Sacramento’s Sturgeon to run National Masters News
Today is the 65th birthday of Suzy Hess, owner/publisher of National Masters News. But she has a birthday gift for all of us — a strong, sophisticated buyer of NMN. The new owner will be Randy Sturgeon, the Brooks Fleet Feet Racing Club majordomo whose comments have appeared on this blog several times. I learned of Randy’s interest in buying NMN several weeks ago from an athlete in California, and I wrote to Randy for confirmation. He graciously owned up to the plans, despite Suzy’s hope to unveil him as owner at the Indy convention at the end of this month. I told Randy that the cat was already out of the bag, and was circulating in California, so why not put the news on the record now instead of letting it seep out as rumor? He assented to this as well. Randy sent me the following note:
Death of a listserve? Masterstf mailing list is comatose
In late January 1999, national-class sprinter Gerry Krainik of Illinois launched a listserve, or Internet mailing list, on a site called egroups. Later egroups was bought by Yahoo Groups, and the list grew to nearly 800 subscribers. Today it appears dead. Only two posts are recorded on this page for November. But the online archive (including hundreds of my own posts over the years) isn’t accessible. You can’t read what anyone’s posted. Is this a technical hiccup, or a death wheeze? I’m not sure. I’m checking it out. The loss of the archive would be a huge blow to our collective memory. It served as THE masters track bulletin board for seven years.
Ryun has some time on his hands. Maybe masters?
Hitching his wagon to George Bush, Republican Jim Ryun of Kansas was defeated in his bid for re-election tonight. After the new House of Representatives is sworn in next year in Washington, Jim may have some time to devote to — masters track! (Just fantasizing.) In late April 2007, Jim turns 60 — just in time for Riccione worlds! The listed world outdoor age-group record for the 1500 in M60 is 4:27.65 by Kiwi Ron Robertson. The listed American M60 record is 4:32.09 by James Sutton.
November 7, 2006
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Results delayed from South American masters meet
Oh well. A couple days ago, I wrote to meet organizers of the South American masters championships in Brazil, asking for a link to results. Today I received a reply. Translated from Portuguese, it reads: “Because of technical problems, the results will only be displayed in the site from Day 12.” So I guess we’ll just have to rely on word of mouth and maybe hope that some local paper in Rio posts results online. If anyone knows how the seven Americans did (or are doing), let us know!
Mt. SAC is candidate for 2009 masters nationals
Mt. SAC stands for Mt. San Antonio College. The springtime Mt. SAC Relays, a three- or four-day affair east of Los Angeles, is one of the best meets on the April calendar in the United States. In 2009, it could be the home of the USATF masters nationals as well. That’s the hope of the Southern California Association of USATF at least. Mark Cleary of SoCal writes: “The LA bid is structured to be an evening meet from approx. 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. over the four days. Azusa (Pacific University) was originally chosen because Citrus College is about 200m away and both tracks would be used. Azusa is now plan B. Mt. SACis plan A using Cal Poly Pomona across the street for mainly preliminaries.”
Scoring proposal for clubs: No mediocre folks allowed
Qualifying standards for masters nationals? Well, not quite. But one of the proposed rule changes before the Indy national convention of USATF puts us on that slippery slope. Under Item 91, submitted by George Mathews on behalf of Carroll DeWeese, Rule 331.2(a) would be amended to add: “For purposes of Club scoring, no performance with less than a 65% age-graded performance standard will be awarded points toward Club Championships. Athletes may retain their finish place, but not be awarded points for their efforts. Reason: To protect the integrity of competition for Club Championships.”
The Rono Chronicles: Henry runs a hilly 5K in 20:55
Former distance god Henry Rono raced a hilly 5K yesterday in New Mexico, where he lives, clocking 20:55. That’s what he reports on the letsrun.com message board thread devoted to his masters comeback at age 54 — a thread now 44 pages long! His goal remains an attempt on the M55 world record in the mile next year. In his latest posts, Henry confides an early-morning warmup before a race today: “At 4:30 am warm up for 95 minutes at the copper hill.” Oops. A number of runners immediately piped in, advising Henry to lighten up on the overdistance warmup.
November 5, 2006
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Neil Griffin seeks right to appeal 2-year dope ban
Neil Griffin, the M55 thrower caught in a Kafka-esque doping suspension, hasn’t spoken publicly yet. But a “statement on his behalf” has been sent to Athletics Weekly, the world’s premier track and field magazine. Editor Jason Henderson published the statement and writes on his blog: “The suspension of British M55 thrower Neil Griffin will be of huge concern to fellow veteran athletes who take drugs for medical reasons.” Much of the statement mirrors what Chris Melluish reported on Oct. 26, but it officially confirms the argument that Neil jumped through all the hoops possible — but was let down by IAAF and WMA doping officials. They simply lost his TUE paperwork.
USATF proposal: Ditch national champion patches
Steve Vaitones of the New England USATF association is intimately involved with masters track, having helped run the masters indoor nationals in Boston for many years. But he’s tone-deaf when it comes to some masters’ wants. And they want patches for winning national championships. At this month’s Indianapolis convention, delegates will consider a rule change proffered by Steve that would allow meet organizers at nationals to say, “Sorry, no patches.” (Shown here.) This is one of many amendments of interest to masters. You can download here the 35-page document.
L.A. plotting bid for 2009 outdoor masters nationals
The California grapevine is buzzing about a likely bid for the 2009 USATF Outdoor Masters National Championships. USATF Western Regional Coordinator Mark Cleary has informed some folks: “The bid for the 2009 outdoor nationals has a few details that need to be resolved. . . I feel that the bid will go forward, but I am not the only one involved in the process. Am doing what I can to make it happen.” In the past, Mark has mentioned Azusa Pacific University as a potential site for masters nationals. But that school would have to live down its reputation for bonking. This past summer, it pulled out as host for the USATF national club championships.
