The Kip Keino masters mile May 13 may have Olympian Mark Coogan. But more eyes that weekend will be on the Fountain of Youth Masters Mile in Oregon, where records may fall like rain May 12. Dave Clingan, event organizer, writes: “Within this field of 13 masters athletes, there will be several exciting sub-races according to standard Masters Track & Field five-year age divisions,” and he cites M45 entrants Tony Young and Pete Magill as well as M55s Nolan Shaheed and Henry Rono.

Here’s a news release on the Oregon event:

Fountain of Youth Masters Invitational Mile
1:30 pm, Saturday, May 12, 2007
Canby HS, Canby, Oregon
Contact: Dave Clingan, 503-231-0530, xroads@xro.com
website: www.mastersmile.oregonathletics.org

The third annual Fountain of Youth Masters Invitational Mile will be held on Saturday, May 12 as the featured event of the Oregon Youth Relays. The race will include many of America’s top milers age 30 and up who will showcase their seemingly ageless talents before an enthusiastic crowd of youth athletes and their families. The event is part of a fundraiser that provides travel grants for young athletes from Oregon who compete in the 2007 National Junior Olympics Championships in Walnut, CA this summer.
ENTRY LIST
Name | Age | Hometown | Club | 2006 Seed times (c denotes conversion from 1500m)
Pete Magill 46 Pasadena, CA Team Runners High 4:18.11
Tony Young 45 Redmond, WA Club NW 4:20.72
Torrey Lindbo 34 Portland, OR Red Lizards 4:28.59c
Chris Yorges 41 Eugene, OR FIBO 4:30.74c
Kevin Paulk 46 Portland, OR BAC 4:31.33c
Joe Dudman 42 Portland, OR Red Lizards 4:34.5h
Mark Alexander 42 Seattle, WA Seattle Frontrunners 4:40.13c
Nolan Shaheed 57 Pasadena, CA So Cal Fleet Feet 4:42.35c
Steve Gallegos 52 Boulder, CO 4:44.95
David Cannon 50 Seattle, WA Club NW
Michael Allison 55 Seattle, WA Club NW 4:49
Craig Rice 36 Portland, OR OCC
Henry Rono 55 Albuquerque, NM
HIGHLIGHTS:
Within this field of 13 masters athletes, there will be several exciting sub-races according to standard Masters Track & Field five-year age divisions:
Tony Young (who currently holds the M40-44 age group American mile record at 4:09.61) has turned 45 and will be going after the M45-49 record of 4:18.83 which is one of the oldest mile records on the books (set in 1990 by Ken Sparks). Joining Tony in this age group will Peter MaGill, who currently holds the M45-49 American records at the 3000m, 5000m and 10000m distances. A third competitive runner in this division is Kevin Paulk, the 2006 M45 Indoor World Masters 800m Champion.
There are two very accomplished runners in the M50-54 age division. Steve Gallegos is the current M50 Masters Indoor World record holder in the 800m (1:59.99). He recently won the 8K Masters National XC Championships in his age division. Also in this age group is David Cannon, who recently finished third in the both the 5K and 10K National Masters XC Championships.
In the M55-59 age division, Nolan Shaheed is perhaps the most accomplished athlete in the field. He currently holds five masters age group World records and has rarely been beaten in National or International masters age group competition. He owns the M50 Mile World Record that Gallegos and Cannon are pursuing (4:27.9) and could be challenging the M55 World Record of 4:40.4. Also in the hunt for an age group mile record is Henry Rono, who has come out of retirement at age 55. In his prime, Henry Rono was one of the most exceptional distance runners of all time, breaking world records in the 3000m, 3000m steeplechase, 5000m and 10,000m in 1978.