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This will be my first "major" masters competition since I just turned 30 at the end of last year. I won't be able to travel out to Spokane so I'm looking for a good meet closer to home to use as my major meet this year.

I'm in Ohio and looking at either the East Region Championship Meet (Maryland) or the USA Masters Weight Pentathlon Championships (Connecticut) to use as this meet. I was wondering if anyone has competed at these in the past and what they thought of them and which would be a better meet to go to since I can only go to one of them.

Obviously I'm a thrower if I'm contemplating the Weight Pent. Championships but I can't find any information on the Weight Pent. Championships on the USATF website so I'm looking to you guys for some advice. I'm trying to determine which one I will go to so I can arrange travel and to plan my training schedule to peak at those approximate dates.

Any other meets I should be considering? Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

It will depend on what you want to get from the meet. The pentathlon is a National Championship meet commensurate with Spokane or Seattle. You compete in the 5 throwing events. The East Regional Championship is as the name suggests, a regional championship. The East Regional this year should have all the throwing events including the weight and the super weight. Typically there is not a lot of competition in the 30-34 group but there are enough throwers there to make it a nice throwing experience. You can get more information on the Weight Pentathlon from Carl Reichard creich51@hotmail.com . You can get more information on the East Regional Championship from Jerry Bookin-Weiner throwsguy@gmail.com . Each of these meets should be well run since both Jerry and Carl are experienced, conscientious and dedicated to running quality meets.

Unfortunately you probably won't find much competition in the 30-34 age groups at any Masters meet. Most competitors at that age still throw in open association meets, etc. since the impliments used are the same.

While I've never competed in meets held by the Mid Atlantic association, I have friends that have, and based on their comments, the meets are poorly run and officated.

The Weight Pentathlon to be held in CT is the National Championship for that event, so it will probably be a decently run meet. Again, you will probably not find many competitors in your age group. The numbers at these meets are usually found in the 40+.

My guess is that you'll find better competition in your local area association track meets. You can still post your results in the National Rankings in the 30-34 age group.