Video of M40 final of 400-meter dash at Riccione worlds
Canadian sprinter Jimson Lee, reading about Robert Thomas and his French lodging offer, sent me a video of the M40 400 final at Riccione in which Robert took second to Italy’s Enrico Saraceni, 49.23 to 50.07. (Fellow Americans David Jones and Junior Ripy were fifth and sixth in this race.) Click and enjoy!
Sneak preview of 2009 indoor nationals will be Feb. 23
Jerry Bookin-Weiner, an M60 thrower and masters throws coordinator, has posted information on the USATF Masters Eastern Regional Indoor Championships over on our Forum. Jerry writes: “The Sportsplex (in Landover, Maryland) will also be the site of the 2009 USATF National Masters Indoor Championships. Field events will begin at 8 am, with the Weight Throw, followed by the Superweight. Track events begin at 10 am. All throwing implements will be provided (including indoor 44# and 56# superweights), though athletes may also bring their own implements. 27” hurdles are available.” Jerry has a good shot at winning some golds himself, especially in the weight and superweight.
Five masters world PV records! Hartwig tops 18!
Jeff Hartwig is over. And so is our 12-year national nightmare. Competing yesterday in the men’s elite section at the annual Pole Vault Summit in Reno, Nevada, Jeff jumped an M40 world indoor record of 5.50 meters (18-0 1/2) to become the first legitimate 18-footer over-40 in history. He beat the listed indoor WR of 5.20 (17-0 3/4) by Grigory Yegorov of Kazakstan a year ago. (The listed American indoor record was 5.18 (17-0) by Earl Bell, Jeff’s coach.) But before Jeff went 18, Pat Manson (who turned 40 in November), cleared 5.36 (17-7) as he seeks to go 18 feet for the 23rd consecutive year. He’ll get it. M50 record holder Gary Hunter also jumped. Don’t know his mark yet, but he was videotaped. Other masters WR were set: M45 (5.01) by Paul Babits, M55 (4.11) by Jeff Kingstad and M60 (4.00) by John Altendorf. Amazing!
Dave Clingan’s horrid news: Knee ills force retirement
Dave Clingan, our friend for nearly a decade and co-founder of this site, today sent this crushing note: “After three months of persistent knee pain, I finally went to see an orthopedic specialist today and got an X-ray of my right knee. Here’s the bad news: I have advanced osteoarthritis, as indicated by severe loss of cartilage in the knee. It is irreversible and irreparable. Any running I do from now on will be painful and only worsen the problem. Which means, for all intents and purposes, my running days are over.” Dave, a world-class 800-meter man and relay record-setter, has been a finalist at worlds several times. But even more significant, his selfless labors as a ranker and calendar-maker have helped the masters movement in countless ways.
Robert Thomas offers lodging at French indoor worlds
Today is the last day for Americans to enter indoor worlds without a late fee. And if you’re going to Clermont-Ferrand, and haven’t arranged lodging, world sprint champ Robert Thomas offers help. He writes: “I have two three-bedroom apartments reserved for 140 euros a night and four two-bedroom apartments for 95 euros a night. You have to get a car for the apartments as they are not on the public transportation lines. I also have 11 double rooms at the suite hotel for 95 euros a night and and 3 triple rooms at 103 a night and they are on the tram line to the stadium. I have also listed a British website that has housing that everyone can look at and see if they have something that they like. (Here is) the Website of hotel that I have 14 rooms book for 95 to 103 euros a night. Check this website for the (British group’s) hotel rooms.” You can reach Robert at rjttrack@hotmail.com.
M95 discus stud Leon Joslin gets big ink in Seattle
Leon Joslin is quite the name-dropper. In a Seattle Times story today, he recalls being on the same high school football team as Gerald Ford. He also was a freshman on an Ohio State track team that featured a guy named Jesse Owens. But Leon is a superstar in his own right. Last summer he bettered the listed M95 world record in the discus. (The story refers to world championship, but Leon wasn’t in Riccione.) Only Leon’s discus mark, although farther than Trent Lane’s listed WR, probably won’t be recognized since it came at an all-comers meet.
Dartmouth gears up for another indoor masters meet
A year ago, Dartmouth College in New Hampshire offered a full set of masters events (field as well as track) at the annual Dartmouth Relays indoor meet. W70 vaulter Flo Meiler set an indoor WR at the meet. New England was the main source of entrants, but some Canadians and at least one gent from Florida competed. (See these results.) Well, the meet is coming up again — on Friday, January 11 — and the deadline for entry is very forgiving — “Masters athletes may register the day of the meet — UNTIL 2:00PM — for $ 15.00 per event.” Here’s the entry information. Sounds like fun. Anyone planning to attend Jan. 11?
Masters Athlete to add calendars, results and track blog
Masters Athlete, the magazine and Web site formerly known as GeezerJock, is starting a rotation of bloggers. And I’m in it. Editor Sean Callahan invited me to write once a week on any subject that strikes my fancy. I start this coming Tuesday. Sean details this and other ambitious additions to the site in this announcement. He also writes: “We’ll be adding more bloggers in the future. If you’re interested in blogging for masters-athlete.com, email a description of what you’d like to cover and a writing sample to: scallahan@masters-athlete.com.”
M85 Riccione gold medalist doesn’t get no respect
Badri Nath Chopra is the Rodney Dangerfield of masters track in India. He won M85 gold in the 2K steeple at Riccione (as the only entrant in his age group but the oldest steeplechaser at worlds). But a national paper depicts him as unsatisfied because he and his wife haven’t been recognized for their track achievements. He’s quoted as saying: “We don’t desire what we don’t deserve. No one has as many lifetime achievements as my wife and I have. But still no one knows of us.” (Of course, readers of this story also know about him.)
Suzy and Jerry’s first comments on National Masters News
A year ago today, Suzy Hess and Jerry Wojcik were counting down the hours until the start of the new year — and the end of an era. On December 31, 2006, Suzy and Jerry closed the office of National Masters News in Eugene, Oregon. On January 1, 2007, Randy Sturgeon succeeded Suzy as publisher; Jerry was no longer editor. We haven’t heard much from Jerry and Suzy since then. So I shot them a note, and they jointly replied to a short series of questions. The upshot? They seem bite-my-tongue disappointed in NMN but are too gracious to make an issue of it. You be the judge.
