This should be interesting. Tonight I sent a questionnaire to Stan Perkins of Australia and Cesare Beccalli of Italy, the known candidates for president of World Masters Athletics. I also cc’d the note to Monty Hacker, WMA secretary, who is responsible for knowing who the candidates are at this summer’s General Assembly in San Sebastian, Spain. Here’s my letter:

Greetings, Stan and Cesare
Congratulations on your candidacies for president of World Masters Athletics.
As founder and co-webmaster of masterstrack.com, I follow WMA activities closely and report what I learn via my blog and postings on various masters track message boards and mailing lists.
My blog: http://www.masterstrack.com/blog/
I also have quizzed candidates for WMA office before, including the 2001 race between Rex Harvey and Jim Blair: http://www.masterstrack.com/news2001/WAVAqueries.html
Hence the attached questionnaire.
Please review it and respond when you can. I will post your replies within 48 hours of receiving them. Don’t worry about spelling, punctuation and grammar. I will fix any mistakes.
My purpose is to shed light on the events, people and issues in masters athletics. WMA gets very little attention anywhere else. So I feel obligated to play the journalist when it comes to WMA politics.
I also believe strongly that WMA will be a stronger, more vital organization if its activities are better known and understood. And I believe in the right of masters athletes to know what their leaders are doing.
Monty, if I have a wrong address for Stan and Cesare, please forward this email to the correct address. Also please forward this message to any other candidates for the WMA presidency (and kindly let me know who they are!).
Thank you very much for your time, attention and expeditious consideration.
Ken Stone
La Mesa, California
http://www.masterstrack.com
Here is the questionnaire, in case you can’t open the attached Word document:
Questions for WMA president candidates Cesare Beccalli and Stan Perkins
First please tell me a little about yourself – date of birth, place of birth, where you grew up, what schools you attended, what sports you competed in (with PBs), your masters track bests, your work history and your family (children, grandchildren?)
1. Why are you running for WMA president? What are your goals as president?
2. How would your administration differ from that of Torsten Carlius?
3. According to the WMA Interim Financial Statement 2003-2004, WMA had a budget deficit of $60,000 on June 30, 2004. What would you do to increase revenues or cut expenses?
4. Under WMA bye-laws, a punishable offense is “promoting, organising, conducting or advertising any international masters competition which has not been sanctioned by WMA.” Both of you – as well as outgoing president Carlius — may have run afoul of this rule. Does the rule need to be scrapped or more vigorously enforced?
5. One of the biggest roles of WMA is selection of meet hosts for world championships, but all the meets since 2004 and projected through 2009 will be in Europe. Why is this? What can be done to spread the meets around?
6. Some people argue that the $150,000 sanction fee for hosting world meets prevents many good cities from becoming candidates. Would you consider lowering the fee?
7. At Gateshead in 1999, the WAVA General Assembly chose Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to host the 2003 WMAC. But for reasons never detailed, the WMA Council stripped Malaysia of the meet and awarded it to the runner-up: Puerto Rico. How did this happen? What could prevent the WMA Council from doing this again?
8. During Mr. Beccalli’s 10-year term as president of WAVA ending in 1997), he faced an impeachment attempt based on evidence that he paid the registration fees of an expanded Hungarian delegation to insure his election. For Cesare: Have you sworn off these tactics? For Stan, should this disqualify Cesare as a WMA candidate?
9. The WMA Web site is the public face of world masters athletics. But two important features are lacking – a message board (or forum) and an up-to-date seasonal list (such as the IAAF top lists). Will you commit to adding these elements to the WMA site? If not, why not?
10. Another important function of WMA is the maintenance of world age-group records, but in recent years many elite (open) marks set in high-profile meets have not been ratified. Many official WMA records in the W35 and M40 age groups are not true world bests. What can be done to fix this?
11. The future of WMA’s world championships is in jeopardy because of competition from the IMGA and its World Masters Games. Should WMA consider combining its world championships with IMGA events? If so, why? If not, why not?
12. The General Assembly several years ago voted to change the name of the group from WAVA to WMA to boost its chances of gaining corporate and other sponsorship. Has WMA seen any evidence that the change is paying off?
13. A continuing concern in world sports is doping, but among the older age groups some medications are essential for an adequate quality of life. Many of these medications are banned by IAAF and WADA. WMA provides for a therapeutic-use exemption but makes it difficult to gain approval. And even a TUE is no guarantee that an athlete won’t be suspended after a positive drug test. Should WMA revisit its drug rules to take older-age issues into consideration?
14. It’s becoming well-known that masters drug testing is never done in the United States and in many countries – and that drug-testing at world meets is minimal. Is it fair for the U.S. not to test? Is it fair that only a relative handful of athletes are tested at WMA world meets?
15. In 2001, following the Brisbane world meet, American Al Sheahen wrote a column critical of the meet and of WMA, saying at one point: “The lack of fairness, openness, and free discussion is becoming more pernicious within WAVA (WMA).” He cited secret meetings that were closed to masters athletes. What efforts will you make to open up WMA and foster greater democracy?
16. Sheahen also was critical of WMA’s many private VIP receptions, which he said “smacked of elitism, royalty vs. the rabble, and an ‘us vs. Them’ mentality, exactly the opposite of what WAVA is supposed to be about.” What would you do to change this culture?
Anything you’d like to add? Feel free to express yourself.