Roger Pierce has been on my radar for years, but I haven’t given him the attention he deserves. Now his local paper has done the work for me, thank goodness, with this great summary of his track career. His latest honor is induction into Northeastern University’s sports Hall of Fame. I love where his bio notes that he was an NU walk-on! Also news to me: “He and his wife, Fran, live in Essex, Mass., and have three children. They are a folk song duo called Tamarack and are popular on the North Shore. They also founded a coffeeshop named One World, which is enjoying its 15th anniversary.” Congrats, Roger, and many more years of speedy running.

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Another set of photos from Boston nationals is online — mostly of sprinters. These are several dozen shots by Lloyd Jeremiah, an M50 hurdler from Washington, D.C. My favorite shot shows Kathy Bergen of Southern California battling Kathy Jager of Arizona in the W60/65 60-meter dash. Kathy won.

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John Hinton, competing against collegians, ran the 1500 in 3:57.98 Friday at the Duke Asics Invitational in Durham, North Carolina. He represented Carrboro Athletics Club, whose Jason Jabaut, ran the fastest time (3:48.96). John turns 46 on May 1 and should eventually challenge his own M45 world record of 3:56.39, set at Durham in 2007. The listed M45 world record for the mile is 4:16.75 by New Zealand’s David Sirl in 1987. The AR is 4:18.83 by Ken Sparks in 1990. Go get ’em, John! Thanks, Alan Sigmon, for sharing the latest Hinton news.

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Milan Tiff, a former NCAA champion triple jumper from UCLA, has returned to the hop-step-jump wars. Big time. At Sunday’s John Ward Masters Games in Santa Ana, California, Milan, listed as age 60 but actually 58, spanned 43-7 (metrically 13.28). He turns 60 in July 2009 (in time for worlds), where he can target the listed M60 world record of 12.68 (41-7 1/4) by Finland’s Stig Backlund in 2000. I’m awaiting a wind reading on that jump, which age-grades to 18.33 (59-2 3/4)! Milan jumped sparingly last season. He’s no stranger to masters, though. In 1995, he set the M45 indoor WR of 14.82 (48-7 1/2). Welcome back, Milan!

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Four-time Olympian Jearl Miles-Clark, who turns 42 in September, was a mystifying no-show at the Boston masters indoor nationals a few weekends ago. But if she was ailing then, it doesn’t show in her latest performance. At the Florida Relays on Friday, she ran the 400 in 55.18. That creams the listed W40 American outdoor record of 56.98 by Lesia Batiste in 2003. (The listed WR is 53.68 by Chile’s Sara Montecinos in 1994.) The “B” qualifying standard for the U.S. Olympic Trials is 52.60 (or the top 30 Americans by mid-June.) So Jearl has a ways to go before thinking Eugene seriously. But nice run, Jearl! Glad you’re OK.

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M45 stud Pete Magill of South Pasadena, a former Carlsbad 5000 champion, couldn’t quite repeat yesterday on the roads of coastal San Diego County. But man, he’s the best at spinning a yarn. On the weekly letsrun.com message board thread dedicated to masters races, Pete writes: “Got up at 4 AM to head to Carlsbad, then didn’t get home until mid-afternoon. Had to catch a quick nap, then head out to dinner. But now I’ve finally got a second. Unfortunately, I still have my ‘runner’s head’ from this AM’s race (and from copious amounts of beer, coffee, and candy bars afterward).”

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The USATF Web site has added select photos from Boston indoor nationals as well as a link to hundreds of shots taken by peripatetic track photog Cheryl Treworgy. Great series of shots of men’s and women’s hurdles and men’s high jump (Bruce McBarnette et al), especially. One of my favorites is this photo of M90 superstud Orville Rogers:

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If she submits the proper paperwork, Aeron Arlin-Genet of San Luis Obispo, California, will lay claim to the “official” W40 American record for the outdoor 1500. At yesterday’s Stanford Invitational, she took sixth in her elite section in 4:27.68. That betters the listed AR of 4:32.73 by Joan Nesbit in 2002. Of course, it falls short of Alisa Harvey’s unrecognized 4:26.49 at the 2006 Penn Relays. But way in the distance (and distant past) is another mark that fell through the cracks: Ruth Wysocki’s incredible W40 efforts more than a decade ago.

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Dr. Vonda Wright

Dr. Vonda Wright is a fellow blogger at Masters Athlete Daily. Unlike me, though, she knows what’s she’s talking about. She’s a medical doctor and director of PRIMA — Performance and Research Initiative for Masters Athletes. She also serves as an assistant professor at UPMC Center for Sports Medicine in Pittsburgh. A W40 distance runner, Vonda knows whereof she speaks from experience as well. Lately, I’ve been coming across a lot of her wisdom, including in this Gina Kolata article in The New York Times. But perhaps her most important contribution is a scholarly piece titled “Age-Related Rates of Decline in Performance Among Elite Senior Athletes.” You can read the whole thing here.

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M40 Aaron Thigpen and M35 Jeff Laynes made their younger rivals eat all-weather dust today in the 100-meter dash at the Stanford Invitational. Jeff advanced to tomorrow’s final. Here are the prelims results — showing a 10.48 legal time for 37-year-old Jeff and a barely wind-aided 10.81 by Aaron, 43. Aaron holds the listed M40 American record of 10.73 at Charlotte in 2006, but ran a legal 10.60 last year at Mt. SAC. Don’t ask why it’s not the official record.