You may have heard about the kiddie-class USA-Britain dual meet planned for July 21, 2018, at London Stadium. USATF will pay for entrants and travel. “USATF is thrilled to collaborate and innovate with British Athletes on ‘The Meet,’” said USATF CEO Max Siegel. “Team competition captures the attention of fans in a way that brings excitement, attention and focus to our sport. ‘The Meet’ will bring track and field back to the future by reviving dual-meet team competition in a way that caters to modern fans.” But masters will have their own get-together as well. M45 world-class sprinter Darren Scott of the UK writes on Facebook: “Due to the popularity of the very first 2018 Masters Grand Prix, a group has been created for future updates. If [you] are considering taking part in any of the 3 or all events then please join the group where we will announce more information on travel, dates, timetables, etc. We are hoping this becomes a great success and we welcome all Masters athletes, UK AND OVERSEAS to take part.” USATF Masters Track won’t pay our way, but if you’re in Europe a year from now, perhaps you can drop by. More info will be here.

Five years ago, I was crazy impressed with a mark by Olympian Anthony Whiteman, headlining a post: “Incredible M40 WR: Tony Whiteman breaks 1:50 barrier in 800.” So now what do we do? At a British Milers Club event Saturday in Stratford, Tony torched his own recent WRs to clock a sub-1:50 at age 45. Word first came from Matthew H. Fraser Moat, who wrote on Facebook: “Anthony Whiteman runs 1:49.86 in the M800 ‘A’ race at the BMC Trafford Grand Prix to set another V45 world best. He has now broken 1:50 in each of the last 7 seasons.” Tony tweeted: “Awful build up 2 race, stuck in traffic, arrived late, pleaded 2 run in A race, moaned about the wind tripped over in warm up then 1.49.86😀🏃🏻” At the beginning of the season, the listed M45 WR was 1:54.18 by American Saladin Allah in 2005. Official results should be posted soon at the BMC page. But WOW. On the Age-Graded Tables, Tony’s latest WR is worth an open time of 1:39.76!

Craig Godwin 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.”

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Bob Weiner, USATF national masters media director, writes what I didn’t have time to. Bless him (and Jeff Brower and Mary Trotto who helped with the stats). “Masters are on a tear! Master Chair Rex Harvey wants the USATF Masters to be the number one masters track and field team in the world, and it appears they are well on their way. Two world and 15 American masters records were set at the World Masters Athletics (WMA) North America-Central America- Caribbean Regional Championship in Toronto, Canada August 11-13 and the USATF Masters Outdoor Throws Championship August 5-6 in Worcester, MA. Masters Track & Field Records Chair Jeff Brower has provided the list below, highlighted by Kathy Martin, 65, from Northport, NY, setting TWO world marks, in the 1500 Meter Run and 2000 Meter Steeplechase, in Toronto at the WMA Regionals.” (Meanwhile, check out the gazillion free photos taken at Toronto for the Ontario Masters Athletics site.)

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With the certainty of offending and losing some readers, I want to say something about our M70 president and his failure to show moral clarity on the Charlottesville horror. Tuesday’s press conference — in which Trump said “both sides” share blame for Saturday’s death and injuries — was sickening and shameful. But my disgust — as a Jew and human being acutely aware of the anti-Semitic and racist elements of the “Unite the Right” folks Trump won’t properly reject — can’t possibly match the revulsion my African-American friends must be feeling. If the Klan marched in La Mesa and saw me on the sidelines, I’d be safe from attack. My black friends would have no such confidence. When David Duke, the Holocaust denier and former KKK leader, tweets: “Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth about #Charlottesville & condemn the leftist terrorists in BLM/Antifa,” you have to wonder what comes next. Masters track has a history of inclusion and tolerance. We celebrate diversity and make efforts to expand it. Trump is the Anti-Diversity Commander in Chief. Thank God I live in the People’s Republic of California, where the alt-left rules. Neo-Nazis and their enablers and apologists have no place in America. I pray our nation survives Trump. Silence on this issue cannot stand.

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London wasn’t the only great meet over the weekend. Toronto WMA regionals had some tight competition, especially in the sprints. And with W75 Carol LaFayette-Boyd in the mix, she’s eligible for WMA Best Athlete consideration for her record-setting season. We also finally saw Olympian Walter Dix run a masters 200. He clocked 21.30 to win M30 by more than a second (after running a 10.33 100 into a stiff wind.) See results here. Meet director Doug “Shaggy” Smith informs me that WMA regionals will return to Toronto in 2019, a year ahead of WMA worlds in the same city. I copy-pasted some of my favorite marks. Note the M50 200 — with seven men going sub-24 in a wind-aided race won by Karnell Vickers in 23.12. At 80, Bob Lida went sub-30 in the 200, with his 29.90 bettering his own AR of 30.80 at LSU nationals. (The WR is 29.54 by Japan’s Hisamitsu Hijiya.) In the 400, Bob ran 72.10, crushing his LSU nationals AR of 73.55. (The WR is 70.01 by the same Japanese gent.) Bob’s 100 was a mere 14.63, just a few clicks off Payton Jordan’s WR of 14.35) The M55 100 was dang close, with Canadian native Dr. Al Tissenbaum, (now Team USA) beating Don McGee 11.83 to 11.86. Did I miss any other records?

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Sub-4 masters mile legend Anthony Whiteman, who turned 45 in November, finally found an outdoor mile race. Saturday at the “Night of Endurance” at Leckwith Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, he predicted a 4:05. Pretty gutsy, since the listed M45 WR is Tony Young’s 4:16.09 from 2008. But Tony tore through four laps in a hand-timed 4:10, he tells me via FB and his followers via Twitter. It may not pass record vetters, but he knows what he ran. And the world does now. Tony ran a 4:07.4 road mile in May and also a 1:51.3 for 800. So he was due. On the Age-Graded Tables, his 4:10 is worth an open (age-20-30) time of 3:47.5! Miles are rare in Britain, Tony says. So let’s hope he gets recognition for his latest mark.

Gia Lewis-Smallwood, 38, had a bad day at the office. She failed to advance to the discus finals of IAAF London worlds, despite being the American record-holder at 69.17 (226-11), which she did at age 35 in 2014. But now it’s time for my recurring rant. Why isn’t she also the W35 American record-holder? Carol Finsrud is still the listed AR woman, with her 54.52 (178-10) dating to 1992. If Gia’s 69.17 in Angers isn’t kosher, how about her 58.15 (190-9 1/4) Friday at worlds? (The listed W35 WR is 69.60/228-4 by Faina Myelnik.) On Facebook, Gia wrote: “Sometimes you just don’t perform near to your capabilities, that was me today.” How about USATF performing to its potential and listing her latest mark as the AR? Long overdue.

So who’s going to challenge W70 Angela Copson of Britain for WMA Best Athlete of the Year? As her local paper reports: “Angela Copson came away with six individual gold medals and two team silvers from the European Masters Championships at Aarhus in Denmark last week. The Rugby & Northampton AC star is in her first year as a W70 runner, for female athletes aged 70 and over. She had already set five world records or bests this year before taking part in her first race of the championships, which was the 10,000m, where she broke another world record [with a 44:25.1]. … On the penultimate day of the championships she then set another world record. This time in the 800m when she recorded 2:51.49 to win by over 18 seconds.” The listed WRs are 2:59.55 by Germany’s Elfriede Hodapp and, in the 10K, 44:43.27 by Aussie Lavinia Petrie. Another WR came in the W70 4×100, where the German team of Karin Foerster, Petra Zoerner, Karin Stump and WR holder Ingrid Meier ran 64.28 to crush the listed WR of 66.05 by a German team in 1993. What others records am I missing?

W55 Neni [knee-knee] Lewis, who’s battled injuries over the years, set three American records last weekend at the USATF Masters Throws Championships in Worcester, Massachusetts. Ten ARs were set overall at a meet described by Jerry Book-Weiner as having intermittent heavy rain on Saturday and gorgeous weather on Sunday. Jerry says 94 took part in various pentathlons, two throwers short of the record. Neni’s records came in the ultraweight pentathlon, where her 5221 points upped her own record of 5210 set a year ago at Lisle, Illinois; the 16-pound weight throw (improving her own mark from 15.50/50-10 to 15.88/52-1 1/4); and 11.04/36-2 3/4 in the 25-pound superweight throw, beating her own listed AR of 10.78/35-4 and a June 2017 pending mark of 11.00/36-1. W35 Janine Kuestner set throws pentathlon and ultra weight pentathlon ARs of 3256 and 4589, respectively. W60 Carol Finsrud’s 5214 beat the listed AR in the ultra pent of 5188 by Myrle Mensey in 2013. W75 Joanne Marriott set a weight throw (4KG) AR of 11.55/37-10 3/4 to beat the listed mark of 11.47/37-7 by Joanne Marriott a year ago. W35 Julie Williams-Tinkham nailed an exact 10.00/32-9 3/4 in the 35-pound superweight to crush the listed AR of 9.32/30-7 by Marilyn Coleman in 2014. The only men’s record went to M45 Eric Cole, whose 5049 in the ultra pent upped his own listed AR of 4703 from last year. See results here. More than 500 photos are posted here. Strong kudos to all.

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