March San Diego meet aims to crown world’s fastest 40+ sprinter

What would you think of a sprint summit of the fastest 40-plus male sprinters in the world, and a meet to decide the King of the Masters Hill? It’s no fantasy. In mid-March, organizers of the 35th annual Aztec Track & Field Invitational at San Diego State University hope to recruit the strongest field of middle-age sprinters in history. A “provisional invitation list” being circulated is a Who’s Who of our Geezer dashmen: Americans Willie Gault, Jeff Laynes and Aaron Thigpen, plus Chris Williams of Jamaica, Darren Scott and Mark Dunwell of UK, Pedro Pablo Nolet Canto of Spain and Andrea Benatti of Italy. See their stats below. (And a world rankings here.) And see this flier of the meet, with all the entry and schedule info. Have questions? Contact Flash 100 event organizer Kuba Wasowski.

Logo for Flash 100 masters sprint in mid-March at San Diego State University.




Here’s a quickie Q&A with Flash 100 event organizer Kuba Wasowski, who ssembled the power masters rankings:

Masterstrack.com: Who had the idea of inviting the fastest 40-plus sprinters around
the world to SDSU?

Answer: Kuba Wasowski and Shelia Burrell

Who is in charge of the Flash 100 invite?

Kuba Wasowski
Flash100 Event Coordinator

Shelia Burrell and Rick Reaser
Aztec Invitational Meet Director

Who on the list has confirmed they want to compete in mid-March?

We have received verbal confirmations from the following athletes.

10.36 Chris Williams (M41) Jamaica
11.41 Reginald Pendland (M43) USA
11.12 Pedro Pablo Nolet Canto (M42) Spain
11.14 Anthony Prior (M42) USA
11.14 Lonnie Hooker (M48) USA
11.43 Scott Wichman (M41) USA
11.63 Ken Eaton (M52) USA
11.65 Johnny Speed (M47) USA
11.65 Curtis Moore (M44) Canada
11.69 Felton Turnage (M45) USA

Will SDSU subsidize any travel or lodging of the masters sprinters?

We are currently working on acquiring sponsors so info on this is
subject to change as sponsors sign on to the event. Travel will not be
provided, we are looking to get a hotel sponsor for the flash100 but
no sponsor has yet been booked.

This list suggests men being contacted for the Flash 100 event at the Aztec Invitational:

PROVISIONAL INVITATION LIST
2012 10.36 Chris Williams (M41) Jamaica
2012 10.44 Jeff Laynes (M42) USA
2012 11.41 Reginald Pendland (M43) USA
2012 – – – – Willie Gault (M52) USA
2011 10.88
2012 – – – – Darren Scott (M40) UK
2011 10.89
2012 11.13 Aaron Thigpen (M46) USA
2012 11.07 Mark Dunwell (M41) United Kingdom
2012 11.07 Andrea Benatti (M40) Italy
2012 11.12 Jeff Mack USA
2012 11.12 Pedro Pablo Nolet Canto (M42) Spain
2012 11.14 Anthony Prior (M42) USA
2012 11.14 Lonnie Hooker (M48) USA
2012 Bart Thomas
2012 11.25 Matt Denning (M41) USA
2012 11.36 Lyndell Pittman (M40) USA
2012 11.39 Eric Prince (M43) USAm
2012 11.42 Allen Tyssenbaum (M52) USA
2012 11.43 Scott Wichman (M41) USA
2012 11.63 Ken Eaton (M52) USA
2012 11.65 Johnny Speed (M47) USA
2012 11.65 Curtis Moore (M44) Canada
2012 11.69 Felton Turnage (M45) USA

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December 8, 2012

10 Responses

  1. peter taylor - December 9, 2012

    Very nice idea, Ken. Two of the obvious concerns are the following:

    1. How can someone like Allan Tissenbaum (spelled Allen Tyssenbaum here), who is in his 50s and has been a world champion, compete with the M40 speedsters without some kind of age grading, head start, or something similar?

    2. Some of the sprinters mentioned above will need a cash infusion to make this meet.

  2. Arthur Nelson - December 9, 2012

    Wow. What a fantastic idea. I truly hope they can pull this off. If they do, I will be there. Bravo for thinking outside the box.

  3. James Chinn - December 9, 2012

    Thanks to Kuba for setting this up. Kuba was a long jumper at Cal State San Marcos and has competed as an M30 at several Masters National.

  4. jeff davison - December 9, 2012

    Would be nice to see some of the OC and LA and Nor Cal against the San Diego speedsters. Willie Gault would also be competitive

  5. Mark Cleary - December 10, 2012

    This event is part of the USATF Masters Invitational program and will require entering online at the Masters Invitational web page-we will be submitting the information for posting by the USATF National office this week

  6. bert bergen - December 10, 2012

    Did anyone tells these folks that the ladies sprint as well ?

  7. jeff davison - December 10, 2012

    Great job lads

  8. Nate Sickerson - December 12, 2012

    Great Idea, that sounds like fun. I would like to make the trip since I recently turned 40. Might have to talk the wife and kids into a vacation. How is Disney at this time of year? 🙂

  9. Matt Merrill - December 16, 2012

    What a great first step to getting some prize money infused in Masters track. If the idea catches on maybe USATF membership will go from “nearly 100,000” to over 200,000. And the entire sport will start to grow. Great job!

  10. founder & chairman - January 5, 2013

    dear sir , our team planned miracles world records foundation, as http://www.miraclesworldrecords.com,,, please send any suggestions, references

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