Take a cane to USATF HQ for this ruling
KVAL TV in Eugene, Oregon, reports that W55 runner Zel Brook was prevented from competing in the hallowed Hayward Masters Classic over the weekend because she uses a cane — the result of her once having a brain tumor. First the article and then my comments.
KVAL site reports:
“I Just Want To Run”
By Andy Peterson
NORTH EUGENE — Like many other distance runners, Zel Brook enjoys the camaraderie of racing, and loves the outdoors.
Unlike her competitors…
“I had a brain tumor,” Brook says, “so I have a sense of balance like a little boat on the ocean.”
So Brook uses a cane for balance as she tears up the trails at the “Walk With Me Half-Marathon” Saturday morning at Alton Baker Park. Her spirit and determination even surprises her competitors.
“I saw her at the start of the race,” says half-marathoner Linda Belton of Roseville, California. “And she was right in the front, and I thought, ‘Wow!'”
“People say, ‘Oh I’m too old, I’m too sick,’ or ‘I’ll never do that,'” says race director Tyler Burgess. “And you go, well look at Zel, look at this woman, she’s an inspiration and a role model for a lot of people.”
The half-marathon was not Zel’s first choice for a race Saturday morning. She had planned to compete in a masters track meet at Hayward Field, until she received some discouraging news.
Officials at the USA Track and Field Headquarters ruled her ineligible to compete in the meet, saying her cane was a safety hazard for those competing against her.
Brook doesn’t think the cane should be an issue.
“I think they could very easily have me run in an outside lane, and subtract the distance,” she says. “They could have me run in a separate heat if they are worried about safety.”
Race officials at Hayward Field didn’t want to go on camera, but they said Brook’s fate wasn’t their decision, that the word came straight from the national office.
The funny thing is that Brook actually competed in this very meet, cane and all, two years ago, and took home two gold medals and a silver.
But this Saturday morning, she was running the trails of Alton Baker Park instead. She hopes the USATF will let her back on the track soon.
“I think they should let me run,” Brook says. “I just want to run.”
After completing Saturday’s half-marathon in just over three hours, Zel Brook has her sights set on a bigger goal: completing her second Portland Marathon this fall.
Me again:
Well, I guess Indy has forgotten its new initiatives and policies under the Americans with Disabilities Act — the subject of a column this year by USATF Masters Chair George Mathews.
Basically, it lets folks with disabilities apply for a waiver of rules like “no canes at track meets.” Not sure whether Zel Brook made this effort — or even was informed of the option — but it sure stinks from a PR standpoint.
In any case, she ran at the Hayward meet before. She’s even ran at the 2003 Eugene masters nationals (although results show she was DQ’d in three events — the 800, 5K and 10K — but took second in the 8K cross country race.) Same reason?
Very strange. And sad.
USATF has bigger fish to fry than brain cancer survivors.
2 Responses
This ruling is a disgrace! If safety was really an issue, they could have made an accomodation so that she could have competed.
Masters track is the unwanted stepchild of track and field in this country. I guess disabled masters track was over the line for the officials. However, most of us are disabled in one way or another.
I competed in a meet in Santa Barbara with a 102 year old man who parked his walker outside cirle when he threw the discus. I guess he shouldn’t have been allowed to throw either. He would have been disqualified if he had been carried into the circle. The ruling would have been unacceptable assistance or perhaps illegal coaching during the competition.
I saw her run at 2003 Nats. It looked a little odd, but didn’t look unsafe. People talked about her and her cane, but did not complain or think it was unfair. Most seemed to think it was pretty gutsy.
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