Suzy could use a dose of supportive track.
story of mental illness and a detour into the sex industry is retold â
in her own words â in a BBC piece. Now 47, she seems to shun competition. It got her into world-class trouble. But what if she dipped a toe into masters track? âMy running career was highly successful. I won more NCAA Championships than anybody ever had. I won seven US Championship titles between 1991 and 2004, set a couple of American records, and made the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Olympic teams,â she writes. âI won a lot, but tended to âchokeâ at the big, big meets. I didnât know why and it ate at me. My body would just tighten up on me unexpectedly towards the end of a race. Like I was running with a piano on my back. I even fell on purpose in the 1500m final at the Sydney Olympics when, as the favourite, I knew I would not medal with 50 metres to go.â In masters, we all have issues. But the stress is less. Iâve written Suzy
via her blog. Hope sheâs open to us.
February 12, 2016
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Canât wait for this movie.
As we wait for
âRaceâ to show up in movie theaters, check out Sunday nightâs documentary on
Jesse Owens. As Variety (not your usual source of track news)
reports: âNBC Sports continues its efforts at releasing documentaries with the debut of âMore Than Gold: Jesse Owens and the 1936 Berlin Olympics.â The one-hour documentary will debut Sunday, February 14, at 12:30 p.m. on NBC. The program will examine Jesse Owensâ historic performance at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany. Actor
Morgan Freeman does the narrationâŠ.The documentary also features archival footage from the 1936 Berlin Games, including restored elements from âOlympia,â the official film of the 1936 Olympics by German director
Leni Riefenstahl.â The movie wonât make track great again (as some candidate likes to say), but it wonât hurt the sportâs popularity. Meanwhile, T&FN editor
Garry Hill thinks our salvation is sexifying events for sake of spectator pleasure.
Check out his column. The truth? The sport hasnât had legs since we lost the Soviets as geopolitical foil, and it doesnât pay like MLB, NBA or NFL.
February 11, 2016
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We sold these cute mousepads back in the day.
I donât have the exact date (and trust me, Iâve tried to figure it out), but February 2016 is the 20th anniversary of this rollicking site. As noted in
site history, it began on AOL as the Masters Track & Field Home Page. (Every site had âhome pageâ in title back in February 1996.) I stole source code from ESPN and
designed my own logos. In 1999, Portland half-miler
Dave Clingan and I combined our sites (his rankings/calendar and my rants/raves) and registered masterstrack.com. The blog element began in January 2003. So what is this self-congratulation about? Another pitch for donations. Consider this my
semiannual pledge break. I often call this site âjust a hobby,â but in fact itâs more than that. Iâm traveling to Portland to cover the IAAF masters exhibitions, and Iâll be in Michigan for nationals. Costs money. So a PayPal donation or check would be appreciated. Write me at
TrackCEO@aol.com, and Iâll share my address. Muchas gracias.
Hereâs a sliver of what site looked like in 1999 â same as in February 1996.
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February 10, 2016
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Emma schools collegians in her 59.30 at Emory.
A couple weeks back at the Emory Crossplex Invitational in Birmingham, Alabama, 47-year-old
Emmanuelle âEmmaâ McGowan broke out of a box and into the American record books. The W45 Lyon world champ at 100 and 400 relay clocked 59.30 for the 400, nipping the listed American indoor record of 59.37 by
Charmaine Roberts in 2014.
(Results are here.) Emma, coached by
Clifton Culpepper at
Maximum Quotient TC, graciously answered my questions. She obviously has a lot left in the tank. Emma writes: âBefore I ran that 400 (lane 5) I was nervous even if it was my second race this indoor season. Not a good push in my blocks at all;Â it looked like I was running an 800! Then I got boxed in after the break line. As soon as I completed the first lap, I was thinking I have to make my move after the curve. I made it and started catching up the college girls one by one, and trust me it wasnât easy. At the finish line, I checked the clock right away; I wanted to run sub-60 because in December I ran 1.00.57. Got very pleased with the results â mission accomplished!â
MaxQuo's 47y/o Emma McGowan Kogalama runs a Masters Indoor World best 59.30 400M at Emory Invite in Birmingham AL.
Posted by Clifton Culpepper on Sunday, January 24, 2016
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February 9, 2016
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Dick Fosbury. Ed Caruthers. Otis Burrell. Phil May. Art Walker. And a bunch of other vertical and horizontal jumpers are featured in this compilation of 1960s legends. Track & Field News posted the link, and itâs worth your perusal â just so you can see those insane scrap-foam pits and three-sided metal high jump bars that we ALL landed on and made into V-shaped worthless gear. This era followed the sawdust era, and it made jumping what it is today. Otis is still jumping, BTW. Hope he enjoys these historic clips.
Dick Fosburyâs revolutionary flop is shown several times in this video.
February 8, 2016
14 Comments
Rex shares his first update since October 2015
In his
latest update, M65 role model
Rex Harvey says of his cancer fight: âGot some action going now. I have finished the current 12 chemos which went well but were getting very tiresome. We went to Houston
[the MD Anderson Cancer Center] for several of their own tests a couple of weeks ago. They have set my surgery for 19 Feb in Houston. My surgeon sees about 12 cases a day of the appendix cancer that I have. A far cry from my 3 oncologists here in Phoenix that have seen a total of 3 in there entire careers. Itâs a relief to finally get to someone who knows what is going on. [Wife] Joni and I are leaving Prescott on the 15th to drive over to Texas. Will have to be there 2 to 3 weeks.â
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February 7, 2016
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Results from Boston mile of Feb. 6, 2016
Last year,
Marc Bloom wrote about 49-year-old
Sean Wade, asking: âCan a 50-year-old run a 4:20 mile? Sean Wade, who at age 30 ran the 1996 Olympic marathon in Atlanta for his native New Zealand, hopes to attempt that feat next February when he turns 50.â Well, heâs there now, and Saturday at Boston University he clocked an incredible 4:23.07 â smashing the listed M50 indoor WR of 4:26.75 by
Nolan Shaheed in 2002 as well as Nolanâs 4:25.04 outdoor WR at Eugene in 2001. Age-graded, Seanâs 4:23 is worth 3:50.1 as open time on the Age-Graded Tables. The real indoor WR is 3:48.45.
According to Facebook, Sean a couple hours later ran the 3000 in 8:51, bettering Nolanâs listed American record of 8:54.73. (The WR is 8:49.37, which Sean will seek next week.) Sean ran with collegians, and heâs a
coach with The Kenyan Way group. Nice job, Sean!
Sean Wade (left) at Boston indoor meet where he shattered WR and AR.
February 6, 2016
8 Comments
Screen shot of Ron note to Nolan on Jan. 27, 2016, via Facebook.
Within hours of my
posting the list of over-60 men invited to the IAAF Portland 800-meter race, I was getting private messages. They basically said: âWhat? At 66,
Nolan Shaheed has a recent 2:17.5?â Some cited mastersrankings.com, where Nolanâs best listed 800 of
recent vintage is 2:31.88. I didnât put much stock in that, since many marks donât make it to
John Setoâs site. Besides,
he ran 2:13.69 in 2014. But then I saw this Facebook note from
Ron Pate to Nolan: âHi Nolan, You said you are not in race shape, but are you all healed up? Hope so.â Uh oh. I wrote Nolan and got no reply. I wrote some WMA folks. Crickets. So now Iâm worried that Nolan will either embarrass himself in Portland or, worse, be accused of fibbing his time. Iâm hoping to be proved wrong. Nolan is one of our greats. But a 2:17.5 at age 66 is one of the
best M65 marks of all time. Is he really up to that?
February 5, 2016
24 Comments
Joan Hunter (left) with her Athena TC running buddies. Her son could be the next Alan Webb.
If
Drew Hunter has his momâs guts and smarts, look for him to go sub-4 in the mile Saturday at the Armory Invitational. Drew, as most track fans know, set a high school record in the indoor 3000 recently at the masters friendly JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Competing against elites and collegians, Drew clocked a sensational 7:59.33. But few people know his mom,
Joan Hunter, is a great coach and masters sprinter and miler herself, sometimes joining the Athena club for
record 4-by-4 or 4-by-8 relays. Ten years ago, Charlotte nationals announcer
Pete Taylor wrote: âJoan Hunter (W40 400 in 62.73, 5th, in her first nationals). Not what she expected; âit was like a big college meet.â Sheâs now W50 and focused on Drewâs career â one of her nine kids (with five adopted). Her
Twitter description: âMom of 9, coach of many more, and still trying to train and race in my spare time.â
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February 4, 2016
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Sweden hasnât hosted worlds since 1977.
of Ontario Masters Athletics reported Wednesday night that bidders have been announced for the 2020 World Masters Athletics Championships. The WMA website says nothing, but Doug lists these cities in the hunt:
BogotĂĄ, Colombia;
Gothenburg, Sweden;
Tampere, Finland; and his own Toronto, Canada (site of the first WAVA meet in 1975). Gothenburg (aka Göteborg) hosted the
second WAVA worlds in 1977. âSome fine locations,â he wrote on Facebook. âIt will be an interesting vote. Full steam ahead on our bid â producing the best one possible.â The Toronto 2020 bid was
telegraphed in November. (The
2018 worlds are set for MĂĄlaga, Spain. And Perth has 2016, of course.) Methinks Sweden and Canada are the front-runners. I presume the pick will be made at the Perth General Assembly.
February 3, 2016
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