Carmel on wedding day (click for shot with Larry).

Carmel Papworth-Barnum is busy. A relatively new bride to M60 middle-distancer Larry Barnum, she and hubby are moving into a new home while training for Orono masters nationals. But she took time to answer a quick series of questions on her new gig as editor of National Masters News. “I am hoping we can work together to promote masters track and field,” she writes. Most notably, Carmel indicates she plans “to comment on masters track issues in this column as and when they arise.” Cool! Anyway, by way of introduction: Carmel was born August 12, 1965, in Melbourne, Australia, and lived in that Olympic city until she moved to America last year. She worked in telecommunications for over 18 years in procurement and government reporting. She has no children.

She continues: “Currently I am a volunteer for Solace Tree, an organization that supports grieving children. In the last 12 months, I have gained my certification in Personal Training and will be pursuing this career in the future.”
Here’s our Q&A:

Masterstrack.com: Will you work from home in Reno?
Carmel: Yes, as all the work is on a computer; I can work out of Reno
Will you change the current design? If so, radically or gradually?
Juliet and I will be working together over the next few issues (August and September) to ensure a smooth transition. There are some changes I want to make but these will be phased in gradually.
Will the paper continue publication in the Sacramento area?
The publication will remain in the Sacramento area.
What ideas do you have for new or improved columns?
There have been so many ideas swimming around my head that I have needed to write them down to ensure I capture them all. Obviously I am very excited about taking over the role and my aim is to keep improving the product. My initial thoughts are to include more stories from athletes across the country in the various events, eg sprints, distance, throws, walking, jumps etc. I would like to include personal accounts of athletes experiences at competitions, their preparation for events and training schedules.
Will you take editorial stands on masters track issues?
I plan to have an editorial column and would comment on masters track issues in this column as and when they arise.
Will you be involved with the NMN Web site? If yes, how so?
Randy is currently working on the NMN Web site. I have provided Randy with some feedback/ideas for the site as I believe it needs work and the website is an important adjunct to the newspaper. However, I will be concentrating on the newspaper initially.
Tell me about your own track career — all-time PRs, titles, other achievements?
In Australia, many children compete in team sports; and growing up I played tennis, basketball and netball competitively. I took up jogging at 26 to keep fit and entered my first 10km fun run and was hooked. I joined a local running club and they introduced me to cross country and then track and field.
Over the years I competed for my club in the state and national open championships. I also became involved in the administrative side, taking over as secretary of my club, being a meet director for local fun runs and the state half-marathon championship, having positions on committees with Athletics Victoria and officiating at track events.
I took up masters competition at 35 and won several Australian titles in 5km track and Victorian titles in 1500m, 5km, 10km and 8km cross country.
My PR’s are:
10km track – 36.53
Half marathon – 81.03
5km track – 17.29 (age 40 at the Worlds in Spain)
1500m – 4.44 (age 40 in Australia)