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I've been wondering ... how are the masters' t&f All-American standards set? (Apologies if the answer should be obvious. Is this related to the age-graded tables?)

Many thanks,
Maria (W45 Discus)

I've often wondered the same thing. Can someone out there who knows give some info on the All America Standards?

I'm curious too.

I'm not sure about how they are set but they are pretty easy to attain. On another note, what are the Masters Nationals meet records? That would be a nice addition to the next meet program or simply an interesting bit of information. Any thoughts?

Ouch marcminor - that is a real blow to my self-esteem. This will be my sixth year of running with the A-A standards as a goal. I have only hit the 55 standard once and in a different year I hit the 60 standard twice. I feel those (the 55 and 60) are probably the softest standards. I've worked my tail off trying to hit the 100, 200, or 400 standards to no avail. I'm in a new age-group now, so hopefully the A-A will be a little "easier" to attain.

Are the women's standards comparable to the men's? It seems to me that the W55 standards are extremely low, what are they meant for?

I don't know if the person who thinks the all-american marks are easy to attain is some kind of great master athlete or just an obnoxious individual who had a good race or throw one day. These marks are not easy to attain. Running a seven minute mile at the age of 55 - 60 is not "easy" Throwing the discus over 70 feet if you are a 50 year old femaile is not easy either.

Just look at how many have not thrown that distance that are in the top 25 of either gender.

You mean me, Beth?

I agree with you guys - I think the standard is pretty tough to hit for an amateur master athlete with a job and family. Not to mention the ailments and injury that go along with the training. I guess all of us can't be superstars.

Maybe I do not understand the meaning of 'all american', but it sounds rather pretentious. That's why I asked what they are meant for. As minimum entrances in your national championships? They are indeed more or less equal to the entrance limits that the Germans use for their nationals. And indeed I see that in this years rankings W55 of the US quite a lot did not get that A-A-standard. The Germans have in all disciplines 2 or even 3 times more women that would get the W55 standard – but in Germany masters track and field is best developed of the whole world, there you have a point.
At closer view I now see that in Oshkosh many were below the standards, so it are not the entrance limits.
Of course I do not judge athletes against the world records, but I can judge how much speed and strength and technique are necessary to get one of those standards and still think that it is not that much. For W55 that is.

No doubt! I haven't hit ANY of them and I'm decently fast.

That's an unfortunate thing I see whenever the standards are discussed; someone seems to post how easy they are to surpass. How about a little respect for those who train hard and have NOT attained them yet?

In my case, I trained pretty hard for 7 years (as hard as I could while also having a full-time job, wife and 2 kids, and coaching athletes on the side) before I was able to surpass one of the standards. In the 4 seasons since, I've been able to surpass standards in 2 events.

For some of us, it takes a lot of hard work before we're able get there. For others, and I would guess not many (unless you were once an elite T&F athlete), it's much more difficult.

Greg

To be precise: I applaud ALL athletes in masters track and field, of whatever level. The most important thing is to be there, have fun etcetera. But the question at the start remains: how are they set? And are standards for men and women comparable? (My guess: no.) And are they comparable throug the age classes? (My guess: no.)
(I do not tell how many of the standards I could get.)

I don't think anyone can claim that any mark is easy unless and until they're in the shoes of someone trying to attain that mark.

I was never a great college steeplechaser but the All-American Standard for M30 isn't that easy as it's barely slower than what I ran in college. I won't be hitting it. I have an outside chance at the one for M35 I THINK but maybe it will be impossible by then.

For me to comment on the standard for M55 would be absurd. I have no context of what it will be like to hurdle barriers and the water jump 25 years from now. Outside looking in from a 32 year old's perspective it may seem "easy" but I'm sure it will be far from that....

Mellow Johnny.......You are wise beyond your years. At sixty and with some perspective now, I can support your conclusion that what may seem easy to a 30 or 40 year old will not necessarily prove so when one actually reaches those later age bracket. Weighing in on the AA standards; On occasion, I have reviewed the end of year U.S. masters rankings and have noted that the AA standard generally includes the top ten times or distances listed in each event. To me, that seems a reasonable "cut off" plus or minus a few. Bottom line: They are great targets to aim for and keep us motivated.