Hometowns = coverage in masters track
Nice work by the organizers of the Boston national masters meet! The entry list recently posted includes not only names, events and club affiliations but also the Holy Grail of masters statisticians — dates of birth! Keyboarding the DOBs is a pain, but it saves incredible amounts of legwork for reporters and record keepers afterward. The Boston entry list lacks only one element that would make it a model of perfection — hometowns.
Without hometowns listed in meet entries or results, local media outlets across the country are cheated of a quick-and-easy way of checking for local athletes. Nearly every Olympic sport worth its media salt lists hometowns of competitors. Most marathons/10K/5K sites list hometowns as well.
I hope, hope, hope that when meet results are posted, places of residence are included.
The list shows some notable entries, including the possible masters debut of former NFL and Tennessee football and track star Willie Gault, entered in the 60, 60 hurdles and 200 (albeit with the highly unlikely recent marks of 6.75, 7.90 and 21.80. The respective M40 world records are 6.97, 7.96 and 22.19). Willie probably wrote down his all-time PRs. Tsk, tsk.
Just FYI: Gault was an NFL wide receiver who played for the Chicago Bears from 1983 to ’87 and the Raiders from ’88 to ’93. He competed at the 1983 World Track and Field Championships, winning a bronze medal in the 110 meter hurdles and a gold medal on the world record setting 4×100 meter relay team.
Another celebrity entrant is William Henry Rodgers in the M55 3000 (for which he honestly indicates NT — no time recorded recently.) He also wrote down “Bill” as his first name. He used to run marathons, I think.
And in the M60 sprints (60, 200 and 400), we see Brisbane world champion Stephen Robbins entered. He’ll be the favorite.
The oldest entrant so far (and several weeks remain before the March 28-30 event) is Dudley Healy, DOB: 4/23/1914. This 88-year-old is entered in the 800, mile and 3K. Go Dudley!
The oldest female entrant is 81-year-old ironwoman Margaret Hinton, DOB 8/14/19, entered thusly:
#10 W75-99 60 Meter Dash NT
#207 W60-99 Long Jump ND
#221 W30-99 Triple Jump ND
#241 W30-99 High Jump NH
#261 W30-99 Pole Vault NH
#307 W60-99 Weight Throw ND
#329 W70-99 Shot Put ND
#347 W60-99 Weight Throw Super ND
Every time Margaret vaults, BTW, she raises her own record as the oldest female vaulter in history.
Best of luck to all!
