W50 multi-eventer Liz Johnson of North Carolina is featured in “Living Longer: Health Story,” or Show 420 of a Lifetime cable network segment. The video is posted on a Walgreens site. The blurb sez: “Liz Johnson believes she’s found the key to living a healthier, longer life. She started running track and jumping hurdles at 42, and added rowing and baseball to her activities.” She looks cool hurdling.

Jay Silvester will be there. So will Brian Oldfield, Tom Petranoff, George Woods, Mac Wilkins and a bunch of world-class throwing coaches and Olympians. They’ll gather November 16-18 in Dublin, Ohio, for the National Throws Coaches Association Annual Conference and Clinic. If I were a thrower, I’d be in hog heaven. If anyone out there attends this throwers mecca, please share your experiences. And let Brian, Tom, George and Mac know we miss ’em and want to seem on the masters circuit!

Rocky Mountain hijinks? I’ve been studying the dysfunctional doings in the USATF Colorado Association. According to its Web site, they’re battling over a grievance involving many people. Supporters of this 17-page grievance feature several masters athletes, including star W85 distance runner Louise Adams. Some 32 allegations are made, mostly involving money issues and failure to staff committees (such as masters). The proposed remedies sought include: “Immediate dismissal of the Executive Board officers: president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and membership/sanctions” and a “complete restructuring of the financial procedures so that it reflects fair and equitable disbursement of funds amongst all Sport Committees.”

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The IAAF and WMA can’t stop me. Tomorrow at 7 a.m., I undergo a two-hour procedure that will make me faster, stronger and extend my track career at least 50 years. I’m replacing my anterior cruciate ligament. Kaiser-Permanente’s Dr. Donald Fithian, a world-class knee expert, will do ACL reconstruction on my left knee — the knee that went kablooey in October 2002 as I attempted to three-step the 100-meter hurdles at the Club West Masters Meet in Santa Barbara, California. After barely clearing the seventh hurdle, my left knee gave way, and I crashed to the track (breaking my wrist in the process). Over the next couple years, I built up the muscles and tendons and returned to sprinting. I competed at outdoor nationals in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006.

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Hall of Famer Payton Jordan, who recently turned 90, has been snagged as the guest of honor at the annual awards dinner of the Southern California Striders, a masters track club. Payton is a legend in masters track as well as the elite level (as a coach and athlete). Doug Smith of the Striders writes that the club’s annual awards banquet will be at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, November 17, at the Foxfire Restaurant in the north Orange County town of Anaheim Hills. Doug notes that Payton was Stanford University’s track coach for 23 years and prroduced seven Olympians, six world record holders and six national champions.

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Amanda Mittleman, a graduate student at Long Beach State University south of L.A., is looking for some volunteers — “postmenopausal women who are elite, competitive athletes . . . who are consistently exercising at moderate to high intensities for at least one half hour, three or more days a week.” That means many of you. Amanda writes: “The focus of my thesis is to determine any chronic effects of high level competitive physical activity on bone mineral density in postmenopausal women by comparing the bone mineral densities between postmenopausal women who have been physically active (lifting weights, running, taking group exercise classes, etc.) and age-matched elite athletes (former Olympians . . . etc).”

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Jeff Brower of Texas, our link to usatf.org, has rejiggered the masters section of USATF’s Web site. The opening page has links to USA and world masters rankings (but not this site, hmmmm) and the track-meet-in-a-box PDF. But the site is still woefully out of date when it comes to yearly budgets, annual-meeting minutes and the like. And it offers no chair reports since 2006. I’m hoping these inadequacies will be addressed at the Hawaii annual meeting late this month. (The meeting schedule is now posted, BTW.) I can’t attend the Honolulu confab, but that’s not stopping me from expressing myself. Or you. What do you want to see on the USATF Masters site? And take this poll.

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The Naples News isn’t a “name” paper. But it did a wonderful job covering its native son, Al Oerter, and his memorial service last month. Scott Hotard’s obituary hit just the right notes. And the story of Al’s memorial service in mid-October began memorably: “Tough men came here to cry.” Naples Newser Charlie Whitehead also wrote a great remembrance. And this 2004 story told of how Al still threw the 2-kilo discus for fun — a couple years before giving up for good. All great yarns (and some neat photos). Check ’em out.

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Does Bubba Sparks have this big a head? Only while jumping.

World medalist Doug “Bubba” Sparks in Texas again shares his photos of the Halloween vault over the weekend. The one where you have to dress up to plant a pole. (Bubba came as the matricidal-genius-baby Stewie from the “Family Guy” cartoon.) But if that isn’t scary enough, consider this: His Halloween vault is only of perhaps many. Others include one in Warsaw, New York (afflicted by frightening weather), and another up in Oregon. Of course, masters frequent these events. Have to be crazy as a loon to vault at our age anyway, right? Good for you!

Sean Callahan of Chicago, the track-friendly editor of Geezerjock magazine, competed in a semi-Olympic triathlon Sunday in Orlando, Florida. He wrote about his involvement in this prostate cancer research fund-raiser in the most recent issue of the magazine. Sean’s goal was specific: to beat an 81-year-old man. (Sean is 42.) And did he do it? Yessss! Sean’s final time was 2 hours, 48 minutes, 15 seconds — under the 3 hours he hoped to run. But he hasn’t quite reached his most important goal: raising $1,000 for cancer research. When last I checked — after I donated — he was at $978. It would be nice if a few of you chipped in $10 apiece to put him over the top.

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