Treat at Spokane nationals: Meet pioneer David Pain!
David Pain, who almost singlehandedly started masters track in North America and Europe, will attend the USATF Masters National Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Spokane — 40 years after he organized the first USA masters nationals in San Diego in 1968. He’ll be 86 when he arrives August 8, accompanied by his wife, Linda, and daughter Robin. Although he was a champion middle-distance runner in his 40s and a bicycling star into his 70s, he now uses a wheelchair. (But Pain, a retired San Diego lawyer, is as sharp mentally as ever. Last year he completed a term as a member of the San Diego County Grand Jury.)
He will not compete at Spokane. But he’ll be honored at the Athletes Banquet, and he’ll attend the final three days of the meet, watching the event from the midfield shade tent where Peter Taylor does his announcing.
Pain’s trip is being subsidized by the USATF Masters Track & Field Committee, which recently voted (unanimously) to approve a request for some money to help pay for travel and lodging. (The amount is $1,200.)
The Spokane Local Organizing Committee had earlier turned down a request to bring the Pains to Spokane. So Masters T&F Chairman Gary Snyder and his group took up the request at my behest. I have thanked Gary profusely.
The 40th anniversary trip was my idea. The Pains are now ticketed for Spokane and eager to see how their baby has grown up.
David’s presence at Spokane will provide masters athletes a rare opportunity to meet the man who launched a thousand meets and introduced track to the over-40 populations of many countries. His legacy is the masters circuit, including the world masters track championships. He also helped found the World Association of Veteran Athletes, now called WMA (World Masters Athletics).
My dream is that Spokane entrants take a moment to seek David out and tell him what masters track has meant for their lives and health. David is truly our founding father.
See you in Spokane!
10 Responses
I think that the USATF Masters subsidizing the Pain family trip to Spokane is wonderful.
Thanks Ken for engineering this occasion. I wish I were going to be in Spokane to personally thank Mr.Pain for his pioneering work. Masters track is a very important part of my life – and especially my retirement life – now that I have the leisure to travel and as long as the money holds out!
40 years – wow time flies when we are all having fun.
Please offer my thanks to David Pain and his family for his great contribution to the welfare of so many masters track and field athletes. I am sorry to miss the Spokane meet – got a 3 generation family reunion to attend the same weekend – to celebrate a 50th wedding anniversary – (not mine – only 43 years- I am just a kid)!
Ken – Thanks for doing this for David and Masters Track. He’s a very special person, and I know he must be pleased. I’ve known and worked with (for) him for many years – a well-deserved honor.
David is a very special person not only for Masters Track, as you have said, but for many other reasons, charitable, compassionate, helpful in so many ways to so many including myself. As person unknown to David, he assisted me in every way, even as a business partner, when I and my family first immigrated to the USA. We, as do others, owe him much….a great sport and sportsman in every way….A man of integrity…….Ivor Sack.
I’m looking forward to meeting David Pain on Friday, August 8 (the second day of the meet). And what better way to celebrate his presence than by setting an all-time participation record at our outdoor nationals?
Let’s see, in 1989 (at San Diego), some two decades after Mr. Pain got us started, we reached 1450, and 11 years later (Eugene, 2000) we set our record of 1503. Can we get to 1504 in Spokane? We know the numbers are out there, as National Masters News reported about 4200 in the track and field events at the 2007 Senior Games (Louisville, KY), and one can presume the qualifying process eliminated thousands. In addition, Sr Games are restricted to 50+ and don’t run track events longer than 1500 meters. Based on their numbers, if they went down to age 30+ and simply added 5,000, 10,000, and steeplechase they would have in the range of 8,500 to 9,000.
Again, let’s try for 1504 entrants in 2008 — Spokane, here we come.
The topic of the number of entrants for Spokane keeps coming up here and on the forum. Personally, I have paid my airfare, reserved my room and taken the time off work. I guess I’m going. The non-refundable entry fee and the fact that anything can happen injury-wise has kept me from entering the meet. I’ll probably wait until just before the late fee is added on to enter. Anybody else doing the same thing? It would be kind of cool to know how many are planning on competing.
Thanks for comment, Leigh. Yes, the subject (turnout at Spokane) comes up again and again, but our outdoor nationals are our Super Bowl, our US Open, the event for which people have been planning for months, even years.
Now, the big question is: “How are we doing?” Just checked — as of 11 a.m. EDT (Saturday, July 5), we seemed to have 246 entrants, of whom 28 had entered the 400 dash (to pick a popular event that is always nicely attended no matter the weather). Let’s see, my 2006 log says that on July 7, 2006, we already had 176 entrants signed up for the 400 dash (that year the meet was in Charlotte). This year, as noted, we have 28 signed up for the 400 in Spokane. Of course, in Charlotte the meet began on August 3; this year the meet begins on August 7. So …..we have 6 days to jump from 28 to 176 if we want to keep pace with Charlotte (must hit that number on July 11). Naturally, there are many other events, but the 400 is a good one to use as a proxy.
Every year, the number of entrants who come in during the last week is huge, and this year should be no exception. The difference this year is that we are starting from an abnormally low number — I cannot remember the numbers being this bad so close to the deadline. Maybe there is some reason of which we are unaware; let’s hope so (the most common reason for a “false” low number is that there is a delay in entering competitors who come in through the mail).
I’m wondering if, in addition to high gas prices, etc., the fact that Spokane isn’t the easiest place to get to is affecting the numbers. Charlotte obviously is a bit easier although I can’t imagine Orono is easier to get to than Spokane and might be worse.
Mellow Johnny: This is my third comment on this posting, but the principal point still holds: Inside the United States, there is nothing more important for masters than our national outdoors. Thus, it seems eminently fair to keep commenting about it (doubt that Ken Stone will throw me off).
Only 4 cities have been reasonably successful in drawing masters for the outdoors (if one defines reasonable success as 1300 or more athletes), and one of them repeated: San Diego (1989), Eugene (1994), East Lansing, Michigan (1995), Eugene (2000), and Charlotte (2006). All others in the modern era have had either mediocre (1000-1207) or bad (999 or below) attendance.
Charlotte was very easy to go to, and Orono was difficult. I rate Spokane about a 4 (Charlotte a 9 and Orono a 2) on the scale of accessibility by air. A second problem for Spokane is that the population within a 4-hr drive of the meet is not that great. Eugene has been the only city without the big population in the extended metro area to be able to draw well, and everyone knows about Eugene.
I just checked again; we now have 31 people in the 400 dash. I’m still hoping for 176 by Friday (July 11) so that we can keep pace with Charlotte, but the jump from 31 to 176 is huge indeed. Only other thing to bank on is that this looks like the most generous deadline I can recall — I believe the regular deadline is just 14 days before the meet (hope I am right on that). Thus, we still have time before we have to panic.
PT: Completely agree and thanks for your rating on accessibility as you have a lot more knowledge of that than me. My question is simply “why do the numbers seem so low?”
Having spent the last week and a half at the Trials, it was great to see Eugene as Track Town USA once again. Really hope they can get nationals again soon- 2012 perhaps? (With those year in Spokane and 2010 in Sacto, can’t realistically see 2011 (3 in 4 years) in states bordering the Pacific)
p.s. early entries are due on the the 24th
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