Masters Track News and Muse

You can stop buying Bengay now. Eighteen months after a big flourish, in which USATF trumpeted a sponsorship by the makers of Bengay as a balm to USATF Masters Track & Field, Bengay has pulled the plug. Quit as USATF sponsor. (In one year, out the other.)

Buh-bye, Bengay. Greetings, Gleukos -- the new sponsor of the Masters Athlete of the Year award. So says a high-ranking USATF Masters source. The source, busy convening in Jacksonville, didn't have time to share details of the change, or why its name isn't atached to the award, as one might expect. But that should come out in the wash eventually.

USATF Masters Track and Field today named Nadine O'Connor as Masters Athlete of the Year (Female), joining previously named M65 decastar Emil Pawlik (Male Masters Athlete of the Year). Nadine set yet another W60 pole vault world record this season, won sprints at nationals and would be credited with a 200-meter world record if a wind gauge had been used at the USATF Western Regional Masters Championships this past summer. (Ironically, the host of that meet was the Southern California Association, which won USATF Association of the Year.)

The USATF annual meeting is over. Awards have been given and policies debated. Delegates and muckymucks have packed up in Jacksonville, Florida, and begun flying home. But for masters track athletes in the United States, two main questions linger: What's USATF gonna charge us now for annual membership, and what will it buy? Going into the annual meeting, a figure was privately bandied about: a $10 annual surcharge for masters track members of USATF. The idea was to raise $80,000 extra for our perpetually underfunded niche.

Competition is good. Last week we heard one choice for the top masters tracko -- M65 decathlete Emil Pawlik, chosen by USATF as Masters Athlete of the Year. Today we get another pick: M50 sprinter Bill Collins, named Geezerjock of the Year. Bill's credits include sweeping the 1, 2 and 4 at Hawaii masters nationals (although skipping a showdown at San Sebastian worlds, where old rival Dr. Stephen Peters of Britain swept the 1, 2 and 4 golds in M50).

Suzy Hess, vice chair of the USATF Masters T&F Committee, reports: "Don't know about the $10.00 dues increase yet as the decision was to be made Sunday afternoon at the USATF Executive Board Meeting after the closing session. Youth voted it down big time. Masters T&F voted for it, masters LDR against." A few hours later, USATF Prez Bill Roe wrote me: "No membership fees have been approved as yet by the Board. The topic will not be finalized until June for the 2007 membership year." So we still have time to chew this over, and get our licks in -- pro and con.

Track season is well behind us, and the IAAF Top Lists beckon. A treasure trove of marks, these seasonal rankings should be mined for masters records. Now that M35 is an official age group in World Masters Athletics, it behooves the powers that be to peruse said lists. In just one 10-second sweep of the men's high jump list, I found a potential M35 world record: Colombia's Gilmar Mayo, born Sept. 9, 1969, is credited with a jump of 2.26 (7-5) on August 20, 2005. That far exceeds the listed WMA record of 2.16 (7-1) by Russia's Viktor Bolshov in June 1974.

Olympic champ Dick Fosbury, an occasional masters jumper, is one of the latest donors of track memorabilia to the IAAF's Athletics for a Better World" drive, which will auction off celebrity gear to raise money for some United Nations charities, including UNICEF. Fosbury is donating a framed photo of himself from 1968. Big whoop. I can do him better.

Willie Banks of Southern California, the former world record holder in the triple jump, made a big splash at San Sebastian -- even after taking second in the M45 event to the German who holds the age-group record. Now I've stumbled across a photo gallery from worlds that has a ton of great shots of Willie and friends. Shots include Willie in flight, Willie on the podium, Willie posing with his competition. Great stuff. Congrats to photographer Lucio José Martínez González.

Today's news that a 116-year-old lady in Ecuador is the oldest human makes me wonder: Who's the oldest track athlete now? Until April 2005, it was John Whittemore of suburban Santa Barbara, California (who at 104 was still a thrower). But M100s are exceedingly rare, and we haven't seen an M105 age-grouper yet.

Performing artists have Carnegie Hall. Indoor track has the Millrose Games. Nearly a century old, the meet is tailored for the elites, with officials wearing tuxedos. It also invites masters (except for 2005). This coming year, Millrose management is contesting 4x4 relays for men and women. News of the events is posted on the Central Park Track Club's Web site.

So who knew first about the masters relays at Millrose? According to Devon Martin, coach at the Cenrtral Park Track Club, it wasn't her -- as suggested in my previous post. She writes: "It was announced at the USATF convention that the masters relays were being 'put back in.' Then Mary Trotto sent the email below to CPTC's club president, Alan Ruben. I don't think Mary Trotto is in charge of this (although she could be). I think she was trying to get the word out."

Paul Durrant is a 44-year-old photographer in Melbourne. Paul Zanis is an M40 publishing company techie in New York. And William Dean is an M30 software developer in Florida. They all run track. But more than that, they have in common a courageous honesty. They all keep blogs -- charting their athletic ups and downs in training and competition. Their frankness is remarkable, and they deserve support and encouragement.

Mary Trotto of Long Island's Bohemia Track Club informs me that W55 distance runner Mary Rosado and M40 sprinter Jim Reilly (also of Bohemia) are the go-to folks for information on entering/qualifying for the Millrose Games masters relays. Rosado will handle the women's 4x4 and Reilly the men's. More information is pending (presumably how to contact them). Stay tuned.

Three months ago, Running Fitness masters editor Pete Mulholland created an international stir by suggesting that Olympic god Peter Snell was making a masters comeback. Turns out it was a false alarm -- with Snell committed only to an orienteering event at the New Zealand Masters Games in February. Now the false alarm has been rendered inoperative with news that Dr. Snell is entering a road mile associated with the Masters Games.

Jim Reilly of 2nd Wind Track Club writes to confirm that he's in charge of organizing the men's masters 4x400 relay at the Millrose Games on Feb. 3, 2006. He apologizes for the short notice and writes: "Please submit your qualifying time with the team’s roster to reilly3@optonline.net by January 9, 2006. Also include the date and meet the time was attained. Please note that teams must be members of the same Association or USATF club. Thank you and good luck." Meanwhile, Mary Rosado (organizer of the women's 4x4 at Millrose) reports that she expects the USATF Web site to post news of the relays soon as well.

Mary Rosado shares the following note, which begins "USATF has announced that there will be a 4 x 400m relay event for masters 40+ men and women at the 99th Millrose Games on February 3, 2006 at Madison Square Garden." Interesting. If USATF is behind these races, why did it take so long to make them known? Oh well. I've also forwarded this announcement to USATF HQ in Indy, where I hope it will be included in News & Notes, the press release that goes out to media outlets across the country. (Sometimes, news isn't news until USATF sez it is.)

I pushed for a cash payday, but $1,000 in gear should suffice. That's what the Michelob Ultra Geezerjock of the Year won this winter. M50 sprint king (for North America at least) Bill Collins has to clean out his garage to accommodate his prizes for being named the inaugural GJOTY. Geezerjock editor and co-founder Sean Callahan informs me of the Michelob goodies going to Bill (and age-group winners).

Robert Castillo was an exceptional M45 middle-distance runner. World class, in fact. But his accidental death in October prompted memories of his status as a world-class human being as well -- with proof coming in the many heartfelt comments on my original blog post (including ones from his son and a nephew). Now it's been announced that a college scholarship has been dedicated in his name and honor. We should all be so loved and admired.

Over the years, a masters-inspired event has become big-time popular: the weight pentathlon. It's even been added to the WMA world championships. Out in Hawaii, M60 multi-eventer Jack Karbens is trying to light a fire under the dashfolk version of the event. Called the sprint pentathlon, it consists of these metric races: 60, 100, 200, 300 and 400 -- all in one day, with 15 to 25 minutes between races. Whew! A brutal workout if nothing else.

I might have left the impression that runners are the only ones who blog -- keep competition/training diaries on the Web. Not so. In Houston, M50 weight pentathlete John Stilbert has a frank and revealing blog called Take it From Jake. In May, Jake jotted: "Yes it's true that I went 36 years without touching a discus, but what's equally as important to note is that when I did throw discus way back when, I basically sucked."

Bob Boal, who founded the first masters meet in the Southeast USA and set records into his mid-80s, died Sunday, we learn from USATF and his local paper, which even honored him with an editorial. I met Bob once -- at a daily USA team meeting at the 1999 world WAVA championships in Gateshead, England. I knew him as the smiling octogenarian who always posed a threat to break a record in the hurdles or decathlon. I also knew him from researching the history of masters track.

Almost a year ago, I collated my correspondence on an Aussie proposal to rejigger barrier heights and distances between hurdles for the masters age groups. Now I see (belatedly) that the proposal will be discussed by WMA officials at indoor worlds in Austria this coming March. Among the suggestions: M45 to M60 age groups would run 300 hurdles (sted of 400). And M65 and over would run 200 hurdles. The short hurdle distance for men would be 100 (sted of 110) for ages 40-49 and then go to 90m (55-64) and 80m (65-74), finally ending up at 60m for all ages 75-plus.

Germany's Jan Voigt, an M50 hammer thrower, will have to cool his heels until September 2007 as a result of sanctions recently imposed by German track authorities. His case was reported last August -- but his official punishment was disclosed only this month. Apparently, ol' Jan dabbled in too much testosterone.

"Wow! Incredible! THANK you, Chris!!!" Those were my reactions tonight at a family gift exchange. I had just opened a package containing a sheet of U.S. postage stamps -- 20 first-class stamps, each with the same photo of me hurdling! Amazing. As my wife explained it, a new service allows you to order personalized 37-cent stamps with an image of your choosing.

Mary Rosado passes along a note on how teams can get potential qualifying times for the masters relays (4x4s for men and women) at the Millrose Games in February. She says that the MAC and Long Island associations are having relay races -- both Dec. 30 -- for teams seeking times.

I'm quick to criticize USATF Masters T&F Chairman George Mathews when he falls down as a leader. But a recent article on a weight training site reminds us that George is a big-time booster of masters throws. No one can doubt his dedication to the hammer throw (where he's M60 world-class).

Richard "Rick" Riddle of Texas is yet another blogger/trackster. His Web log is called "Now I Get It....maybe" And with respect to masters track, there's no doubt he gets it. An M50 sprinter and architect living in Arlington, he shares occasional snippets of his training and competition in the Land of Bill Collins. In fact, Collins coaches Rick. (Rick took fifth behind Bill in the M50 100 and fourth in the 200 at the World Masters Games in Edmonton last July, in fact.)

Call 'em cocky. Call 'em dreamers. Just don't call 'em late to the starting line (or the beer bash afterward). Soon-to-be M45 distance stud Pete Magill and M40 mile star Tony Young are quietly plotting assaults on the record books at the Hayward Classic masters meet in late June 2006, and are soliciting co-conspirators. Well, it was quiet until now. The targets: the M45 1500 and M40 2000.

For the past few years, Dave Clingan (co-webmaster of this site) has been keeping seasonal lists for USATF -- tracking the best performances in all masters age groups. At the Jacksonville meeting a month ago, USATF Masters T&F was to decide on how to proceed with this rankings program. What's the upshot? I haven't a clue.

Current issue of National Masters News (January 2006) is out. And it has some really strange stuff -- a heavy-on-fluff column by USATF Chairman George Mathews in which his opening paragraph goes into numbing detail on the number of hours he spent in meetings at the Jacksonville convention (poor, baby!) and a column by Mike Tymn about a Scottish guy living in New York in the 19th century who claimed to "long jump" 30-40 feet through spiritual levitation (and the relevance to masters track is?)

After turning 40 in mid-September, it was only a matter of time for Alisa Harvey to start making waves in her new age group. Last night at the MAC Holiday Classic at New York's Armory track, Alisa led from start to finish and smashed Rose Monday's W40 American record at 800 meters by 5 seconds. So reports race-witness Frank Morton, who joins a growing stable of blog correspondents.