Helly Visser (800, 1500), Guido Müller (400) add WRs over weekend
Canada’s Helly Visser and Germany’s Guido Müller are in a race to see who sets the most records this year. W80 Helly ran the 800 and 1500 last weekend in 3:46.70 and 7:38.11, both WRs, after setting 1500 and 3000 WRs earlier this year. See results of the Alberta Provincial Indoor Track and Field Championships in Alberta. Helly’s 800 beats the listed WR of 3:47.53 by Germany’s Melitta Czerwenka-Nagel in 2011. Avenging his countrywoman, M75 Guido ran the 400 in 63.12 for his latest age-group WR. He won three golds and a silver (the 60) at German nationals in Erfurth, also clocking 8.92 for 60, 27.87 for 200 and 10.89 in 60 hurdles. See results here. The only man who can handle Guido in the 2 and 4 is American Bob Lida. But not this year.
“Haven’t run since the middle of January,” Bob tells me. “After I ran my 8.44 60 meter [WR in early January] … I pulled a calf muscle. It has been slow to heal. Haven’t been able to run at all.”
But he says he plans to go to Boston indoor nationals and Budapest worlds “as a fan” since “tickets were already bought and paid for.”
Guido and Bob may not meet until 2015 outdoor worlds, with Bob saying: “Looks like Lyon next year is the next opportunity.”
2 Responses
Sorry to hear that Bob Lida will not be running in Boston. I had him on my list as one of the featured competitors and, on a personal level, it’s too bad that a great guy like Bob will have to sit out the meet.
Also, congratulations to Bob on his world record of 8.44 in the 60 dash; http://www.usatf.org shows it as the official world mark. I also note that the 8.44 time has been accorded “pending status” as an American record. If all goes well in December at the USATF annual meeting in Anaheim, that mark will be accepted as the American record. If not, too bad.
I am updating my list of records in anticipation of the Boston meet, and I note that the world record for the group just above Bob (i.e., M80) is very quick at 8.88 by the great Mel Larsen. I don’t expect that to be threatened in Boston, but someone could challenge the American record for M80 of 9.27, which was set by Mel Larsen at Nampa in 2005.
Would be interesting if someone runs 9.25 or so at Boston for an American M80 record but fails to challenge the M80 world record that was set by the same person. Oh, well.
Delighted to see that Helly is running so well. The records she has broken were not soft at all. I have no hope of catching up with her but certainly she is providing some good target times for when I turn 80 – in 15 months. And Jeanne Deprano better kick up her workouts too for when she turns 80 in a couple of years. Records are made to be broken – and they certainly do get the competitive juices flowing even when one is not running well or much at all. Thanks Helly – go blow them away in Budapest.
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