Mike at 2010 Sacto nationals
of Oregon Track Club Masters graciously shares details on record attempts Sunday, Sept. 10, at
McKenzie Community Track and Field in Blue River, Oregon, where his club is a major sponsor. “The 3,000m race will feature an American record attempt by
Mike Blackmore in the 55-59 age group,” Craig writes. [The listed WR is the incredible 8:56.80 by Aussie
Keith Bateman.] “The existing record of 9:21.84 was set by
Rich Burns in 2010. Blackmore had a near miss at the record, running 9:24.29 to win the Hayward Classic in April.” Craig himself says he’ll be going for
M50 records at 15,000 (52:52), 20,000 (1:13:48.79) and 25,000 (1:38:51.3) on the track. “
Pete Mundle’s 39-year-old 15K record is the hardest of those three,” he says. “Both races will serve as the USATF Oregon Championships for men and women for open athletes (up through age 29), as well as submasters (age 30-39) and masters athletes (ages 40 and up). All USATF members are welcome to enter, and runners without a membership may easily sign up during the entry process. … Blackmore has been a prominent local runner for many years. He was a scoring member of the University of Oregon’s 1984 NCAA Track and Field Championship team, earned All-American honors in both cross country and track, and was the 1987 World University Games silver medalist in the 5,000. He has lifetime bests of 3:57 in the mile and 13:37 for 5,000.”
Craig contnues:
As a masters runner, he is a two-time national champion and a WMA World Championships silver medalist. 25,000m is a somewhat unusual event for the track, with the most notable recent race being Moses Mosop setting a world record at 25,000 (and continuing on to 30,000) at the 2011 Prefontaine Classic.
The 25,000 race (15.54 miles) consists of 62.5 laps. Runners will be able to attempt a unique double by running the USATF Oregon Track 25,000 Championships on September 10th, and then the USATF Oregon Road 25K Championships in Central Point on Jan. 27, 2018.
Craig will be shooting for the 15K track record of 52:52, and then continue on for another 25 laps to try to break the 20K and 25K American records as well. Craig had a major heart attack in 2011, but came back to be the 2012 masters national champion at 10,000.
He is making another comeback after a series of foot surgeries in 2013, 2014 and 2015. Entry and other info is at OTCMasters.org.
One Response
We now have Nat Larson scheduled to race the 3,000m also. Nat ran 9:18.95 since turning 55 earlier this summer, but proper timing procedures weren’t followed so it won’t count as an American record. This should be a great battle with Larson and Blackmore not only gunning for time, but needing to beat each other for the record.
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