Coach Frank Schiro saluted in neighborhood NYC paper
Frank Schiro, a world-class M55 long sprinter, also goes a long way to helping out fellow athletes. In a touching story in this week’s The Villager, we learn: ” ‘Besides preparing for races myself, I coach other people, and with certain adjustments I have improved the time of many runners who are over 50,’ says Schiro. One of his coaching success stories is 75-year-old runner Dr. Robert Kwit of the Lower East Side.” I also love his diet regimen before Boston nationals: “I ate a donut and coffee, because I figured by this age I suffered enough, so I can eat what I like.”
Marie Kay indoor world records get major ink Down Under
Down Under, they have the coolest place names. The city of Wollongong in New South Wales (on Australia’s southeast coast) is one of them. And its top female masters athlete may be W45 sprinter Marie Kay. And cool is what you call the haul of medals she brought home from Clermont-Ferrand worlds. Her local paper last week ran a summary of her world-record exploits, which puts her in the running for IAAF Masters Athlete of the Year honors at the end of 2008.
Bunn denies posting false marks on mastersrankings.com
Yesterday’s post about discrepancies between Steve Bunn’s times on mastersrankings.com and the actual meet results has brought a response — from Steve Bunn. In a comment posted this morning, he writes (in part): “I can assure you all that I have NOT manipulated any times posted on the site nor have I personally submitted any times for the 2008 indoor season.” This now becomes a case of apparent sabotage (with someone else posting marks under Steve’s name), so I hope the prankster who posted the false marks is identified and disciplined. I encourage everyone to monitor their own marks on mastersrankings.com to assure the site’s accuracy and credibility.
Kudos to Ontario Masters T&F Assn. for cool new site
Someone up north knows how to put together a masters track site. The Ontario Masters T&F Association in eastern Canada has unveiled a site with serious chops. It appears to rely on database technology for many of its pages, including a nascent national rankings section. One really cool feature is an area where athletes can fill out a profile for display. Hundreds already have. They have a Facebook account. They have an Ontario Masters Hall of Fame, too. Just oodles of cool stuff. Check it out! (And USATF masters? Where’s that new site you’ve been promising?)
Video posted of Willie Gault’s 4×1 anchor leg at Mt. SAC
M45 sprinter Willie Gault isn’t old by our standards, but his anchor leg in the invitational 4×100 relay at Sunday’s Mt. SAC Relays must have made him feel aged. (He’s wearing all blue, in lane 2 in this Flotrack clip.) He took the baton from a Hudson Smith International teammate in fourth place (in a very smooth handoff). Then he proceeded to be outlegged by three youngsters. (But I timed Willie in 10.1!) Still, I can’t think of any other sub-40 relay anchored by any anyone older than Willie at 47. He’s not the only 40-plus relayist to go sub-40, however.
Fudging fast times on mastersrankings.com? Truth sought
Steve Bunn: Are his sprint times bunk?
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My favorite motto in masters track is: “The older I get, the faster I was.” This suggests the fibs we tell our friends, family and co-workers about our prowess “back in the day.” But there’s one place where lying is seriously bad form: mastersrankings.com. Launched in 2003 as a service of USATF Masters T&F Committee, this amazing site allows athletes, meet directors and others to post marks in real time — making it possible for athletes, fans and journalists to instantly see top age-group performances around the country. The database technology that underlies this site was devised by masters thrower John Seto. It’s a wonder to behold. It works on the honor system.
Masters races close at Mt. SAC; Rey Brown tells of return
Today’s Mt. SAC Relays had some wonderful masters races — even with some major no-shows (injuries and otherwise). I also had a chance to chat with a high jumper I idolized in high school: two-time Olympian Reynaldo Brown. He’s making a masters comeback, he says, at the Pasadena Senior Games this summer. It’ll be his first competition since 2000. A kidney ailment sidelined him for years, but now it’s resolved, Rey says. He’s 58 this year — and looks fantastic. (I’ll post photos of him and all the masters events in coming days.)
Elections due in late May for Colorado USATF association
Masters can have their say in new leaders of the slapped-down USATF Colorado Association (remember the long grievance process?). Deb Conley sent a note detailing the convoluted election process, with balloting about May 20 to pick new officers. If you know masters in the Colorado association, let ’em know about the upcoming vote. At the moment, none of the info is posted on the official Colorado USATF Web site.
Mt. SAC masters events will be webcast on Sunday
Seven masters exhibition races will be contested tomorrow (Sunday) at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, California, and all should be webcast live (click here). The men’s and women’s 800s are at 11:15 and 11:20 a.m.Pacific time, followed by a series of 100s from 11:40 a.m. until noon and a men’s 200 at 1:10 p.m. I’m watching (or listening) to the prep meet as I type, and the quality and professionalism are exceptional — not like the Orono webcast last August, shot with a lone camera from atop the stadium.
Roger Pierce recalls Australia magic at HoF induction
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Roger Pierce was an eloquent representative of masters track last night when he was inducted into his alma mater’s Hall of Fame. His local paper quoted Roger: “As long as I am capable of doing it, I’ll run for the rest of my life. But I’m at the age where I see a lot of people breaking down. I’ve had a lot of injuries this past year — not running related, but (ones that) have affected my running. I’ll keep going, though, because it’s something I absolutely love doing.” I also learned something new: his Aussie roots. So it was something special for him to sprint at Brisbane worlds back in 2001. “I hadn’t been back to Australia in 54 years, but when I won the gold there it was an indescribable moment,” Roger said.
