How many masters will show for Charlotte nationals?
Pete Taylor, the nationals meet announcer, and I have been going back and forth in recent months over how many athletes will compete August 3-6 at the USATF National Masters Outdoor Championships in Charlotte, North Carolina. My guesstimate is 1,200. Pete predicts 1,771. He thinks I’m way off, saying, “My sources indicate a VERY high number for Charlotte.â€
Some weeks back, Pete wrote me:
“After an extremely fast start, entries have slowed a bit, but from my many contacts around the country I know that this meet will be filled to overflowing. Right now we have 62 entries, as only about 3.5% of the entries should be in at this point I now project a final total of 1771, which would be uncharted territory for the masters (the record is either 1503 or 1508 — Eugene 2000). Would be interesting to see what contributors to the board have to say about the final total (as published in the Sept 2006 issue of National Masters News). Again, I am now predicting 1771 (original estimate was 1333), but I will change that every week as new tallies come in.â€
Earlier, he wrote:
“This meet will be the first ever held outside of Oregon or California to officially exceed 1300 athletes (as far as I know) and will probably have 1520 to 1580 (a masters record). Enter at usatf.org (entries are coming in very nicely; the regular deadline is July 7). There is one unfilled (but paid) position of which I am unaware — the field events announcer. Apply to meet director Dr. Gordon Edwards through e-mail that you will get on the Web site.â€
So whatcha think? How many of youse guyz are going to Charlotte? And how many others do you think will join you?
June 13 update from Pete:
He writes: “Based on all the information now available to me, it looks like we will have 1635 competitors at the Charlotte meet (August 3-6).â€
