Masters Track News and Muse

How about we change masters rules so your age group is determined by your birth year instead of your birth date? Think that's a stretch? Not according to the Germans, who have made that an official proposal at the General Assembly of World Masters Athletics in four weeks. That idea is among many being put up for a vote in San Sebastian, Spain. A complete GA agenda -- which includes officer reports and candidate bios -- is now online here and only here. Among other things, we learn from the WMA treasurer that the world body is nearly $50,000 in the red. Oh well. Better red than dead. I'm off to Hawaii now for masters nationals. Will try to post if possible.

Coming from Paradise (San Diego), I'm still amazed at THIS Paradise. Weather was in low 80s when I arrived this afternoon after a 5-hour flight. Good omen: I couldn't feel the bum-bump of my 767 landing -- it was that smooth. Checked in at the University of Hawaii dorm (after Jim and Lynn Naftel gave me a ride from the airport, thanks!) The dorm is circular -- like those iconic Tower Records stores. My room on the seventh floor has an open-air viewing area where Diamondhead is off in the distance. Gorgeous.

Some 800 athletes are competing at nationals here in Honolulu -- a dismal turnout compared with previous USATF masters meets. But from a visitor's perspective, the choice was brilliant. Folks who've had a chance to explore Honolulu, Waikiki and Pearl Harbor have been thrilled. This ain't Decatur, baby. A trip of a lifetime for me, fersure.

I viewed Honolulu from the top of Diamond Head and took a magical nighttime stroll on Waikiki Beach – but for me the most memorable sights on Oahu last weekend were a collection of great and gutsy athletes who competed at the USATF National Masters Outdoor Championships. Over four days at the University of Hawaii’s four-colored track and lush green fields, 800-plus athletes and dozens of heat-battling officials did their thing, dealing with their own personal hurdles. All are worth saluting.

As I suspected and feared, the logistics and expense of competing at San Sebastian (and maybe Edmonton and Honolulu) have put the kibbosh on American hopes for a presence at Helsinki and its masters exhibitions at the rainy-windy IAAF world meet. Tonight, while checking the qualifying meet in Lahti, Finland, I came across the entry list and the first day's results.

Jerry Wojcik, editor of National Masters News, has a routine at nationals. He collars athletes and basically asks: “How do you rate this meet?” He’s looking for a hook for his lead article in the next issue – a consensus on whether the event trended toward dream or disaster. Near the end of the weekend in Honolulu, Jerry gave me a hint: It was a mixed bag – good officiating with poor organization. My view? The meet was well worth attending – but disappointing on many levels.

The presidential election in World Masters Athletics isn't the only hotly contested race at the General Assembly this month in San Sebastian. Four men are vying for the No. 2 post in WMA -- executive vice president. The four are Ron Bell and Winston Thomas of Britain, Monty Hacker of South Africa, and Vadim Marshev of Russia. But an email exchange between Dieter Massin of Germany and Bell reflects some inside fighting over WMA's aim to deep-six the non-stadia world championships (mainly devoted to road runs). This might impact the election, since Bell is the VP for non-stadia under whose watch the 2004 Auckland Non-Stadia event was a disaster.

Even though it's called a track championships, the masters nationals at Hawaii also featured non-track-and-field events, including racewalks and an 8-kilometer (almost 5-mile) cross country race Sunday with 150 entrants. For at least one experienced runner, though, the event was a cruel joke. The runner sent me a list of particulars privately, and I asked permission to reproduce them. The runner then added an addendum (involving a reply from the registration site active.com), and I added that to the end of the list.

It was supposed to be a milestone in the masters movement -- age-group athletes performing on the world stage. Instead, it's a mirage. I'm having a heck of a time finding results for the "athletics through generations show" exhibition events at the IAAF world meet in Helsinki, which were to take place after today's marathon start.

Hans Röcken is an M65 thrower in Germany. Marin Garrigues, born in 1965, holds a French age-group record in the 60-meter hurdles. Cornell Stephenson of Los Angeles is a trainer loves to set M40 relay records. And Marianna Biskup of Poland is a masters jumper. What do these folks have in common? They have generously volunteered to be mentors, advisers and guidance-givers to their fellow masters athletes. They sent me their name and email address for inclusion on my international masters email directory.

Ask and you shall receive. Five days after masters competed in exhibition events at the IAAF world meet in Helsinki, I have the results. They came from the Lahden Ahkera club that put on the Lahti qualifying meet. The results cite an M50 world record in the javelin by Finnish great Jorma Markus, but his 70.33 (230-8 or so) is not as good as the listed M50 record on the WMA site of 70.71 by American Michael Brown this past April. Jorma holds several masters records, and has an all-time PR of 92.70 (over 304 feet) in 1969.

Don Norcross of The San Diego Union-Tribune produces a weekly section for page 2 of the Sports section called Fitness Fanatics. Over the years, he's profiled many local masters, including vaulter/sprinter Nadine O'Connor, runner Monica Joyce, sprinter Kettrell Berry and middle-distance man Simeon Baldwin. Today he did a great feature on another older pole vaulter/sprinter: Rita Hanscom. Check it out. Great photo, too.

It's possible. This coming Tuesday and Wednesday at the World Masters Athletic Championships in Spain, an American decathlete could put his event's M40 world record into outer space. Kip Janvrin, who competed in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and vied for a national open title this past June in Carson, turned 40 on July 8.

Hall of Famer Irene Obera, now 71 and looking to become the first W70 to break 15 seconds for the 100-meter dash, tells the San Mateo Times that after San Sebastian she's returning to retirement. (She competed at the Hawaii nationals this month after an injury break of several years.) I chatted with Irene in Hawaii, and she's as modest as she is dominating in her event. Maybe a renewed taste of sucess in Spain will persuade her to keep on trackin'.

USATF last year honored Gerry Lindgren for his legendary distance-running of the 1960s, electing him to the National Track & Field Hall of Fame. But fame doesn't equate to familiarity. For many years, he was simply missing. Gone to Hawaii and purposeful obscurity. Debates raged over his mythical mileage (350 a week for six weeks? Single runs of 88 miles?) But the man kept his peace. Now 59, he's come out with an autobiography, and this month at the USATF national masters meet in Honolulu he told me some incredible stories.

Everyone has a story. And every masters athlete is fodder for the local sports section, especially this year. With the WMA world meet starting today, a 43-year-old California mom and track coach got her moment in the sun -- in her local newspaper. Only problem with story: It suggested that the Hawaii masters nationals served as a qualifying meet for San Sebastian. Not true.) Anyhooooo, here's a nice write-up on Caren, who competes for SoCal Track Club.

Kip Janvrin is making mincemeat of his M40 competition in his first masters meet. After Day 1 of the decathlon -- a day in which he won all five events -- he leads with 4339 points. That's well on the way to erasing New Zealand's Simon Poelman's M40 world record of 8277, set in June 2004. On the female side, Hall of Famer Phil Raschker is leading the W55 heptathlon with 3471 points.

Reviews are trickling in. And the San Sebastian meet is getting some boffo ratings from the athletes. One friend wrote me: "There are 13 computers in the registration hall so I'm on one sending messages ... The main stadium is impressive; all final races will be there."

Forget Gerry Lindgren. Here's the REALLY cool stuff -- dozens of videos of masters tracksters (and some fieldsters) in action at the USATF masters nationals in Hawaii. (Plus an oldie from Eugene 2003.) Forgive the herky-jerky quality. I hope to upload better-quality video when I master some new software. The ones online now will be joined by a couple dozen more from Hawaii in coming days.

Pete Mundle is the god of masters track statisticians. Starting in the 1970s, this Southern California distance runner began documenting single-age records for nearly all ages -- grade-schoolers to geezers. After a while, his annual Masters Age Records booklets focused solely on athletes 35 and up. The booklet came out like clockwork -- until 2004. No Masters Age Records that year. Suddenly, a 2005 edition has arrived. Suzy Hess of National Masters News graciously sent me a copy.

George Mathews, the pride of Idaho hammer throwers, is off to a nice start at San Sebastian. Yesterday he won the M60 weight throw (20 pounds) with a consistent series topped by a toss of 19.84 meters -- 65-1 1/4. In his spare time, he's the chairman of the USATF Masters Track & Field Committee. I don't see Torsten Carlius of WMA taking a lane or grasping a spear. Nothing like getting your hands dirty in competition to gain an athlete's perspective. Nice work, George.

Jan Voigt, an M50 thrower entered at the current San Sebastian world masters meet, tested positive for illegal doping at the German masters nationals this year, according to a report by Annette's Seite, the German masters track source online. Apparently Voigt's unseemly improvement in the hammer drew suspicions of German track officials. And after he tested positive, he withdrew from the discus in the same meet. Voigt, 51, is among the top officials of German masters track. Voight did not compete in the M50 hammer in the world meet. He is listed as DNS -- did not start.

Cesare Beccalli of Italy defeated Stan Perkins of Australia today for the presidency of World Masters Athletics when the General Assembly of WMA voted 66 to 55 in favor of Beccalli, who also was president in the 1990s. Beccalli succeeds Torsten Carlius, who was term-limited out of office.

Not sure what to make of this. But the Eurovets Web site sez: "All of a sudden Torsten Carlius resigned! Three days before the General Assembly on Tuesday August 30 the acting WMA-President resigned. He published these news during the different Regional Assemblies on Saturday after having informed the WMA-Council Members." This might mean he didn't want a parliamentary battle over his wanting to hold two offices at the same time -- past president and secretary (which he was a candidate for at San Sebastian).

Why did Torsten Carlius resign his WMA presidential post three days before being term-limited out of office? Here's an explanation from fellow Swede Ivar Söderlind: "Torsten Carlius resigned because some 'expert' in WMA rules was of the opinion that he could not be WMA Secretary if he was President or Past President in WMA. I think that the expert was wrong. Now Torsten was elected WMA Secretary in the General Assembly after the Assembly first has decided that his nomination was OK."

New Orleans and other parts of the Gulf Coast are home to many masters track athletes, and their current ordeal is beyond belief. With the power out to many places, it's hard to make contact with these folks. But I was able to touch base with Robert Baker, an M60 decathlete who just returned from San Sebastian worlds. He has given me permission to post his heart-rending description of his plight, which includes the possible loss of his home.