Oldest reference to masters track? July 1910 paper covers vets race
Masters track didn’t really start until the late 1960s, but veterans athletic clubs had been around for decades before—especially in Australia. Now comes proof that America had masters track a century ago. Thanks to sharp-eyed Jeff Davison of Southern California, we learn of a handicap 100-yard dash won by an 86-year-old in New York. A subhead in the July 5 issue of the New York Daily Tribune reads: “Octogenarian Wins Race for Veterans at Carnival of United Scottish Clans.” Here’s the clip. To see the whole page, click on the PDF button of the page linked to here. Amazing.
M85 hadn't been invented, but here's an 86-year-old running sprints.
7 Responses
Very interesting! I added the info to the page on mastersatletiek on the Dutch wikipedia.
One thing they failed to mention in the article was that the announcer for this meet was a young- Pete Taylor.
OUTCH,
ACTUALLY, PETE, I WAS THERE AS WELL, REMEMBER ME?
Nolan, you were still in diapers!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN
Christel:
Yes, you were there as well, I remember now. You were speaking with a heavy accent, however, and I had trouble understanding you. I thought you were asking me where to check in for the hurdles, but I learned later that you were inquiring about the availability of showers and a changing area.
Nolan, you were in the race for kids under 7 and managed to run an amazing 8.2 for the 60 (yards, that is). I remember it so clearly, even though it was 1910 (the year before my father was born).
i believe there is an older account…much older, of geriatrics racing,… but i am not proficient in cuneiform, however there is a matching text in hieroglyphs …something about the bald headed catlike old guy with toe like shoes, beating the falcon nosed big eared old guy…
inscriptions in the tombs in the Valley of Kings in Egypt depict the Pharaoh winning the race, but later was found to have been using steroids….
For those “shuttle hurdle relay” fans . . . I did dig up a couple of older shuttle hurdle races that were competed in the 1920’s in the United Kingdom and the Penn Relays (USA).
Leave a Reply