Penn Relays poised for next Bill Collins world age-group record
Bill Collins, lissen up. Time to focus on Penn. Three years ago, you ran the 100 in 11.44 seconds there — a world record. Now you’re 60, and the time to beat is 11.70. That’s the M60 WR set by Britain’s Ronald Taylor in 1994. So how to enter? Glad you asked! Penn Relays masters coordinator Phil Felton writes: “Attached are the Penn Relays Masters entry form and information sheet. … Feel free to forward the forms to anyone else you think might be interested. Note that the timetable is approximate at present and will probably change slightly, when the acceptance letters are sent out I will confirm the schedule. There is construction going on at Franklin Field and there will be changes to access, I will send the details with the acceptance letter.â€
7 Responses
I, for one, hope that Bill does it. I was there in 2008 when he ran 11.44 at Penn, and the response of the crowd was terrific. I had been thinking of seeing Bill break Payton Jordan’s American mark (11.8 seconds, 1978) this year at Penn and had forgotten about Ronald Taylor’s 11.70 world standard.
Why has Payton Jordan’s American record held up for 33 years? For one thing, he was a fabulous sprinter. Two, the time was just an approximation, as it depended on some people holding watches about 100 meters away from the starter. We will never know what “Payt” would have run FAT that day; I am guessing about 12.04.
Regardless of what the legendary Payt would have done FAT, it shows what Bill is up against. Can Bill run 11.79 to break a 33-year-old hand time? I do hope so. If he does, I will tell the Penn announcers immediately. When they inform the crowd that they have just seen an American record they will go bonkers. It will sound just as good as if he had broken the world mark.
As for running 11.69 FAT to break Ronald Taylor’s mark, which has held up for SEVENTEEN years, that’s a lot to ask. But then again we are talking about Bill Collins.
7.65 60 = 670 pts
11.78 = 670 pts
11.69 will be tough, but I’m sure Bill is up to the task.
FWIW, age-graded:
M60 7.65 60m = 1095
M60 11.88 100m = 1096
Another master ran a 10.75 into -0.6 wind today. Laynes.
Question- Why is there no 100 meter dash for the women ? There are certainly enough quality masters to compete .
Bert Bergen
And ladies, PLEASE seize this opportunity to run the 4X400—you can run as a club, or an ad-hoc team (they do not require you all to belong to the same track club, so you can put together a team specifically for this race). Last year, the race directors were kind enough to give us our own women’s race (previously, we ran with the 50+ men, with more than 20 teams out there—way too many bodies in one race). However, we aren’t guaranteed our own heat unless we can assure the directors that we can fill all the lanes with competitive teams. If you’ve never run at Penn, it is one of the biggest thrills you can experience. There are so many fast 400 meter female runners out there—so get a team together and run in front of the loudest and most enthusiastic track fans anywhere!
Ran the 4×400 and the 4×100 womens masters relay at Penn and had a blast!!! The officials announced it was the first time all the women masters relays that were scheduled showed up and they were very happy about it!!! Let’s keep it up…I am sure they will add other events if we keep showing them we are ready and more than willing to show what we can do!
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