Last month, Brenda Bumgardner lost her W40 indoor American vault record. No worries; she can just get another one. Competing Saturday in Pueblo, Colorado, Brenda soared 3.35 meters (10-11 3/4) to claim the W45 indoor AR, topping Phil Raschker’s record of 3.31 (10-10 1/4) from 1994. Results are here. Word graciously came from Mike Ritter, an eyewitness and entrant: “I competed in the Colorado Indoor Pole Vault Championship in Pueblo, CO yesterday. Brenda … just missed at her attempts at 11-2¼ inches (3.41).” The outdoor AR is Phil’s 3.38 (11-1). The indoor WR is 3.40 (11-1 3/4) by Holland’s Brigitte van de Kamp. Brenda’s Facebook page shows vaulting shots. So she’s serious. Way to go, Brenda!

I wrote a story Saturday about Willie Banks getting beat in the high jump by a 13-year-old (son of former masters jumper Ron Lee). But buried is news of Willie going 42-6 1/4 (12.96) in the triple jump. That beats the listed M55 AR of 12.62 (41-5) by Gordon Farrell back in 1975 — one of the oldest records on the books. Update: After first reporting that Willie’s mark won’t be ratified, for lack of a steel tape, he wrote me Sunday morning: “They held up the event until a steel tape could be purchased from the nearest Home Depot, so the record will be ratified. The actual distance metric was 12.98, 42-7!” (See results here.) He says paperwork is being processed as well. Willie hopes to compete at Landover indoor nationals and Olathe outdoor nationals. But no Brazil worlds. He has a Japanese commitment at that time. Willie’s first three jumps were fouls, with at least one about 44 feet. He scratched after his record jump, feeling tired. Check out my Patch story on the Clash of Generations at the USATF all-comers meet in San Diego.

Read the rest of this post »

I just made something up: VLDR. That stands for VERY long distance running. That’s what Charles “Chuck” Milliman does, especially on his birthday. He recently turned 80. He seems to stick to the Senior Olympic circuit. (He entered 2010 Kamloops indoor worlds, but I can’t find results for him.) Well, to make a short story long, he ran 80 miles on his 80th birthday in November. I heard about it from his buddy Roger Vergin, who graciously writes: “The masters track world should know about my good friend Charles. … Here is a newspaper article from the Sequim (Washington) Gazette. Chuck had some preparation for the run over the years. He had run the Trails End Marathon for 25 consecutive years. In celebration of his 78th birthday in 2010, he racked up 78 miles by running three marathons in three consecutive days.”

Read the rest of this post »

Brian Marlier is a bright and accomplished guy. He’s a senior VP in charge of sales at Cisco Systems, a big-time tech company. He also has a great family and supportive friends. But someone who knows his email address and DOB did him no favors when they entered 52.98 as a 400 time for him at an Arizona indoor meet. The time in official results was wrong, he told me by phone Tuesday night. In fact, he says: “I don’t know what I ran there.” Brian may have dug a deeper hole when he changed the mark to 62.98 in the M50 rankings. But now the mark is gone. (He took my advice to delete it.) Marlier (pronounced Marley-er) told me he probably ran about 60 seconds, finishing behind the winner in 47.94.

Read the rest of this post »

Meredith Scerba is senior vice president, event management, for the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, which is helping organize the National Senior Games this summer. She responded to my queries on why the track meet was shifted from Cleveland to the suburb of Berea — and even addressed concerns about the hammer cage. Good for her. Meredith writes: “First of all, thanks for your interest in the National Senior Games and Masters Track and Field. We really appreciate those of you who help advance masters sports and the healthy lifestyles that come with it. I was forwarded your email from over the weekend and would like to address some of your concerns regarding the track and field venue for this summer’s games here in Cleveland.”

Read the rest of this post »

National Masters Invitational coordinator Mark Cleary has announced that the men’s 400 and women’s 3,000 will be the masters exhibition events March 3 at the USATF open indoor nationals in Albuquerque. He’s shooting for a 6-man field in the 4 and a 10-woman field in the 3K — with qualifying standards of 54 seconds and 11:25, respectively. More details are here. The site says: “The application deadline is February 20, 2013, at 11:59 p.m. PT. The entry fee is $25 (athletes not selected to compete will be refunded 50% of the fee).” Go for it!

News has arrived: “The team of Sarah Lawson, Latrica Dendy, Diane Pomeroy and Beth Clark set a new American record in the 4×200 meters in the women’s 40-49 age group at the USATF East Region Masters Indoor Championships” Sunday in Providence, Rhode Island. (See results here.) They ran 1:53.74, breaking the listed AR of 1:56.8 by 3 seconds. Splits were about Sarah (50) 28.8, Diane (46) 28.2, Beth (46) 31.8 and Latrica (40) a blazing 25.2. They also won a bunch of individual titles. Notable champ was M55 sprinter Val Barnwell, who took his age group 60/200 in 7.68 and 25.48 in one of his first major indoor meets since a two-year doping suspension at 2009 worlds.

Noting news on Martha Mendenhall’s Facebook page, Liz Palmer writes: “Prayers go out to fellow masters track competitor Fidel Banuelos, who was injured during his 60m race Saturday at the University of Washington in Seattle. Possible PCL tear and detached hammy. Fractured scapula and ribs and punctured lung due to the fall. You can send him good wishes at: Fidelbz@comcast.net.” He’s an Oregon-based M45 sprinter, BTW, who graciously sends me newsy notes from Portland and Eugene. Liz herself got injured yesterday and will be out for a few months. So good luck on her recovery as well.

What a difference a day makes. Less than 24 hours after I noted an M50 time of 52.98 seconds for the indoor 400, the mark on mastersrankings.com has been changed to 62.98. The mystery began when someone other than Brian Marlier, 53, posted a 52.98 from the Jan. 19 Northern Arizona University Invitational in Flagstaff. The results say it’s so. But eyes flew wide at the mark, which is close to the listed M50 world indoor record is 52.44 by Arizona’s Michael Sullivan in 2011. So I had to check this out. First I wrote John Seto, the USATF masters rankings coordinator (still looking for a successor in that role, BTW). John replied: “I do not know if it is valid, BUT it is listed in the official meet results. He submitted all of the results posted.” (Later I learned Brian hadn’t posted the mark.)

Read the rest of this post »

Sierra Running Co. is graciously sponsoring five masters events — for men and women both — at the Run for the Dream meet at the Save Mart Center in Fresno. The meet is Sunday, Feb. 17, and the entry form has a deadline of Feb. 5. Mark Hays writes: “The following events will be offered in the masters division: 55m, 55m Hurdles, 600-yard dash and mile. Fresno has some pretty fast milers from back in the day. Come out and represent! High five if you wear a retro outfit!” Last year’s results are here.