Dave Clingan turning the page, ceases calendar role on mcom

This website is 15 years old this month. Happy birthday to us! But with age comes change, and a big one has arrived. Dave Clingan — my partner in crime since 1999 (when we combined two sites and registered the domain name) — has decided to bow out of what we affectionately call mcom. He writes: “To all my good friends in the wide world of masters track and field: The time has come to relinquish my position as masterstrack.com calendar guy.  I simply can’t find the time to scour the globe for masters meets and keep up with the listings like I used to.  I trust that most info about USA meets can be found on the USATF website and anyone interested in international meets can find what they’re looking for with a wee bit of Googling. It’s been a joy working with Ken all these years and sharing information with all my fellow athletes!â€

Dave and I plotted total world domination in 1999. Guess what? We achieved it!

I fully support Dave in his decision. He has a new wife and a new life, including his studies at Lewis & Clark in Portland. He hopes to graduate in May with a master’s degree in counseling. So he’s booked.

Dave is the reason for this site’s existence. It was his idea to unite his rankings site with my goofy news and opinion page. So I’m grateful for his kick-in-the-pants and 12 years of hard work making masters track more accessible to the masses.

At the moment, when you click on Meets above, you’ll be taken to the USATF search page, where just about every meet you’d like to know about is available. It really works. And Dave has been linking to subsections of the USATF meet calendar for years, truth be told.

Eventually I’ll create a page with links to the major international sites were meet calendars reside. Be patient. I’m busy too.

So now it’s time to say farewell to my superfast friend. But only as co-webmaster. Not as a super-smart, super-supportive and super-energetic buddy. Thanks for everything, Dave. See you on the track.

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February 18, 2011

17 Responses

  1. Jeff Davison - February 18, 2011

    Thank you Dave !

    In the mean time we have:
    The USATF website
    and Andy’s site: http://www.trackinfo.org

  2. Nolan Shaheed - February 18, 2011

    Thanks Dave for all you’ve done.

  3. pino pilotto - February 19, 2011

    Thanks Dave for all you’ve done!
    As I started to do master athletics in september 2002 i found on your website the date for a meeting in Switzerland, in Bellinzona – a city only two car-hours from Lucerne, where i live. It was my first meeting after 32 years of no sports – I injured in the long jump – LOL.

  4. Lesley Richardson - February 19, 2011

    Great T-shirt you are wearing Dave!!

  5. Gary - February 19, 2011

    Props to you and boo on USATF website…not current with meets.

  6. peter taylor - February 19, 2011

    Gary, are you referring to a meet in northern Virginia that is scheduled for tomorrow (Feb 20)? If you go to that meet would you be kind enough to give us a report on the turnout and the level of competition. I know that Alisa Harvey is scheduled to run there.

    As far as this post’s topic, thank you, Dave, for doing so much for masters over the years (and congratulations on running well at the same time).

  7. Pete Magill - February 19, 2011

    Thanks for everything, Dave. What you’ve given to this sport is immeasurable. And personally, your world rankings was the final impetus to get me back into training shoes – and back into the sport. I wouldn’t be running today if it weren’t for the fire that was lighted by the prospect of moving up the rankings. And your contribution to the beer-drinking afterward didn’t hurt either. Thanks for the memories.

  8. Paul Edens - February 19, 2011

    Congratulations, Dave, on opening up a new chapter in your life. All your time and dedication, which kept us all informed and connected with the rest of the T&F world, is deeply appreciated. Your decision to partner with Ken was a good move, even thou he is a little “goofy” at times (his self-description) but then anyone who runs with scissors has to be a little goofy…;-) Ken, keep up the great work. I always enjoy reading your articles.

  9. Gary - February 19, 2011

    Sure, Peter will do..

  10. John Altendorf - February 19, 2011

    Dave, I can’t say enough about your contributions to masters athletes. You have your priorities correct for the time; wife, schooling and profession. Thanks again for all your work.

  11. Jerry Smartt - February 20, 2011

    Hey, here we have a couple of cats who definitely aren’t dogs. What would we do without you? Boo hoo and gnash our teeth, what’s left of them, A LOT. Thank you for cooking the best recipe and allowing us to sample it. Smartty

  12. Gary - February 20, 2011

    Results of 800 —
    The official results are not out yet.
    Alisa ran around 2:16…

  13. peter taylor - February 20, 2011

    Thank you, Gary. I heard that the turnout for the meet in question (Potomac Valley Assoc championships held today, Feb 20) was modest but not as low as the Web site would suggest. Glad to see that Alisa Harvey was able to run 2:16 or so.

  14. Joseph Burleson - February 20, 2011

    After spending so many countless hours helping the rest of us, it is extremely heartening to see Dave be able to take some of his (endless!) energy and (precious!) time to devote to himself, his family, and his career. Dave has been one of the rocks, the very foundation of selflessness in his efforts to promote, record and recognize Masters Track & Field athletes and their performances over the years. Good luck, Dave, and we all look forward to thanking you in person at future meets! And on a side note, how is it that you continue to look so young?

  15. Phil - February 20, 2011

    I just saw this after reading your site:
    The Association Indoor Championships (Open & Masters) will be held on February 20, 2011 at Episcopal High School – 1200 North Quaker Lane, Alexandria, VA 22304. It would have been nice to have know about this meet a while ago! There used to be a nice masters meet at the Prince Georges Indoor facility the Sunday during Presidents Day Weekend- it was a nice reason to travel to D.C. from Ohio and see the sites of our Nation’s Capital and even get in a track meet! I would have come to run this meet, but did not know about it. It is hard to believe that in this day and time of the internet, USATF can not get a comprehensive calendar out well in advance….Oh, wait- USATF can not even send out the membership cards in a timely manner! Dave- WE WILL miss your efforts- especially since I found out about the Sportsplex Masters meet from your web site! Somehow we just kinda keep missing the boat!

  16. Rich Burns - February 21, 2011

    Dave,
    thanks for all you’ve donated to make masters track so much better. Glad you are so busy doing things you have great passion for! Hoping that science will progress enough to help that knee! Always a friend and team mate.

  17. Jeff Davison - February 23, 2011

    Where to find a potential meet . . besides the USATF main website .. . .

    http://www.trackinfo.org

    http://www.mastershistory.org/Association/index.html

    http://www.mastershistory.org/Schools/1.html

    http://www.woodhurdles.com/Schools/1.html

    Does anyone have any additional website links to find meets?

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