A Bristol, England,paper reports that masters photographer Alex Rotas is a finalist in the Be a Game Changer Awards for the Women’s Sport Trust’s “Imagery of the Year” category. You can help by taking the survey that includes her category. (Find it here.) “The awards celebrate individuals and companies who have helped progress women’s sport,” says the paper. Alex captures images of women in their 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s participating in athletics. “Her photographs shift the preconceptions around what it means to grow old.” Voting continues until May 1, and winners will be announced May 12.
Many people sent me the link to Friday’s Wall Street Journal story about TUEs and masters athletes. I knew (back in January) that “recreational” (non-elite) masters could get therapeutic use exemptions for medications that include testosterone, but I buried that element in my Greg Pizza reports. The WSJ made a big deal of it, however: “USADA isn’t broadcasting the news. But it has created a new exemption for masters and amateur athletes who are prescribed banned drugs. Called a Recreational Competitor Therapeutic Use Exemption, it allows masters and amateur athletes to compete in low-level competitions while taking banned substances. An athlete must prove to USADA that he or she is unlikely to actually win one of these amateur races, in addition to proving a medical need for an illicit chemical.” In a statement to the WSJ, USADA said: “Out of fairness to those non-competitive athletes, we put in place a process that allows for them to compete while still requiring a fair and reasonable review of each recreational athlete’s medical situation.”
The USATF Pacific Association erringly reports: “Most of the athletes at (Friday’s) Stanford Twilight Meet were looking for an NCAA Qualifier, but the PA’s Kris Paaso was looking for a fast race to break the F45-49 American Record for 1500m, and that’s just what she got. Running in Section 3, Paaso powered to a 4:34.50 to smash the existing AR of 4:43.21 set by Joan Nesbit-Mabe in 2007. Earlier this month, Kris broke the F45 AR for the mile, running a 4:56.28 at the San Francisco State Distance Carnival.” Great race, Kris! But the association wasn’t aware that Sonja Friend-Uhl clocked 4:29.61 in the W45 1500 the same weekend as Kris’ mile. See latest results here.
At last. Ida Keeling, who turned 100 nearly a year ago, is ready to run a sanctioned 100. She’ll have quite an audience — at the Penn Relays. If she doesn’t get an illegal aiding wind, the title of W100 world-record holder is hers. The sked shows a mixed masters over-80 race at 3:45 p.m. of Saturday’s events, April 30. She’s already the oldest female sprinter. The New York Times profiled her Friday, and we learn a lot more about her life. Go Ida! (And someone bird-dog her USATF record paperwork!)
Steve “Hummer” Holmes, a coach in the Northeast, shares sad news of the March 8 death of his brother, Ed Holmes, at age 82. Cause of death was adenocarcinoma of the lung — lung cancer. “Ed was a lifelong nonsmoker, so his diagnosis was perplexing to us all,” Steve writes. “In March of 2014, he won the USATF national masters weight throw championshipin his age group. He set a record in the process. Shortly afterward, experiencing some lethargy and fatigue, he went through many tests and the cancer was found in May 2014. The last year of his life he stayed with his son Todd and family in Charlotte, Vermont. He was fortunate to be with family right up to the end. He loved his family and grandchildren dearly.”
My wife had great access at Saturday’s Mt. SAC Relays, held at Cerritos College — where I ran the CIF 120-yard low hurdles 46 years ago. It was dirt back then, but the stands seem the same. Anyhoo, Chris Stone captured Ashton Eaton, Vashti Cunningham and a bearded Tyson Gay among other elites for this photo gallery. While I was off ordering In-N-Out burgers, Chris heard groans from the track and quickly snapped the photo below. The gent was taken off in a wheelchair, probably with a hamstring pull. Hope he’s recovering well. I’m still awaiting time to process video interviews with masters 100 and 800 winners, plus some slo-mo video of their finishes. In the meantime, enjoy these stills.
Injured sprinter is tended to at 58th Mt. SAC Relays, held at Cerritos College.
Tanya Pubalakan in W30 weight throw at Central Gauteng Masters Athletics Championships.
South Africa has a long and proud masters track tradition, and some incredible records as well. I’m reminded of that when I learned that W85 Christi du Plooy of the Central Gauteng Athletics team set a national record of 49.80 in the 200 recently. The listed American record is 51.43 by Pat Peterson at 2011 Sacramento worlds. (The listed WR is 45.65 by Japan’s Mitsu Morita.) As a local paper noted: “The Germiston Stadium was a buzz of activity last Saturday when master athletes took to the field for the Central Gauteng Masters Athletics Championships. … Du Plooy also competed in the women’s 85 years 100m dash, winning in 21.80 seconds.” Central Gauteng is the region around Johannesburg, BTW.
Many were mystified by this announcement on the British masters site: “For the time being Maurice Doogan will not be acting as Track and Field Secretary or Team Manager at international championships. He has been suspended by World Masters Athletics and has lodged an appeal. The next fixtures that Maurice intended to organise will be covered by other officers, the Road Relays in May by Mel James and the Pentathlon in June by Bruce Charles. We will keep you informed of future developments.” Whoa! What’s up? I wrote 76-year-old Maurice (raising a rumor), and he graciously replied: “It is certainly not about financial wrongdoings. It is only about the British Team in the W35 4x100m Relay at the World Championships in Lyon, and I have appealed against all the charges that I have been found guilty of.” You may recall that an illegal substitutionwas made on that relay, which led to a DQ and the Americans getting a bronze medal. So Maurice is being blamed for that debacle. We’ll see how this gets sorted out.
Peter (left) battles Stan Whitley at 2011 Sacramento worlds.
It’s the end of fall Down Under, and the Aussies started their masters nationals Saturday in the south. The meet ends Tuesday, and the first day’s results have been posted.Track results are separate from field results. The legendary Peter Crombie, now in M70, won the 100 with a 13.89 into a 3 mps wind. So he’s in the running for several annual awards at AMA nationals: “AMA provides a number of awards annually for outstanding performances at the Australian National Championships. These include the Royce Foley award for the highest score in the men’s and women’s Throws Pentathlon competitions; the men’s and women’s Sprint Champion of Champion; the Throws Champion of Champion event and the Brian Foley award. Best Age Graded Performances achieved during the meet are also acknowledged.” Something the Yanks might want to emulate?
Derek Pye in orange leads former Mt SAC masters 100 recordholder John Speed in blue.
Joy Upshaw, Derek Pye, Michael Smith and Tania Fischer put on a marvelous masters show at the Mt. SAC Relays on Saturday, winning their races at Cerritos College in Norwalk because Hilmer Lodge Stadium in Walnut is being remodeled. But Joy’s victory in the 100 was but dessert for a weekend that included an American record in the 1. On Friday, competing at the Bryan Clay Invitational at Azusa Pacific, Joy clocked 13.22 with a legal wind to pip Phil Raschker’s W55 AR of 13.30 set in 2002. (The listed WR is 12.80 by France’s Nicole Alexis in 2015.) See Joy’s results here.My wife, Chris, and I took tons of pictures (plus slo-mo video) and will post a gallery soon. M45 hurdles recordman Derek, who was a Long Beach prep and college star nearby, won the men’s 100 in a masters meet record 11.39. In the men’s 800, Michael at age 46 went out in 56 seconds and finished in 2:01.09, ahead of M55 Ray Knerr, whose 2:05.51 may end up as best in the world this year (if he doesn’t go faster). Tania won a two-woman race as Chris Gentile was a DNS.
Joy leads Colleen Barney (in bright green top), Elly Mann (left) and Kathy Bergen (far right). Photos by Chris Stone
Ken has followed track as an athlete, writer and web-master since the late 1960s, and saw most sessions of track and field at the 1984 Los Angeles and 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He also attended the 1988, 1992, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 Trials, the last three as a blogger and Patch correspondent. [More...]
