Alisa Harvey claims W40 USA 800 outdoor record
The Boston indoor nationals on Friday and today was the scene of many world and national records. But a Boston absentee this weekend also set an impressive American record — outdoors. Alisa Harvey ran the 800 in 2:08.05 today at the Fred Hardy Invitational to lower the listed American W40 outdoor record by nearly 2 seconds. “My splits were 63.x, 64,” Alisa writes from her home in Virginia, not far from the meet site, the University of Richmond. The old American record was 2:09.85 by Rose Monday in July 2000.
John Oleski’s column in Globe extols masters track
Masters official and M55 jumper John Oleski has written a column for today’s Boston Globe, timed to appear on Day 1 of the indoor nationals. John writes: “Beyond sports, the event’s significance is its defiance of social norms. Who told these masters athletes that they could run, jump, throw, and hurdle? Who told them that they could compete for medals? After all, so many Americans have enshrined comfort and convenience as denominators of the good life, leading to a sedentary society where the majority overeats, underexercises, and turns to passive entertainment.” Good questions, John. The answers? Their dreams.
Masters mile at Mathis meet has April 4 deadline
Michael Fanelli shares details on the masters mile to be contested at 11:40 a.m. Saturday, April 7, at San Francisco State University as part of the annual Johnny Mathis Masters Meet. (Mathis was a high jumper before he was a world-famous singer.) Mike writes: “Entry deadline is Wednesday, April 4th, at 12 noon! To enter: e-mail Tom Lyons: (And this is a corrected address.) Name, Age on day of meet, affiliation, expected mile time on 4/7 (and) e-mail address. Entry fees to be paid upon day of meet at check-in.”
March 23, 2007
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M45 sprinter Sullivan gets Boston ink on return home
The Boston Herald today features local native Mike Sullivan, an M45 sprinter entered at Boston nationals, on the meet’s first day. Nice piece by Joe Reardon (with a photo by moi). And Mike’s not shy about his goals: “The former Brockton High and Arizona State 400-meter ace will have his sights set squarely on Bill Collins’ world indoor best of 22.57 seconds for the 200-meter dash in the 45-49 age group at the 2007 USA Masters at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center.” Go get ’em, Mike.
Slovak snags M60 world record at 60 meters in heat
Vladimir Vybostok of Slovakia broke the listed M60 world record in the 60 today, clocking 7.69 seconds in a first-round heat as the European Veterans Indoor Championships got under way in Helsinki, Finland. (The old record was American Paul Edens’ 7.72 from 2004.) Michael Traynor of Ireland won the M40 3000 in a sharp 8:54.47. (More my speed was M85 winner Emiel Pauwels of Belgium, who clocked 19:57.71.) The women’s W40 race went to Nathalie Loubele of Belgium in 9:51.6. Lots of 60s and 400 heats were run as well, with Dr. Stephen Peters leading M50 qualifiers with his 57.27 heat. He apparently has recovered from his tumble at the British indoor nationals. OK, Yanks. Time to show your stuff!
Professional PR and photographer ready for Boston
As in past years, Bob Weiner of the USATF Masters Media Committee has prepared a how-to sheet on getting yourself covered by hometown media. It’s a great way to carry the torch for masters track. Also, photographer Cheryl Treworgy says she’ll be shooting at Boston. Her site is PrettySporty.com. Cheryl writes: “I will be the official photographer this weekend. . . . I will have a display booth with photos taken at last year’s masters events at Penn Relays and some from this year’s Reebok Boston Indoor Mile just to let people see how much better the prints look than on the websites. There will be order blanks for folks to pick up as a reminder where to view the photos as well.” Cheryl can be reached at Cheryl@prettysporty.com.
Newsweek shines spotlight on Senior Olympic trackos
Masters tracksters are featured this week in a sidebar story in Newsweek about the need to exercise when you’re older. Old news to us. Good reminder for others. The cover story is about how working out regularly makes you smarter. That stands to reason. Only dummies fail to exercise. The track article describes how an M50 sprinter/jumper named Steve Chugg saw his weight balloon to 240 as a sales executive, “indulging in hefty expense-account meals and finding no time to work them off between long-haul flights and meetings.” Then he learned he had type 2 diabetes. Time to hit the track. Best of luck, Steverino!
March 22, 2007
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M35 marathoner training for Trials in 400 and 800?
(An earlier version of this post said the subject Chris Horton won the NCAA 1500 in 1976. Oops! Wrong Chris Horton. That would make him 9 years old at the time. Thanks, folks, for pointing this out. And my apologies to the older Chris Horton.) Chris Horton, a distance runner in Northern California, is reported to be training for the 2008 Olympic Trials in the 400 and 800, according to this unbylined article in his local newspaper in Northern California. Only one problem: He’s 37 and hasn’t run much lately besides marathons and half-marathons (reputedly with a 50-pound weight vest). The “B” qualifying standards for the 4 and 8 at the Eugene Trials are 45.95 and 1:48.50. (The listed M35 world record for 400 is 46.38). Chris’ name shows up nowhere in any recent results or rankings. El Caballo he ain’t. Maybe he and Michael Marren are training together. Sheesh.
Rizzo gets newspaper raves for role in M70 record
Rich Rizzo’s local newspaper has a nice article on the recent M70 world indoor record in the 4×2 relay. Rich, who has a heavy New Yawk accent, told The News Review in Riverhead that he remembered the time in the 1982 Millrose Games when a competitor looked at him at the starting line before the gun went off and bragged that he was going to knock Rizzo into the stands. Rizzo calmly told him, “When the gun goes off, all you’re going to see is the back of my bald head.” Classic Rich.
Thickness of discus? USATF officials note rule change
This just in — from the USATF National Officials’ mailing list: “Correction for the 1.5 KG Discus for Masters 50-59 Age Groups: The correct thickness is 38 to 40 mm starting immediately. It was just pointed out to George Kleeman, NOC Chair, Rules, that we had missed the change in the thickness dimensions for the 1.5kg discus when WMA adopted the IAAF specifications around 2003. Note the correct dimensions, which will get changed in the 2008 USATF book and should be used immediately, are 38 to 40 mm rather than 37 to 39 mm which was the specification in 2001.”
