Watch out for Grace in 3K race.

Meanwhile, Portland masters mile organizer Dave Clingan offers this incentive just for fun: “I’ve still got some masterstrack.com T-shirts. Offer one to anyone who guesses the number of runners who will break 4:30 in this race!”

Here are men’s mile entries as of May 14.

Tony Young
Pete Magill
Mike Blackmore
David Cannon
Ray Knerr
Ron Kochanowicz
Nolan Shaheed
Ian Gillespie
Jonathan Swanson
Matt Thomas
Charlie Kern
Randy Wasinger
Thomas Kreuzpeintner
Rikki Hacker
Adam Collazo
Timothy Gore
David Weiler
John Boosinger

Ray Charbonneau

Enjoy Ray’s writing:

I recently turned 50, which made me the young guy in my age group again. I took advantage of that to place in a series of (carefully selected) races, and I also got to wondering about the history of age group racing. When I looked into it, I found that age group racing had just turned 50 too.

Gary Corbitt, son of Ted Corbitt, the distance running pioneer and hall of famer, told me about a race he remembered from early in the 1960s that was the first one he knew of with separate awards for older runners. Gary, who was 10 at the time, was at the race with his father.

Today, when anybody can find a race (often, many races) every week within driving distance, it’s hard to remember what it was like before the running boom in the 70s. Back then, there were so few races that one publication, the Long Distance Log, could print the results for almost every single one. Gary dug through the back issues and found the article on the race that he remembered. As far as we could tell, that was the earliest race to award age group prizes.

The race was a 4 miler held on Sunday, July 2nd, 1961 in Macombs Dam Park, next to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. The original New York Road Runners held many of their races in that park. Many of the club founders were at the race, including Corbitt, Joe Kleinerman, Lou White, Harry Murphy, Kurt Steiner, and Aldo Scandurra.

There were actually three races that day, the open race and separate races for “veterans” (runners 45 and older) and “juniors” (runners under 19). It was a hot day for racing, sunny with temperatures in the 80s, hot enough that one runner ended up going to the hospital for treatment after his race.

Eight runners lined up for the start of the veteran’s race. Aldo Scandurra was the first to finish. His time of 24:24.7 was almost 18 seconds ahead of Joe Kleinerman.

The open winner was Oscar Moore in 21:14. Moore went on to run in the 1964 Olympics, competing in the 5000 meters at Tokyo. Bill Sargeant led the Bruce Track Club to victory in the junior race. His time of 21:38 was a course record for juniors.

The New York Times printed the results in the next day’s paper. They made note of Scandurra’s win, calling him the victor in “the old-timers’ race”.

Scandurra and Kleinerman were both listed as members of the Millrose AA. I emailed the club and they connected me with their coach, John Garlepp. He was in his early 20s in 1961 and a regular at the Macombs Dam races. Garlepp ran 24:00 and finished 13th in the open race that day. He didn’t recall that particular race, but he remembered Scandurra, Kleinerman, and the other older runners as people he looked up to who were always willing to share advice with youngsters like him. Garlepp has followed their example as both a runner and as a club volunteer. Today, in addition to coaching, he’s the race director for the NYRR’s Knickerbocker 60K.

I tried to find other people who were at the race, but after 50 years, most of the participants at the event have reached their personal finish lines.

Afterwards, as age group racing spread, the boundary for what became known as “masters” running moved from age 45 to 40. That was the cutoff when David Pain organized the “Masters Mile” as part of the San Diego Invitational meet in 1966. Pain followed that up by organizing the first U.S. Masters Track and Field Championships for men 40 and older in 1968. Warren Blaney introduced 10 year age groups at the Senior Olympics in 1970 and 5 year divisions in 1971. Then in 1975, riding on the crest of the first running boom, the Boston Marathon gave out its first award to masters runners.

Times have changed, as they have a habit of doing. Only a couple years before eight men 45 and older toed the line on a hot summer day, John Landy was 25 and the world record holder in the mile when his father told him it was time to quit running, saying, “I was in business before I was that old.” Now Running USA reports that the average runner is over 40 years old, we live in a world where it’s unusual when a race doesn’t have age group prizes, and even I can win a trophy for running a 20:22 5K as a 50-year old in a race in Nahant, MA. The old Macombs Dam Park course is gone, buried under the new Yankee Stadium in 2006, but the idea that started there a half century ago is still going strong.

Ray Charbonneau lives in Arlington, MA, with his wife and their two cats. You can often find Ray and Ruth out on the streets running, but Felix and Phoebe stay inside. Ray is the author of the books “Chasing the Runner’s High” and “R is for Running”. His articles have appeared the Boston Globe, Ultrarunning, Marathon & Beyond, Level Renner, Cool Running and other publications. Find out more at www.y42k.com/.

Tony, in Northwest orange, is a front-runner. He turned 50 in mid-April.

Here’s the official last-minute invite:

The 8th annual Oregon Masters Mile is just a few weeks away, Saturday, June 9 at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, OR. The start list is shaping up pretty well, but we still have room for several more runners! If you haven’t signed up already and are interested in entering, please let me know ASAP. Any sub-5 minute milers are welcome to compete.

The Oregon Masters mile is part of the Portland Track Festival which features outstanding youth and open races during its two days of competition. The prize money offered to the top three runners is $200 for first, $150 for second, and $100 for third.

regards,
Dave Clingan
Masters Mile Event Coordinator
xroads@xro.com
503-740-4043

Chris and Ken at Qualcomm Stadium for Junior Seau tribute. (Killed himself May 2.)

Here are some of my favorite Chris Stone shots from Friday night:

Details of a fan tribute:

Junior Seau’s mother and eldest son:

Former teammates of Junior Seau:

Hugs for two of Junior’s children:

Fans too young to remember seeing Junior play:

Uniform No. 55 was retired by the Chargers:

More shooters than subjects at the Q:

Pete hangs with the kiddies during his Oxy race; photo by Diana Hernandez.

Pete’s record 5000 also got good ink in Runner’s World:

By Peter Gambaccini

Californian Pete Magill was dominant in the 45-49 age group; for example, he ran 14:45 for 5000 meters in March 2011, three months before turning 50, to become the oldest American to break 15:00 for the distance. He’s kept to his record-breaking ways since turning 50, including running 15:11.13 for 5000 meters at this weekend’s Oxy Invite in California, under the recognized 50-and-over American record. But, as you’ll see in a bit, don’t look for Magill’s name in the record books for this mark.

Pete with one lap to go in American record 5K; another great photo by Diana Hernandez.

There’s been an abundance of activity in the 50-plus 5000 in 2012. The American record of 15:41.67 by Mike Heffernan had stood for 20 years until it was lowered by Ken Ernst to 15:34.62 in March and then to a formidable 15:16.77 by Mike Blackmore just a week ago.
Blackmore and Magill will apparently be doing battle in the coming weeks to further lower their times, and ownership of it may pass back and forth between them, with Tony Young, who has just turned 50, possibly joining the fray.

But Magill, who is also a terrific Running Times columnist, is making no small plans. Lamenting that he “just got started too late this year” and is “definitely not quite race-fit yet,” he declares,

“I’m going to try to find another 5000 in June, because I think I’m 3 to 4 weeks away from 14:45-14:50.” His concern, he says, is that “I honestly think I might not find a decent race.”

In any case, from what Magill tells us, his 15:11 may never be considered an “official” record because he finds the ratification procedure to be “a really demeaning process.”

He explains, “It ultimately requires multiple follow-up phone calls, lots of begging, last-minute reminders at the [USATF] annual meeting where records are ratified, and that’s after running around a meet for a couple hours, trying to get people to sign off on all the things that need signing off on (the person who installed the track is supposed to sign off on the track being 400 meters, the starter for the race has to sign, the timer(s), somebody signs to guarantee that the track has proper rails, the meet director, etc.) … and even then the applications aren’t always accepted (and are often misplaced … often).”

Magill concludes, “Anyway, all that counts is that it gets on the ARRS top times list (they keep selected track times too) and the American Records Wikipedia entry, and I don’t need paperwork for that.”

Magill is exceptionally fast at 50 but, he says, “The worst part about being a 50-year-old runner is this: The day before the race, for no apparent reason, my legs and feet suddenly got inflamed. It actually hurt to jog. They had improved by race time, but I still had to loosen the laces on my shoes to warm up (you know, just so my feet could fit into them!). It didn’t affect my race (exhaustion was much more of a factor). But it was one of those annoying age things that really puts a damper on training and racing enthusiasm.”

Nice shout-out to Andy Hecker’s Wikipedia records for masters track.

But wouldn’t it be nice for a meet director to do his freaking job and provide all paperwork for a record on behalf of an athlete?

Mike (right) watched action at Olympic Trials in 50K racewalk in January with USATF board member Willie Banks, another masters athlete.

Here’s the news blast from Indy:

INDIANAPOLIS – USA Track & Field Chief Operating Officer Mike McNees is leaving the organization as USATF transitions into a new phase, USATF announced Monday.

McNees joined the USATF staff on March 1, 2009, as Chief Operating Officer. He was named Interim CEO on September 13, 2010 and served in that capacity until April 30, 2012.

“Having the opportunity to come back to my home state and lead this sport has been an honor and privilege,” McNees said. “The organization is charting a new course, and I’m proud to have done my small part in support of the team as I now re-chart my own. USA Track & Field, and I personally, both have a lot to look forward to. I want to thank all who helped make my time here rewarding, including the staff, the dedicated USATF members, and especially the amazing athletes who make us all look good every day. Go USA!”

“Mike has selflessly served USATF for more than three years,” CEO Max Siegel said. “He is a former athlete and coach who gave equal attention to every constituency of our organization. As we move into the next chapter of our organizational history, we sincerely thank him for everything he has done for USATF and wish him and his family the very best.”

McNees, 56, previously was County Administrator of Blaine County, Idaho, and had been City Manager of Sarasota, Fla. A native of Indiana, he was a three-time varsity letterman for the Indiana University track team, specializing in the 400m hurdles. He was a Big Ten team champion as well as a member of IU’s school and Big Ten meet record-setting 4x400m relay. While at USATF, he competed in masters track & field on the regional and national level, while also expanding his horizons into the half-marathon on the roads.

About USA Track & Field

USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track & field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world’s oldest organized sports, the World’s #1 Track & Field Team, the most-watched events at the Olympics, the #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport, and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States: www.usatf.org.