Brad Barton, 46, has his sights set on taking down John Hinton’s M45 indoor mile WR of 4:20.18, set at the Hartshorne Miles in 2008. But Brad isn’t entered at this weekend’s Hartshorne meet in Ithaca, New York. Instead, he’ll try to go sub-4:20 at a meet in Idaho — at Boise State University. In an email shared with me, Brad — who works as a professional keynote speaker — asked for guidance on how to make application for a masters age-group record. He also noted his credentials: “I’m a former Weber State University NCAA All-American steeplechaser, 8:31.45, 1991.” He ran 4:25.92 in his season opener Jan. 11 on the boards at Idaho State University in a collegiate indoor meet (4,500 feet altitude). He also writes that he ran a flat 3000 at Utah State University (4,600 feet elevation) in mid-April 2012 in 8:53.12 and “because of a timing irregularity in the meet, I did not bother to submit this performance.” Here’s Brad:

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Terry Pliner, a longtime Wisconsin coach who did a range of events, died Jan. 7, three days before his 75th birthday, reports Bob Osterhoudt. Bob writes: “Shortly after we last saw Terry at Nationals, he suffered a recurrence of his lymphoma/melanoma, stood another surgery in respect to it, passed through an experimental drug program to treat it, and fought very hard for his life. In late December, however, a bout with influenza and congestive heart failure incited the pneumonia that killed him… His obituary appeared in the Green Bay Press-Gazette earlier this week. His wife is Virginia Pliner at 1321 Delray Drive, Green Bay, WI 54304. Jerry (Feldhausen, a longtime, track-and-field friend of Terry) also told me how much the modest record we managed in Lisle meant to Terry, all the more reason perhaps to do what we might to see it through to ratification.” Terry was a member of the SoCal Track Club, and he was part of the M70 team that set a shuttle hurdles American record at Lisle nationals with Fred Niedermeyer, Bob Osterhoudt and Terry Rowan.

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Friday morning, Gary Snyder sent me a note announcing a major effort to revamp our records process. Gary wrote: “I’ve appointed Steve Robbins to chair a special committee to review the records process and rules. The committee will have their first meeting via conference call in the near future and begin working on recommendations for improvement. The committee members are well-known to us all: Nolan Shaheed, Liz Palmer, Peter Taylor and David Ortman.” This is huge, since these folks are intimately familiar with the nuances of our broken ratification routine. Besides being a world-record holder and world champion himself, Steve (a 2005 inductee of the Masters Hall of Fame) is a world-class expert in business management and organizational behavior. He’s written many books. He’ll make sure progress is made. The others are perfect for the panel, too. I look forward to hearing their recommendations. Long overdue!

Gary Snyder, USATF National Masters T&F chairman, made a significant remark over the weekend, saying [in comment 52]: “Thanks to all who have offered constructive criticism, some good ideas and well other types of comments [on the records process]. This is an annual issue that I have been unable to improve. This year there will be a change. Jeff Brower the MTF web guru has volunteered to assist me in developing an online status system to provide information for everyone to see for pending record applications.” As some have noted, this falls short of a simpler process, and one that involves a true committee, and not just a single person. But progress is progress. We expect to learn more.

Runner’s World might have to rename itself Sprinter’s World at this rate. Picking up on a late 2012 study in Osteoporosis International, my favorite bedside reading, RW reports: “Older sprinters have better bone density and neuromuscular functioning than older distance runners, according to … German researchers [who] examined 178 competitors at the 2006 edition of the European Masters Championships [in Poznan, Poland]. They measured bone density, lean tissue mass, and a few measures of neuromuscular functioning, or how well one’s nervous system communicates with one’s muscles, in three groups of athletes: sprinters, middle-distance runners and long-distance runners. The sprinters outperformed the other two groups on all the measures.” OK, great! Now can you spin off a magazine for the dash masters? Here’s the original German study. Thanks to world champ Jim Chinn for the RW link.

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Paul McClelland of Arizona, a Santa Monica Track Club teammate of George Cohen in the 1980s, shares information on George’s funeral and memorial services. “I received this from George’s wife, Nona, on Wednesday morning,” Paul graciously writes. “It has details about the memorial service and scholarship fund that I am sure his many friends would like to know.” Interment is noon Friday, Jan. 18, at Riverside National Cemetery, 22495 Van Buren Blvd. Riverside, CA 92518. Celebration of George’s Life is 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 19, at Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook, 6300 Hetzler Road, (off Jefferson Blvd. by “the steps”), Culver City, CA 90232. Parking is at the top for $6 or park on Jefferson Blvd. and look for the shuttle bus to transport you to the top. Space will be limited at The Overlook. Dress comfortably (your favorite track or running gear) and warmly. RSVP is requested. Repast immediately following. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Cohen Family Reunion- George Cohen Scholarship Fund c/o A. Marzette, 8621 NW Lakecrest Court, Vancouver, WA 98665.

Holding a world masters meet outside Europe, Aussieland or the Americas has been a dicey proposition. (Japanese worlds excepted.) But according to a year-end message from WMA President Stan Perkins, it appears 2013 worlds in Brazil could be a nightmare like 1997 Durban, South Africa. Read between the lines: “The Year 2012 is almost gone and 2013 approaches with all of its challenges, including probably the greatest challenge that this body has ever had to face — a Stadia Championships in a Region that is probably not yet ready to host such a massive and difficult event,” Stan writes. “[WMA Secretary Winston Thomas] undertook a very tough assignment earlier this month when he attended Porto Alegre for ceremonial purposes but at the same time under very strict instruction to ‘get this organisation working.'” Yikes! I’ll try to get details on this. In the meantime, hope that Winston gets things sorted out.

It’s an article of faith that a record set at masters nationals is a slam dunk for ratification. Not this year. It’s also conventional wisdom that if your name is Charles Allie, Bob Lida, Jim Barrineau, Marie-Louise Michelsohn, Renee Henderson, Amy Acuff or Jamie Nieto, your marks are as good as gold. Think again. Those established stars and M35 newcomer Donelle Dunning were dissed at the Daytona annual meeting when their names were left off the final records list. The USATF masters indoor and outdoor records were updated Dec. 19, and many records remain nonsense. Have a seat.

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Ralph Maxwell, who gained fame beyond his M90 decathlon records when he read aloud his poem mocking Mitt Romney, now has another foe to poke fun at: cancer. He writes: “Well, yes, I had some tests done, and then outpatient surgery. Afterward, in his office, the Doc said, ‘I’ve got good news and bad. First, the bad. It’s cancer. The good news is this: When you eventually die, it will be some other cause, not this one.'” Ralph says he’s in Costa Rica for Christmas, “vigorously training as usual — running, jumping, throwing. If I felt any better, I would have to be put on a leash.”

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Kay Glynn, looking forward to her 60th birthday this coming year, sends the latest in her series of legendary Christmas greetings from Iowa. Usually they feature her in the ice and snow. This one may require icing afterward. In any case, she’s again a role model for getting outside your comfort zone. Kay writes: “I was trying to think about what I could do for this year’s card.  I realized that I hadn’t done this little trick for a couple years and had never done it in the spirit of a Christmas card!  Given the deterioration of my ailing hip (I’m still putting off surgery), I figured I’d see if I could even do it.  If I could, I knew (at 59 and 10/12ths years old) this would probably be the last time I’d be doing this.  I was fortunate enough to still be able to use 160 pounds, although I was willing to settle for 120 if I had to!”

Courageous Kay continues: 

For the first time in doing a stunt, I was really nervous about doing this.  Even though I still try to vault and dance, my limp is here to stay until after surgery…whenever.  And, with this concrete block stunt, there’s no good way to “recover” if things don’t go well.  I have no “plan B” for this! But by the time things were all set up and ready to go for the photo session, the only fear I had was losing my hat!  And, yes, my feathers!  The 160 pounds seemed to be the least of my worries!! 
 
Happy Holidays to all my trackin’ friends out there!

What can you say other than Wow!? I won’t even guess what Kay will be doing at 70, 80 or 90. Keep Kay in your thoughts as she works her way back to masters track fitness.