Earl Fee, Ed Whitlock team for M80 indoor WR in 4×400 relay

Christa in triple jump

Christa in triple jump.

Marathon superstar Ed Whitlock and long-sprint/middle-distance legend Earl Fee would rarely face each other on the track, but a relay? Teammates! They and two other M80s — Ray Wardle and Bill Thompson — joined Sunday at the Canadian Masters Athletics Championships to set a 4×400 indoor world record of 6:06.23, beating the listed WR of 6:34.65 by a Canadian team including Ed in 2011. The same four also ran the 4x200m relay Saturday, my sources say, setting a new Ontario and Canadian record, in a time of 2:33.41. Ed also ran on a 4x800m relay on Saturday, before his leg in the 4×200. Christa Bortignon, 76, triple-jumped 7.59 meters (24-11) to break her own W75 WR of 7.43 (24-4 1/2). She was North Central America Caribbean World Masters Athletics Female Athlete of the Year in 2012, after setting 10 world records. Canadian indoor nationals results are here. Thanks to Doug Smith for these photos!

Earl on left and Ed on right were in good standing with two others gents.

Earl on left and Ed on right were in good standing with two others gents for WR.

March 18, 2013  5 Comments

Linda Cohn beats collegians, sets W60 javelin American record

Linda has plenty to smile about. Another AR.

She may have been throwing a lighter stick, but Linda Cohn at 60 is taking up where she left off at W55 — setting American records in the javelin. According to results from a Cal State Northridge meet (near where she lives), Linda threw 38.40 meters (126-0) on her fifth try to crush the listed AR of 32.45 (106-5) by Oregon legend Becky Sisley in 1999 — the oldest women’s jav record on the books. (Actually, she beat the record on all six throws.) The listed WR with the 400-gram stick is the daunting 41.28 (135-5) by Austria’s Gertraud Schönauer in 1997 — the oldest women’s javelin WR on the books. But I suspect that’s in Linda’s sights as well. Congrats to Linda (who helped my CSUN graduate son find the place where he now works.)

March 17, 2013  13 Comments

Canadian 4×8 team sets indoor W50 world record after predicting it

Our moles report: “Team Canada Women 50 broke the World Record in the 4X800 Relay at the first day of the Canadian Masters Indoor Championships in Toronto, running 10:32.66. That broke the existing USA record of 10:38.97 set last year. Pictures will be posted by Doug Smith on ontariomastersathletics.ca soon!” Actually, Doug posted the shot below on his Facebook page. The team is Donna Dixon of Calgary (50), Karen Gold of Toronto (50), Laurie Meloche of Regina (51) and Patty Blanchard of Moncton (55). Moreover, a great newspaper article a couple days earlier telegraphed the WR attempt.

Here are the fast women who stole the WR from Team USA. We gonna allow that?

Here are the fast women who stole the WR from Team USA. We gonna allow that? (But I need their IDs, left to right.)

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March 17, 2013  3 Comments

Christian Cushing-Murray joins 1500 fun: M45 AR of 3:55.09 at Oxy

Cush during his Fluffy Bunny days.

Christian Cushing-Murray is a SoCal distance legend but lacks name recognition on a national scale. No more. Friday night at the Occidental Distance Carnival in Los Angeles, CCM burned a 1500 in 3:55.09, taking down John Hinton’s listed M45 outdoor record of 3:56.39. (See results here.) Several people shared the hot news, including 5K deity Pete Magill, who wrote: “With all the hoopla over Brad Barton, people seem to have forgotten about the other American M45-49 middle distance great — Christian Cushing-Murray.” The listed WR is 3:52.43 by Spain’s Jesus Borrego in 2008. But the bigger question: When will Brad and Cush meet? It’s comparing apples and aardvarks, but Brad’s indoor mile record of 4:16.84 earlier this month is worth a 4:01 1500. But take off a second a lap, and Brad=Cush pretty much. Bring it on, guys! Olathe 2013?

From left: Ray Knerr, Christian and Pete Magill visit after Oxy race and AR 1500.

From left: Ray Knerr, Christian and Pete Magill visit after Oxy race and AR 1500. (Diana Hernandez photo)

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March 16, 2013  21 Comments

Hugh Campbell crushes M85 indoor WR in 3000 by 100 seconds!

Hugh Campbell

Competing in the Middle Atlantic USATF Open/Masters Indoor Championships at the University of Delaware last Sunday, 88-year-old Hugh Campbell ran 3000 meters in 15:46.41 — incredibly under the listed M85 indoor WR of 17:24.85 by Portugal’s José Canelo in 2011. Results are here. M60 Gary Grobman (who ran a nifty 11:38.39) graciously writes: “Hard to believe he could do this; it is not a typo, and his past performances are consistent with WRs just about every time he runs. He is featured on the homepage of the Philadelphia Masters Track and Field Assn.” On the Age-Graded Tables, Hugh’s 15:46 is equivalent to an open mark of 7:27.9! (The real WR is 7:24.90)

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March 8, 2013  6 Comments

Paul Babits raises own M50 world indoor vault record to 15-7

Paul Babits raised his own M50 world indoor vault record last month, I’ve just learned. He cleared 4.75 meters (15-7) at the Brenda Lee Open at Fort Wayne, Indiana, according to his website. The listed indoor WR is Paul’s 4.73 (15-6 1/4) from 2011. At the same meet, Olympic champ Jenn Suhr jumped a then-world-leading 4.84 (15-10 1/2). Not to be overlooked: Paul’s wife, Brenda, cleared 2.51 (8-2 3/4) as a W50. Bud and Nadine, you have some competition! Congrats to all.

March 8, 2013  One Comment

Little-noticed until now: Isett sets M70 WR in shadow of Jenn Suhr

Don and Jenn, just two peas in a pole vault record pod at USA nationals.

Don and Jenn, just two peas in a record pod at USA nationals.

Unbeknownst to the world (and me), Jenn Suhr wasn’t the only world-record setter at USA indoor nationals last weekend. So was 73-year-old Don Isett. He writes: “I competed in the 2013 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships in a Masters Pole Vault Exhibition event. I broke the world indoor mark with a jump of 10 feet, 8 inches (3.25 meters). The application for a world indoor record were filled out and filed. There were eight masters vaulters in the exhibition event. The results are on the USATF web site. I was lucky enough to get a picture with Jenn Suhr, who broke the women’s indoor world record.” She should have bowed to you and said: “I am not worthy! I am not worthy.” But great to see y’all together. Listed M70 WR: Terry Cannon’s 3.23 (10-7) from 2008.

March 8, 2013  2 Comments

Brad Barton crushes John Hinton’s M45 world indoor mile record

Brad Barton used a 62-second final quarter Saturday night to claim the M45 world record in the indoor mile, clocking 4:16.84 at the Armory track in New York, reports the Armory website. That mark falls short of Tony Young’s never-ratified 4:13.25 run four years ago on the dang oversized track at the University of Washington. But Brad ran the fastest mile indoor for eight laps, so his mark should stick. Afterward, he was quoted as saying: “I didn’t think I could run that fast.” The listed M45 indoor mile record is John Hinton’s 4:20.18 from 2008, which took more than a year to recognize. Also reporting Brad’s brilliant race was his hometown newspaper. Brad told the paper: “My first half-mile was running 2:10.0. The second half was 2:06.8. With 400 meters to go I knew I had the record. The announcer got the crowd into it and I really flew home. I thought I could run 4:19 but bested my own aspirations by well over 2 seconds and smash the previous record by over three seconds.”

Brad Barton at the Armory on his record-setting day.


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March 4, 2013  15 Comments

World champions Valle, Prince wins masters exhibitions at USA nats

M40 Eric Prince, whose last exhibition race on the USATF open stage was first in the 200 at the U.S. Olympic Trials, won again Sunday at the USA National Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He clocked 51.59 to win a three-man 400-meter race, with possible challenger Khalid Mulazim listed as not starting. Fellow world champion Lisa Valle, W45, won the masters women’s 3000 in 11:07.76, well ahead of Jill Vollweiler’s 11:30.94. Cleared-to-jog Liz Palmer also notes the effort of “fellow Colorado girl Brandi Bernart” in the women’s open 60. “She didn’t make the finals, but she did run a 7.65! Brandi is 34. The AR for W35 is 7.86. Maybe next year!” Congrats to all. Here’s a video of Eric from the Eugene Trials last summer:

March 3, 2013  8 Comments

Horace Grant claims M60 world indoor record at 800 meters at LSU

Bill Collins writes Saturday from Baton Rouge: “Wanted to update you that Horace Grant broke the world record in the indoor 800 meters today. The meet was the Southwest regional championship at LSU. (See results here.) He ran 2:14.23, which breaks the American record of 2:14.75 by Sid Howard. The old world record of 2:14.42 was by Harold Morioka.” I had heard that Nolan Shaheed was set to run at LSU, but his name wasn’t in results. Nolan holds the listed M60 outdoor record at 2:08.56. Horace must have had fun — beating a guy almost half his age. Blake Bearden, 31, ran 2:23. Don’t feel bad, Blake. Horace is a legend. He holds the M55 AR in the 800 at 2:06.53, also set at LSU (back in 2009). Here’s Horace at a WR run three years ago:

March 2, 2013  15 Comments