEL 15 Sep 69 Jambes 2 Jul

631 29:46.30 Makoto Ogura JPN 18 Dec 72 Amagasaki 16 May

642 29:47.77 Adrian Marriott GBR 24 Sep 72 Watford 14 Jun

727 29:56.51 Phil Costley NZL 16 Mar 70 Inglewood 26 Jan

765 30:00.39 Brian Livingston AUS 16 Feb 73 Walnut CA 17 Apr

769 30:00.62 Stefan Van Broek BEL 16 Sep 72 Jambes 2 Jul

793 30:06.62 Azat Rakipau BLR 29 Nov 68 Grodno 8 Jul

832 30:14.16 Róbert Štefko CZE 28 May 68 Tábor 4 Jul

878 30:21.65 Edo Baart NED 16 Apr 68 Neerpelt
31 May

929 30:28.3h Giorgio Calcaterra ITA 11 Feb 72 Roma
10 May

Youngest athlete (17) on this list:

448 29:24.44 Tai Yunlong CHN 11 May 91 Luohe 14 Sep

Posted by Ken Stone at 12:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Here's more proof that when you seek, you shall find. Roger Ruth has identified two dozen men and women over 35 on the open world lists at 100 meters. "As I wrote in the initial post of this series," Roger says, "the procedure is to sort Mirko Jalava's World Deep Lists for each event by age of birth, from 1973 and backward from there, to identify all athletes on the list of masters age levels (35 and older)."

Roger continues:

In summarizing the lists, I've bold-faced the data for the oldest on the list, and also have noted the youngest athlete on the world list in each event.

As I wrote in the initial post of this series, the procedure is to sort Mirko Jalava's World Deep Lists for each event by age of birth, from 1973 and backward from there, to identify all athletes on the list of masters age levels (35 and older). In
summarizing the lists, I've bold-faced the data for the oldest on the list, and also have noted the youngest athlete on the world list in each event.

After satisfying my curiosity about effectiveness of master's athletes in the pole vault, the next question that emerged was of how well older competitors do in speed events, especially in the 100 meters.

Probably no older athlete has received as much notice in the women's event as Merlene Ottey. I wondered whether she was the oldest on the world list. Then, I wondered whether any male athlete of Ottey's age was running effectively in this event. Here's what I found:

Masters on Women's 100m World List

N=1388

List threshold=12.10

19 11.06 Chandra Sturrup BAH 12 Sep 71 Luzern 16 Jul

29 11.13 Chryste Gaines USA 14 Sep 70 Clermont FL 14 Jun

80 11.32 Irina Privalova RUS 22 Nov 68 Moskva 10 Jul

109 11.37 Bettina Müller-Weissina AUT 12 Jul 73 Kapfenberg 19 Jul

223 11.53 Jiang Lan CHN 22 Jan 69 Beijing 23 May

227 11.53 Irina Khabarova RUS 18 Mar 66 Kazan 17 Jul

237 11.54A Luciana dos Santos BRA 10 Feb 70 Cochabamba 31 May

304 11.60 Merlene Ottey SLO 10 May 60 Maribor
11 Jul

320 11.61A Mirtha Brock COL 9 Apr 70 Cali
4 Jul

355 11.65 Donna Fraser GBR 7 Nov 72 Biberach 28 Jun

429 11.71 Natallia Safronnikava BLR 28 Feb 73 Brest 31 May

532 11.76 Larisa Kruglova RUS 27 Oct 72 Moskva 21 Jun

744 11.87A Winnet Dube ZIM 10 May 72 Calgary 15 Jun

883 11.93 Poonam Tomar IND 15 May 70 Madurai 15 Jun

902 11.94 Patricia Girard FRA 8 Apr 68 Genève 31 May

1314 12.08 Yvette Henry GBR 8 Jun 73 London 10 May

Masters on Men's 100m World List

N=2623

List threshold=10.90

888 10.61 Derrick Archie USA 8 Jul 72 Rock Hill SC 28 Mar

1047 10.64 Micky Bar-Yeoshua ISR 14 Jul 71 Tel Aviv 17 May

1286 10.69 Henrik Olausson SWE 2 Apr 73 Västerås 3
Aug

1324 10.70A Ricardo Itacaramby BRA 1 Apr 68 Cochabamba 31 May

1580 10.75A Luis Vega COL 14 Jan 73 Provo UT 24 May

1694 10.77 Andrew Mensah GBR 30 Nov 71 Oordegem 26 Jul

1845 10.80 Willie Gault USA 5 Sep 60
Eagle Rock CA 10 May

2049 10.83 Florian Gamper GER 6 Aug 72 Weinheim 24 May

2341 10.87 Arben Makaj ALB 16 Jun 67 Donnas 1 Jun

2463 10.89 Dion Wharry USA 9 Nov 67 Fort Collins CO 29 Mar

So Ottey is the oldest on the women's list, but only four months older than Gault on the men's list. Masters women, though, rank far higher than the men on this speed event. What else would be of interest: power, endurance? Maybe the next posting should be a weight event.

Posted by Ken Stone at 2:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Only men's marks have been posted so far, but the USATF site now lists these results from the Sept. 6 USATF National Masters Ultraweight Pentathlon Championships in Seattle. Only three women were entered, so results for them shouldn't be too far behind. Thanks go to Andy Martin of USATF for reformatting the results and getting them posted just hours after receiving the results from George Mathews, who won the M65 age group with 5179 points.

Posted by Ken Stone at 2:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Roger Ruth of Victoria, Canada, was the pioneer masters vaulter -- setting world age-group records in his 40s back in the early 1970s. He went 4.60 (15-1) at age 44 in an era when the world open record was about 18-2. He's now 80, and retired from jumping. But he's still a force to be reckoned with -- as one of the world's best vault statisticians and historians. In recent years, he's maintained extensive women's record lists by country. And yesterday he announced a major new project: Checking for masters (35 and over) on existing open track lists. This is long overdue. Roger may reveal buried treasure -- and marks that deserve WR recognition by World Masters Athletics.

Under the heading "Masters Athletes on World Lists," here's what Roger posted on the T-and-F Mailing List:

This project began, simply enough, with Derek Miles' 5.85 vault at the Brandenburg Gate competition, just one centimeter short of Jeff Hartwig's world masters (age 35-39) record, which led me to wonder how many other masters-age vaulters there were of world-competition quality in this outdoor season. Mirko Jalava's site seemed the best source for this information, since his World Deep Lists are far deeper and more informative than any others I've found.

As it turned out, there were 15 vaulters age 35 or greater on the day of their seasonal bests. I was also able to find the age of the oldest masters vaulter on the list (43), and because it was relatively easy to do, the age of the youngest vaulter to make the list (15).

That, of course, raised questions for me about the number of women vaulters of masters age who qualified for the deep list, so I had to check out the comparison there. Then, a next question was how well masters did in sheer-speed events, so the process of checking ages on Mirko's lists was repeated for the 100 meters -- beginning with the
women, to ask whether Merlene Ottey was the oldest on the list, then turning to the men, to find the oldest there.

In short, there is no "short." One question follows another and I've so far done the masters-competitor summaries for men and women in one of each major event categories; jumps, sprints, middle distance, distance, weights, and hurdles. I think you'll find something of interest in each, and having Mirko's permission to post these and
others, I'll continue to work on this for awhile. It takes me about one day's computer time for each event, so I'll send them at about that rate for as long as I can stay with it.

A note about procedures: From Mirko's full list of a given event, I used the "find" function to search for athletes with a given birth year, beginning with 1973, 1972, etc., and copy-pasted those to a Word document.

For those born in l973 only, I checked their birth date against the date of the meet when they accomplished their seasonal best to assure that they were "masters" on the date that qualified for the list, discarding the names of those who have not yet reached 35.

(There is some chance of error in this, since the athlete might have reached a qualifying mark, although less than the seasonal best, after his birthday.) Mirko has another set of "performance" lists that might correct this error, but it would have taken quite a lot more time to check these additional data. Perhaps some reader might like to undertake this and correct any errors in my summaries.

I then sorted the masters list by world rankings. For each athlete, I've included world ranking, performance, name, country, birth date, place meet was held, and date. Mirko's lists also usually include name of the meet and placing. You'll note that I've bold-faced the line of information about the oldest athlete on the list for each event.

For starters, here are those lists of masters vaulters:

Masters on Men's Pole Vault World List

N=853

List threshold=4.80m

4 5.85 Derek Miles USA 28 Sep 72 Berlin 7 Sep

13 5.75 Tim Lobinger GER 3 Sep 72 Nürnberg 5 Jul

18 5.71 Tim Mack USA 15 Sep 72 Van Nuys CA 1 Jun

29 5.70 Jeff Hartwig USA 25 Sep 67 Eugene OR 29 Jun

154 5.32 Laurens Looije NED 12 Jan 73 Amsterdam 6 Jul

279 5.20 Ilian Efremov BUL 2 Aug 70 Sofia 14 Jun

281 5.20 Nick Buckfield GBR 5 Jun 73 Leiden 14 Jun

334 5.10 Andrei Fedotov MDA 9 Nov 68 Chisinau 31 May

440 5.05 Grigoriy Yegorov KAZ 12 Jan 67 Castellón 21 Jun

499 5.00 Maurilio Mariani ITA 22 Apr 73 Firenze 27 Jun

527 4.95A Riaan Botha RSA 8 Nov 70 Pretoria 2 Feb

581 4.90 Valdemir Silva BRA 18 Mar 71 São Paulo 26 Mar

617 4.90 Giacomo Befani ITA 8 Jan 70 Terni 1 May

657 4.90 François Thénault FRA 4 May 72 Ottawa 22 Jun

823 4.80 Francisco Hernández ESP 15 Dec 64 Pamplona
28 Jun

Youngest athlete (15) on this list:

798 4.80 Jin Min-Sup KOR 2 Sep 92 Daegu 4 Jun

Masters on Women's Pole Vault World List

N=797

List threshold=3.60m

10 4.70 Stacy Dragila USA 25 Mar 71 Chula Vista CA 22 Jun

242 4.00 Doris Auer AUT 10 May 71 Regensburg 8 Jun

405 3.81 Sandra van der Geer NED 25 May 72 Amsterdam 5 Jul

451 3.80 Béatrice Denis FRA 18 Jun 72 Amiens 18 Jun

470 3.80 Petra Pechstein SUI 26 Jul 71 Fribourg 2 Aug

714 3.60 Irie Hill GBR 16 Jan 69 Melbourne 9 Mar

Posted by Ken Stone at 12:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The guy did it. Took him two more races than the 20 he first envisioned, but on the last day of summer David O'Meara of Sarasota ran his 20th mile in under 5 minutes. Results of this morning's Fifth Avenue Mile in New York show that David ran 4:51. (Here's the results page.) But David's feat was overshadowed by a couple gents more that twice David's 45 years. "In the most talked-about race of the day," the site reported, "teammates and fellow age-group runners Bob Matteson, 92, of the Greater New York Racing Team and Abe Weintraub, 98, amazed the spectators on Fifth Avenue once again. Matteson finished in 12:21 and Weintraub, the most senior runner in the race, broke the tape in 22:10."

David took fifth in the M45 age group. First was national champion Conor O'Driscoll of Rye, New York, who clocked 4:36 at age 47. The top M40 runner was Kevin Forde of Philadelphia, with a stunning 4:17 at age 44.

The oldest sub-5 runner?

That would be Paul Mascali of Manhasset, New York, who won the M55 age group with a 4:59 at age 56. That's impressive.

Here's Abe Weintraub, 98, smiling at the finish:

Posted by Ken Stone at 10:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hurricane Ike left the house a week ago, but many residents of Houston and parts north are just getting their power back and lives in order. Our masters track friends there are totaling up their losses, but keeping their sense of humor. One is Doug "Bubba" Sparks, an M55 pole vaulter from The Woodlands, north of Houston. Bubba wrote several days ago: "Our vault facility took a hit . . . even though the coaches did one heck of a job strapping down the pits. One front bun got the case ripped right off of it though the pit never moved. The rollout runway we got from Ron Morris at OnTrack was twisted like a red vine licorice piece. Both pits looked like swimming pools."

Here's Bubba's original note to friends:

"We're all right with no property damage. MANY weren't so lucky. I've gotten lots of calls and emails from people and it's been very frustrating to see and hear yet not be able to respond.

After four days of no phones or power, we finally got electricity about an hour ago. In the area well over 2 million people lost power so the cellular network became useless as everyone reverted to that. Oh, I could get your emails and texts but my responses would be bounced.

To simply check my voice mail for my home and cell phone took 30-50 attempts in immediate succession before a call might happen to go through. If I did get someone on the phone it was garbled before unexpectedly dropping. OK, enough of that. Keep your prayers with those less fortunate.

PART TWO

Our vault facility took a hit too even though the coaches did one heck of a job strapping down the pits. One front bun got the case ripped right off of it though the pit never moved. The rollout runway we got from Ron Morris at OnTrack was twisted like a red vine licorice piece. Both pits looked like swimming pools.

Thank goodness they also put the standards away before the storm. I went home to change to work on the clean up, only to return and see that in those 30 minutes that Coach Green had the cross country studs do it before I got back. I did a very short jump session for quality control.

School is closed until Monday and I have been asked not to hold practices during that time so our Tuesday practice and Saturday meet is off. I'm sure everyone understands. So, see you locals next week and for the rest of you, thanks for thinking of us. Hope to see you all soon.

We have all been affected in some way by the storm here. I have gone through most of the big storms as a native Texan during my life time. However, this one has been quite devasting to our community.

As most of you have seen on the news, this one has spread quite a bit of damage over a wide area. I had some damage to my home, lost all the trees in my yard, one missing my bedroom by about ten feet, and just heard today that my area is not expected to have electricity for a number of weeks.

I can still communicate wirelessly, and I am fortunate to have a backup generator to run a few hours a day. We are blessed not to have been physically injured and pray for those who have suffered worse. Thanks for all the concern and prayers.

Posted by Ken Stone at 4:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Brian Sumpter of the Lake County Record-Bee south of Sacramento knows something that USATF doesn't -- that local thrower Mike Curry tied a national record a couple weekends ago. Brian's story reports: "Competing in the age 40-44 division of the ultraweight pentathlon, Curry threw the 56-pound weight (also known as the superweight) 8.86 meters (29-1), tying the national record he set earlier this season. The ultraweight pentathlon includes weight throws of 35, 56, 100, 200 and 300 pounds." Meanwhile, results of the meet Sept. 6 at West Seattle Stadium in Seattle are still AWOL. That's 13 days and counting. Sheesh. But you know me. I always give Indy a break. I won't complain until it's been a month. Then I'll say: "Pretty please, with a cherry on top?"

Anyway, here's the story on Marvelous Mike:

Curry equals national record in 56-pound weight throw
By Brian Sumpter -- Record-Bee sports editor
Article Last Updated: 09/17/2008 10:59:26 PM PDT

SEATTLE -- Former Clear Lake High School star Mike Curry of Elk Grove tied his own national record in the 56-pound weight throw during the 2008 USA Masters Weight and Superweight Championships on Sept. 5 at West Seattle Stadium in Seattle.

Competing in the age 40-44 division of the ultraweight pentathlon, Curry threw the 56-pound weight (also known as the superweight) 8.86 meters, tying the national record he set earlier this season. The ultraweight pentathlon includes weight throws of 35, 56, 100, 200 and 300 pounds.

Curry wasn't planning on participating in the ultraweight pentathlon after winning the single-event 56-pound throw earlier in the competition. His toss of 8.66 meters beat out his primary rival, David Bickel, who was second with 8.56 meters.

"We're now recognized as being the new great rivalry in Masters track and field," Curry said of his rivalry with Bickel in both the 35- and 56-pound weight throws. "I wasn't going to compete in the pentathlon after beating him in the superweight throw, but when I saw that he had signed up for the pentathlon, there was no way I wasn't going to," Curry said.

Curry pulled out of the pentathlon after his throw in the 56-pound weight topped the field. He said he wanted no part of the 100-, 200- and 300-pound weight throws. "I played around a little bit with the 100-pound weight," Curry said. "That was enough."

In the single-event 35-pound weight throw, Bickel bested Curry with a national-record toss of 14.18 meters. Curry almost matched him, clearing 14.17 meters with his final throw.

"That was one hell of a competition," Curry said. "I came up one centimeter short."

The USA Masters Weight and Superweight Championships represented the last big competition for Curry this season.

"Everyone is kind of tired by this point," Curry said. "I'm going to take two weeks off and the return in October with some light stuff," he added of his future workout schedule. "It's been a good year."

Posted by Ken Stone at 3:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Faced with the possible loss of all 15 of its delegate votes at the USATF national convention in Reno, the San Diego-Imperial USATF Association voted unanimously last night to adopt an amendment to its bylaws. The amendment sets up a grievance procedure that all 57 associations have to approve by October 15. About two dozen San Diego-area members showed up for the association's annual elections meeting, held at Road Runner Sports. Unopposed for office were Jay Beltz, elected president after 14 months as acting president in the wake of Mike Rouse's resignation; incumbent Vice President Arnie Robinson, the 1976 Olympic long jump champ; incumbent Treasurer Lolitia "Lish" Bache; and her son, Tom, as secretary.

The grievance procedure vote came after no serious discussion, since everyone knew the consequences for rejecting it. USATF's Andy Martin had written all associations that failure to adopt the procedure by October 15 could lead to the association's accreditation being modified -- and that meant anything from loss of voting status at the annual meeting to shutdown, with the association being merged with a neighboring association.

Even without debate, San Diegan Graeme Shirley, the longtime policy wonk and association masters chairman, was prepared to push for the amendment. After the meeting, he shared his reasoning. He told me:

1. Indiana-based USATF counsel Lamont Jones can't give legal advice to folks outside his state. So USATF is handicapped in how it can help local associations deal with local grievances.

2. Now that grievance procedures are spelled out (in excruciating detail), USATF associations finally have a handle on what to do. Associations "haven't had guidance before," Graeme said. "Things will run much smoother at our level because we know what to do." In fact, he says, Indy has "empowered us, and given us instructions."

3. The new system will speed resolution of grievances since it removes the labor-intensive process of back-and-forth faxes between an inundated national office and the local associations. Graeme cited one example in San Diego-Imperial, where a simple grievance by a lady athlete (challenging a decision on her ability to transfer to a club outside San Diego-Imperial USATF) toopk 30 or 40 hours of staff time.

4. Under the old system, Indy was placed in the position of being a referee (between the aggrieved athlete and his/her association) and potentially a judge (to decide between the athlete and the association). That's an untenable conflict of interest, Graeme said. He asked me a USATF officiating question: "Why isn't the (meet) referee on the Jury of Appeals?" It's because a referee would be forced to rule on his own ruling -- an obvious conflict of interest. Graeme says Indy has been in this position as well.

Other newsy news out of last night's San Diego meeting:

New USATF CEO Doug Logan will be visiting San Diego, probably Nov. 6 and probably in a small reception. (In other words, not every association member will get an invite.) That's a little unfair, given the fact Doug is traveling to Foster City next week to appear at the USATF Pacific Association annual meeting. With no restrictions on membership attendance.

Willie Banks, the men's track and field chairman of SDI USATF, says he hopes to raise money from a Los Angeles foundation to put on more open meets in San Diego. Open meets means masters, too. Willie didn't specify the foundation, but I took it to mean the LA84 Foundation, founded from profits of the Olympic Games.

Willie had a bad day at the L.A. Games that year, taking sixth in the triple jump. But he's going for their gold again and has a good chance at bringing home the dough.

Lish Bache promised that the association's minutes would be put online -- after 19 months of nothing posted to its Web site.

Below are some shots I took last night.

I'm sure Jay Beltz (below) didn't choose his backdrop last night, but the store set up folding chairs and table facing the sports bras display. At bottom are Arnie Robinson (left), who survived a near-fatal car crash eight years ago, and Willie Banks, the former triple jump world record holder who lives in North San Diego County.

Posted by Ken Stone at 1:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

One mile to go for David O'Meara of Sarasota, Fla.

David O'Meara, who set a goal of running 20 straight sub-5 miles at age 45 last spring, has fallen short -- thanks to miserable weather. According to his stats page and latest race report Monday, he clocked sub-5s on road miles 17 consecutive times before running a 5:01 on Sept. 7 in Duluth and a 5:04 on Sept. 14 in Falmouth, Massachusetts. So he's revised his goal to running 20 sub-5s overall in summer 2008. He added the Sprint with Judy Mile this past Sunday in Woodstock, Connecticut, and the Fifth Avenue Mile this Sunday in New York City. Here's my original interview with David.

David wrote of Race No. 19 in Connecticut:

It is Race #19 on the 20/20/20<5@45 schedule after I failed to make the 5 minute cutoff in Falmouth, MA. Sideways rain, strong headwinds, and water over my ankles in the last quarter should have told me not to run in the event and just save my body from the race pounding.

However, since I had traveled all that way I decided to give the Main Street Mile a shot, but by the half-mile point, I knew there was no chance of breaking five minutes in those crazy conditions (no one did). So I chose to bounce back on Tuesday evening, with the "Sprint With Judy."

The "Sprint With Judy" One Mile Road Race took place in Woodstock, CT, just over the MA border. I was looking to run one more event in MA , but mile events were not available and this was close enough (as my Mom and Dad grew up in nearby Webster and Dudley, MA).

Judy Nilan was a social worker at the Woodstock Middle School. The school and staff that loved her so much started a 5K road race in her honor in 2006 called "Jog With Judy." I ran in the auxiliary portion of the fund raiser entitled, "Sprint With Judy."

Instead of the 5K road race, the "Sprint With Judy" takes place on one Judy's favorite running roads, but it is a mile. So instead of a jog, it is a sprint. In 2009, the organizers will make the "Sprint With Judy" a part of the 5K festivities every May. I have been invited to not only race again in Woodstock next year, but also to speak to the Woodstock school system. It should be a great time!

Posted by Ken Stone at 12:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Doug Logan parries queries on masters doping, records, budget.

Doug Logan, the spunky new CEO of USA Track & Field, has been making news of late with his commentary on doping and other issues. Last week, he announced on his blog he would create an "Operating Audit Panel" to review USATF's elite operations, since the U.S. performance at Beijing was "mixed" and only a fraction of Americans had season bests at the Games. And our 4x1 relays stunk. But what really caught my eye was Logan noting that USATF's "first purpose and duty" is: "Developing interest in and participation in Athletics in the United States at all levels and developing the highest possible performance level for the United States in international competition." Wow! Does that include masters track? So I sent Doug a questionnaire (as I promised two months ago), and today he responded.

Five days after being sent this questionnaire, Doug replied. This appears to be the first time since his July 17 start that he's publicly addressed masters issues. (He doesn't even use the word "masters" in his first seven blog posts.) And the transcript of his first teleconference doesn't include the word "masters" either.)

But now he's uttered the M-word close to 20 times! Progress!

Jill Geer, USATF's press chief, emailed Doug's responses to me this morning. Here's our Q&A:

Masterstrack.com: Your Sept. 11 blog quotes USATF bylaws, including one that states as a goal: "Developing interest in and participation in Athletics in the United States at all levels." What is USATF's role in growing masters track and field?

Doug Logan: That is one of the questions I am working to have answered as I fully evaluate all of USATF's programs. NGBs are not charged with overseeing masters competition by the Amateur Sports Act, but clearly there is an important place in our sport for athletes over 40 - even for a shuffler like me.

You also cite Section A.3, which states a USATF mission: "Fielding the most competent United States individuals and teams for international competition in Athletics and providing support and conditions for athletes at all levels of the sport which ensure optimal performance." Does this include fielding teams for world masters competitions? If so, how can USATF help?

My answer to question 1 applies here as well. In my first few months I'm gathering as much information, feedback and input as I can about all levels of our sport and organization.

Despite masters being a large share of USATF, the budget of USATF Masters Track & Field is a relative pittance -- $85,000 this year. (Note: USATF's contribution to this figure is just $39,500) Does this figure do justice to the revenues masters pay in membership fees? If not, how much should USATF Masters T&F get?

It is far too soon for me to answer this question, as reflected in my answers above. Trust that I am going over our entire budget with a keen eye to uncover where and how we spend our money, and how we can do that more effectively.

You have been aggressive in vowing to fight doping in track and field. But masters track has had a longstanding policy against drug-testing, due to its expense. Do you agree with this policy of no drug-testing at USATF masters nationals? If not, who would pay for such testing?

I have focused to date on anti-doping efforts on the elite level, but my gut tells me that the issue is far different in masters track. I am not familiar enough with the masters anti-doping issue to speak definitively, but I don't think expense would be the only issue, even though each test costs about $500.

Every American over a certain age understands that for most people, medications become part of everyday life. Given how comprehensive the current testing menu is, it seems there are potential issues of resolving medical necessity and drug-testing realities.

Having a spate of highly publicized "positives" for, for instance, an athlete using an anti-balding medication wouldn't do any good for the sport of track or masters in particular. But of course you don't want performances achieved through cheating, either.

The USATF Foundation has made many grants to elite athletes and clubs and youth clubs, but not one to a masters athlete or group. In fact, the Foundation's Web site includes applications for elite and youth. But none for masters. Is this fair? What can be done to encourage the USATF Foundation to help masters as well?

The USATF Foundation is its own organization, separate from USA Track & Field, which has been instrumental in developing some of our elite athletes. Stephanie Brown Trafton spoke openly about how the grant she received from the Foundation was important for her preparations for the Olympics and helped her become our first women's discus gold medalist since 1932.

As described on its web site (http://www.usatffoundation.org/) , the Foundation puts "an emphasis on providing opportunities for youth athletes, emerging athletes and anti-doping education." That is a choice they have made as they focus on development of the sport on the elite level. I cannot speak to their priorities and why and how they developed them, but they are an open-minded group who care passionately about the sport. I'm sure they would welcome input on the topic.

Recent presidents of USATF have attended masters nationals. But CEO Craig Masback did not. Will you commit to attending a USATF Masters outdoor or indoor national track and field championship early in your tenure?

My travel schedule is a continuously evolving animal. I am in the process of meeting with as many groups as I can. Whether I make it to a masters championship earlier or later in my tenure will be something that will reveal itself as this amazing ride continues.

USATF Masters T&F is losing a voice on the USATF Board of Directors as a result of USOC-mandated restructuring. Without a seat on the board, how will masters T&F be assured fair treatment within the organization?

This topic is a concern to many, if not all, constituencies within USATF. It is not unique to masters. Everyone who cares about our sport should be excited to know that the new board will be composed of highly principled, professional and passionate people whose #1 concern is doing the right thing for the sport. This organization has suffered from a balkanization of interest groups. We need to work together as a whole. What is good for the whole is good for our constituencies.

In recent weeks, many athletes have complained that the site of the 2009 masters outdoor T&F nationals in Florida is not up to standards. An online petition protests its selection:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/noclermont2009/ ; In fact, a contract still hasn't been signed between the LOC and USATF. Would you support USATF looking for a new 2009 host?

Again, it is too early for me to comment about a topic I'm simply not familiar enough with at this point. I am told it is not unusual to be without a signed contract this far out. There has been precedent in the last 5 years for a championship site to move even the year that it is scheduled to be held, but I have no idea if this would be the case for the 2009 masters championships.

USATF's press operation and Web site do a great job publicizing elite and youth accomplishments. But the "News & Notes" distributions have overlooked many masters track accomplishments, even after being notified expeditiously of such feats. What can you do to improve Indy's coverage of masters track and field?

Every year, our Communications Department submits a report that breaks down coverage of our three main competitive groups: elite, junior/youth and masters. In recent years, masters have been covered in roughly 10 percent of our Athlete of the Week press releases, as well as other releases as News & Notes items promoting masters.

Masters also have pages devoted to them in each issue of Fast Forward. I'm sure there are some people who would say that's not enough and others who would say it's too much. It all depends on your perspective.

USATF officials have their own, independent Web site at http://www.usatfofficials.com/ ; Do you support the USATF Masters T&F Committee's pursuit of its own separate Web site, which like the officials' would not be based at usatf.org? If not, why not?

I am not the arbiter of web site policies for USATF -- that's way above my pay grade. Not to sound like a broken record, but these are the kinds of conflicts and political battles that I am learning about.

In recent years, many voices in U.S. masters track, including former national chair George Mathews, have called for a divorce from USATF. Would you be willing to let USATF Masters T&F split off and become its own governing body? If not, why not?

Here I will definitely be a broken record when I say these are the kinds of conflicts and political battles that I am learning about.

U.S. masters T&F records are a shambles, and my blog has documented many omissions and mistakes in USATF masters indoor and outdoor age-group records. What can your office do to correct this?

I've been told that keeping masters records has always been a struggle on the local, national and international levels. I'm told it's about submitting paperwork, verifying marks and trying to make sense of millions of people competing all over the globe on any given weekend within the masters age group.

I understand that Masters Track & Field and the Masters Long Distance Running groups have their own record-keeping practices and I would encourage everyone to work together, rather than against each other, to resolve omissions or mistakes.

And a final question: What role does masters track play in USATF?

Masters athletes are a vibrant part of what our sport is. Even though I don't compete, I'm an example of that. One of the great things about track and field is that there is a place for everyone. Where masters, youth, elites, as well as coaches, officials, volunteers and everyone else fits in with our governance and strategic goals will take much clearer shape as our restructuring continues.

At some point, however, he'll have to take a stand on masters-related issues that are under his authority. Not sure when that will be. But I'll keep reminding him.

At the very least, my questions form a brief tutorial in masters track concerns. Although he promised to be a "huge sponge" in his early months at CEO, there's no guarantee that he'd become aware of some of these issues.

Now he's on record as having noted them.

On July 20, I posted a poll that asked: Will new USATF CEO Doug Logan be good for masters track? So far, 14 of 16 respondents answered: "Who knows?"

We still don't know. But now he knows us.

Posted by Ken Stone at 10:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

The U.S. Olympic Committee isn't the only entity making demands these days. USATF's national office in Indianapolis has sent its 57 member associations a letter insisting that they adopt new grievance procedures. And Indy isn't mincing words. They've set a drop-dead deadline of October 15, 2008 -- or else. The "or else" is vague but ominous: "Failure to (amend and submit your bylaws by this date) may result in your Association's accreditation level being modified," says this letter. Okey-dokey. The San Diego-Imperial Association of USATF will vote on the matter tomorrow at its annual elections meeting, for example.

So what brought this about?

Andy Martin, the USATF honcho who wrote the change-or-else letter, hasn't responded to email inquiries, so I did a little snooping in the bowels of usatf.org (which has no search engine, of course).

According to Regulations 11 and 15 of USATF's governance manual, member associations have to have grievance procedures in place that meet Indy's standards.

When it appeared that associations weren't getting their acts together, the USATF Board of Directors decided on a tough-love approach.

On February 23, 2007, the board passed and circulated a resolution that basically said: If you darn associations don't fix your grievance procedures, we'll file a grievance against YOU.

Here's the upshot of that 2007 resolution:

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Board authorizes the Associations Committee to bring grievance proceedings under Regulation 11-C to cause compliance with the Association grievance procedures in Regulation 15-A-1-b; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board authorizes the Associations Committee to pursue additional grievances under Regulation 11-C against offending Associations and individuals which have failed to process grievances in a timely manner if the Associations Committee reasonably believes that conduct giving rise to the unprocessed grievances constitutes conduct detrimental to the best interests of Athletics or USATF.

1. Local associations have been dragging their feet for years on "unprocessed grievances," and the Mother Ship's involvement was needed to fix the situation.

2. Local associations with dysfunctional government (like the infamous USATF Colorado Association I've written about) end up punting their grievances to the national office when the local folks are too messed up to resolve their own conflicts. Indy, being swamped with grievance crap, had to find a way to kick these conflicts back to the locals.

Under the new grievance procedures, which all associations are supposed to adopt as amendments to their bylaws, Indy is spared the heavy lifting of dealing with internal association politics and conflicts. But what if associations really are too screwed up to handle things themselves?

An appeals process is part of the new grievance procedures, but that might just return things to status quo.

Although I appreciate Indy's stance that local associations should sleep in their own beds, it's kind of scary that USATF -- a grass-roots, volunteer-based organization -- has to shove a procedure down the throats of the grass-roots folks.

One of my local-association sources wrote me:

You are exactly right in your assumption. This is a direct result of the Colorado grievance and where the Colorado Association sits and National sits right now -- in its inability to enforce regulations. National has never had governance over the associations. The process just had been never put to the test (until this grievance.)

From what I hear in the grapevine, there are other associations in the process of similar grievances against their own associations.

In my opinion, National is shifting the responsibility because National truly never had the responsibility or authority to enforce regulations. I believe the entire structure of USATF needs to be retooled.

National doesn't want to be bothered by all these different association grievances. They don't want to be involved in it and have mandated we amend our bylaws to beef up the associations' ability to handle grievances. Our own association had a grievance filed in 2006 . . . . We tried to get National involved in it for guidance and they failed to show much interest in helping. . . .

I believe the letter I got from National mandated this amendment. Should we not adopt the amendment that in no uncertain terms they suggested we would not be an accredited association with no votes at the National meeting in Reno.

As far a National making some changes, it is happening as we speak. The USOC is putting pressure for changes to put USATF more focused on Olympic competition and less on all our other activities like Masters, Youth, etc. At this upcoming annual meeting, we will see a decrease in committee board positions where the other constituencies will now have less power.

Proposed wording:

Amendment of September 17, 2008

Article XIV of the Association By-laws in its entirety shall be replaced by the following

Article /XIV

REDRESS OF GRIEVANCES

A grievance may be any matter within the cognizance of USATF San Diego/Imperial Association as described as follows:

A. Jurisdiction: This Association shall have jurisdiction over all disciplinary and formal grievance proceedings relating to matters that arise within the boundaries of the Association, except sexual misconduct allegations and doping violations which shall be under the jurisdiction of USATF. All penalties imposed by an Association shall be effective only within the jurisdiction of that Association.

B. Association Arbitration Panel: The following shall apply to the appointment and conduct of the Association Arbitration Panel (AAP):

1. Members: The Association Arbitration Panel shall consist of three (3) members - a chair, an at-large member, and an athlete member. There shall also be a first alternate, second alternate, and additional alternates who may be appointed from time to time when any of the three members of the AAP are not available. Members of the AAP shall not be members of the Association Board or Executive Committee.

2. Appointments: Appointments shall be made by the President with the approval of the Association Board. The appointments shall be duly reflected in the minutes of a properly convened Board meeting.

3. Terms: Terms shall commence on January 1 of each even-numbered year.

4. Removal: Members and alternates may be removed for good cause by majority vote of the Association's Board. Good cause may include, but is not limited to, the following:

a. Dilatory practices: A AAP member who causes or permits delays in the hearing process; and/or

b. Failure to follow procedures: An AAP member who disregards or fails to apply the hearing procedures or other provisions set forth in the Association Bylaws, Association Regulations, USATF Rules, USATF Bylaws, and/or USATF Regulations.

C. Grievances: A grievance may involve any matter, other than sexual misconduct and doping offenses, within the cognizance of USATF that occurs in the jurisdiction of this Association:

1. Grievance Complaints: A Grievance Complaint shall state the following:

a. Detrimental conduct: Conduct detrimental to the best interests of Athletics, USATF, USATF San Diego/Imperial Association has taken place; or

b. USATF violations: A violation of any of USATF's Bylaws or Operating Regulations and/or of a violation of any of USATF San Diego/Imperial Association Bylaws or Operating Regulations has occurred.

2. Parties: Grievance Complaints may be filed only by and against individuals or entities which were, at the time that the conduct complained of occurred, and at the time the Complaint is filed, members, directors, or officers of USATF or otherwise subject to the jurisdiction of USATF San Diego/Imperial Association. A non-member, former director, or former officer of USATF San Diego/Imperial Association shall be subject to the jurisdiction of USATF San Diego/Imperial Association for the purpose of defending against a Grievance Complaint for an incident that occurred while he or she was a member, a director, or officer of USATF San Diego/Imperial Association or otherwise subject to the jurisdiction of USATF San Diego/Imperial Association. A Grievance Complaint may only be filed by a person or entity affected by the issues raised in the complaint; and

3. Time limit: Grievance Complaints must be filed within one (1) year from the time the complaining party knew or should have known of the act giving rise to the Complaint.

D. Disciplinary matters: USATF San Diego/Imperial Association shall have the authority to discipline any member who, by neglect or by conduct, acts in a manner subject to discipline pursuant to Regulation below.

1. Activities subject to discipline: USATF San Diego/Imperial Association may discipline any member who, by neglect or by conduct:

a. Detrimental conduct: Acts in a manner detrimental to the purposes of USATF, USATF San Diego/Imperial Association, or Athletics;

b. USATF, IAAF, and Sports Act violations: Violates any of the Bylaws, Operating Regulations, or Competition Rules of USATF or the IAAF, or violates the Sports Act;

c. Eligibility violations: Violates the rules of eligibility for Athletics;

2. Time limit: Disciplinary proceedings must be requested within one (1) year from the time the complaining party knew or should have known of the issue giving rise to the request for a disciplinary hearing.

E. Rights of the persons or entities: In all matters subject to this Regulation, all parties shall be provided with fair notice and an opportunity for a hearing prior to the adjudication or imposition of any penalty by the Association or AAP. All parties::

1. Representation: May be represented in any disciplinary, grievance, or Association proceeding by a person(s) who may (but need not) be an attorney;

2. Right to appeal: May appeal any adverse decision in accordance with this Regulation;

3. Attendance at hearing: May be present at any hearing; and

4. Presenting and challenging evidence: Shall have the right to present evidence and witness testimony and to cross-examine witnesses testifying against him, her or it.

F. Initiation of proceedings: Formal grievances shall be initiated as follows:

1. Grievance complaint filing procedures:

a. Filing location: Complaints shall be filed with the Association President and Secretary. The Secretary shall forward a copy of the Complaint to the each party charged in the Complaint;

b. Language: All documents filed and exchanged with respect to this Regulation shall be in English; provided, however, that an original document that is in a foreign language must be submitted along with an English translation. The party submitting the document shall bear the cost of obtaining its translation which shall be conducted by a reputable translator or translation service. In the event of a challenge to the accuracy of a translated document, the panel chairperson may direct USATF to order a translation of the document(s) in question and may allocate the cost of the translation to any party or all parties, as the panel deems appropriate;

c. Basis for the Complaint: The Complaint shall allege clearly the nature of the dispute and, where appropriate, state the specific violation of the Bylaws, Operating Procedures, Competition Rules, or Policies of USATF, USATF San Diego/Imperial Association, or the IAAF;

d. Facts of allegation: Factual allegations shall be separately stated in concise language with one allegation set forth in each numbered paragraph of the Complaint;

e. Signature: The Complaint shall be signed by the person filing the Complaint,

f. Filing fees: A filing fee of One Hundred U.S. Dollars (US$100) must accompany an organization's complaint and a filing fee of Seventy-five U.S. Dollars (US$75) must be paid by individuals filing a Complaint. The filing fee must be in the form of a certified check or money order made payable to the Association;

2. Failure to comply with Complaint procedures: Complaints that fail to comply with the procedures outlined in this Regulation shall be returned to the filer with instructions explaining the deficiency. A returned Complaint may be re-filed within thirty (30) days of the initial filing. After thirty (30) days, the Complaint will be deemed abandoned;

3. Informal resolution of grievances: Upon receipt of a Grievance Complaint, the President or his/her designee shall make every effort to resolve the dispute through informal means. In disputes pertaining to a specific sport discipline, the President or his/her shall also confer with the chairperson of the sport committee for the discipline involved. All discussions related to the informal resolution of a complaint shall be confidential;

4. Formal resolution: If the informal resolution of the complaint is unsatisfactory to any party, or if a party declines to pursue informal resolution, the party may request that the complaint be resolved by a formal hearing before an AAP panel;

5. Hearing panel: When one party has indicated that the matter cannot be resolved informally, the President or his/her designee shall coordinate the selection of a three-person arbitration panel as detailed in Paragraph B of this regulation.

g. Notice of proceedings: Within thirty (30) days of the commencement of a formal grievance all interested parties and the hearing panel shall be sent the following by the Association Secretary:

1. Documents: A copy of the complaint or other documents giving rise to the proceeding, with any attachments;

2. AAP Members and Contact: The names of the hearing panel members and the address and telephone number of the panel's chairperson;

3. Association Bylaws: A copy of the text of this Regulation of the USATF San Diego/Imperial Association Bylaws and any other relevant USATF Rule or Regulation; and

4. Other relevant documents: A copy of any specifically identified document(s) related to the dispute.

h. Answer: The person(s) or entity(ies) named in a Complaint (respondent(s)) must submit a written answer to the Association Secretary within thirty (30) days after receipt of the letter notifying respondents that a proceeding has been filed ("Notice of Proceeding"). A copy of the Answer shall be forwarded by the Secretary to the complainant (the party filing the Complaint) and the AAP panel. The failure of respondent(s) to answer within thirty (30) days after the receipt of the Notice of Proceedings will be deemed a waiver by respondent of the opportunity to have a hearing or have an appeal of any adverse decision. Upon such failure, and after confirmation of the receipt of the Notice of Proceeding by all parties, the hearing panel may proceed in the absence of the re