Well, you can’t judge a meet by its Web site. Despite the hyperprofessional gloss of an outsourced results page, the local organizers of the World Masters Athletics Championships that concluded today in San Sebastian lived up to fears of a botched meet. I bit my tongue for a month, hoping that warnings I was getting would not come to pass. In early August, a high-ranking WMA official told me that San Sebastian meetfolk were refusing help from foreign track officials — that they were confident they could handle the biggest meet on the planet themselves. The local officials erred.

Today, M55 discus thrower Thomas Fahey, a Californian at San Sebastian posted this note on the Yahoo Groups masters track forum:
I took third at the meet, so some of my comments may sound like sour grapes.
However, I trained hard for the competition and feel it was woefully inadequate for a world championships.
1. Implement weigh-ins: I throw a high spin OTE discus. It comes off the hand very fast and requires good timing to handle it. I went to the stadium on Tuesday to drop off the discus for weigh-ins. No one was there at the listed time. I was told to return in the morning. My check-in time was 8 AM. I went to the stadium at 7:45 and waited until 8 but nobody showed up. I couldn’t weigh in my discus and was not allowed to use it during the competition. Discus throwing requires extreme precision, and it doesn’t take much to throw off your technique.
2. Low-end discus available at the meet. The discs supplied by the meet people were low-end Nordic diss that have a far different feel from a good quality discus. There was a discus shortage during the trails, so people were waiting in the middle of the field retreiving impliments during warm-ups. That never would have happened at Eugene or any other championship meet.
3. I arrived Saturday for the Wednesday competition to get in some training and get over the jet lag. There was no place to train! The only scheduled training day was the day before competition— a day of rest for most athletes. This is typical treatment for throwers.
4. Meet officiating: There were no international officials. The throws were marked by high school girls who stood off to the side of the sector for much of the meet. It is very difficult to get an accurate mark unless the official is close to where the discus landed.
5. The facilities: the discus circle was so rough that it was difficult to turn. Also, there were drain holes bore at key pivot points.
I thought San Sebastian was a wonderful city and the people were very nice, but I didn’t go to Spain for a vacation— I went there to compete and hopefully win.
The WMA should get its act together. The championships should be more than a
large collection of old people that bring revenue to a city. The discus competition for m55 was a disgrace!
In contrast, I have throughly enjoyed every one of the last eight US
Championships I entered. They were all run very professionally and efficiently.
Me again:
In addition, today’s marathon results reveal poor event scheduling. One witness said the 26.2-mile race began at 8:30 a.m. in temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius — 95 degrees Fahrenheit!
No wonder that nearly 300 entrants were listed as DNF — did not finish — on the results site. Some examples:
M35 (14 of 32 were DNF)
M40 (55 of 133 were DNF)
W40 (7 of 20 were DNF — with one DQ)
M55 (42 of 99 were DNF — with one DQ)
M65 (17 of 46 were DNF)
M70 (9 of 20 were DNF)
Yes, many if not most of the DNFs were Spaniards — perhaps entered in the WMA marathon to be a part of local history. But one could argue that Spaniards would know best how to handle the local weather. And they bonked in droves.
Early reports from athletes talked about the awe-inspiring nature of the stadia and the efficiency of the transportation. But people make meets, not stadiums and buses. And it looks as if WMA will have to find a way to clamp down tighter on local organizers in the future.
Sadly, we’ve seen this before.
At the 1997 World Masters AC in Durban, South Africa, it took the intervention of dozens of foreign officials to salvage a disster of a masters meet. At least the African hosts welcomed the help. The Spaniards apparently didn’t take the hint — or the help.
For the record, here are the DNFs in the San Sebastian marathon:
MEN’S Marathon M35
Rene Valenzuela ARG DNF
Guenter Pumhoesl AUT DNF
Jorge Arizmendiarrieta Ba ESP DNF
Juan P. Cabrera Hernandez ESP DNF
Miguel Corera Gaviria ESP DNF
Gabriel Egaña Dorronsoro ESP DNF
Francisco Francisco Nuñe ESP DNF
Cesar Hervada Espeso ESP DNF
Paulo Sagarna Cuneo ESP DNF
Emmanuel Tardi FRA DNF
Antonio Monteiro POR DNF
John September RSA DNF
Thomas Manser SUI DNF
Aleida Zarraga VEN DNF
MEN’S Marathon M40
Emmanuel Djedji CIV DNF
Rudy Sotelo Herrera CRC DNF
Sergio Acevedo Garcia ESP DNF
Aitor Aizpurua Garaialde ESP DNF
Jesus Alonso Prieto ESP DNF
Clemente Alvarez Del Val ESP DNF
Pedro Alvarez Perez ESP DNF
Jon Aramburu Azpitarte ESP DNF
Javier Colomo Arenaza ESP DNF
Francisco Couzeiro Magan ESP DNF
Josetxo Etxeberria Tolosa ESP DNF
Xabin Etxebeste Jaimerena ESP DNF
Jose M. Fernandez Atienza ESP DNF
Rodrigo Fuentes Monllor ESP DNF
Antonio Fuertes Saavedra ESP DNF
Manuel Garcia Rodriguez ESP DNF
Jose M. Garciandia Goñi ESP DNF
Jose Luis Gonzalez Beltra ESP DNF
Juan C. Gonzalez Lorenzo ESP DNF
Jose M. Gonzalez Muñoz ESP DNF
Enrique Gutierrez ESP DNF
Jose D. Herrera Riquelme ESP DNF
Antonio Hidalgo Romero ESP DNF
Iñaki Imaz Barandiaran ESP DNF
Xabier Iturria Isasti ESP DNF
Juan De Dios Linares Alba ESP DNF
Carlos Lizoain Osinaga ESP DNF
Fernando Malcorra ESP DNF
Iñaki Mayo Solla ESP DNF
Juan M. Mendez Estevez ESP DNF
Joaquin Muñoz Lopez ESP DNF
Manuel Navarro Cocera ESP DNF
Alejandro Novo Vazquez ESP DNF
Iñigo Oyarzabal Mujika ESP DNF
Jose Antonio Paz Suarez ESP DNF
Ramon Riba Soldevila ESP DNF
Jose Luis Romeo Aladren ESP DNF
Jose Angel Saiz Aranguren ESP DNF
Marc Samper De Reyes ESP DNF
Jose Luis Sarobe Lafuente ESP DNF
Agustin Segui Garcia ESP DNF
Jose R. Torres Peanilla ESP DNF
Francisco J. Valdes Novoa ESP DNF
Josetxo Vaqueriza ESP DNF
Francisco Vazquez ESP DNF
Gregorio Villameriel ESP DNF
David Cooper GBR DNF
Tim Court GBR DNF
Frank Witenbrock GER DNF
Paolo Saibeni ITA DNF
Alvaro Figueiredo POR DNF
Alvaro Figueira Rodrigues POR DNF
Antonio Rodrigues Iesus POR DNF
Elroy Lekay RSA DNF
Anton Perusic SLO DNF
MEN’S Marathon M45
Gregorio Velez DOM DNF
Agustin Aduriz Mendiluce ESP DNF
Jose Felipe Alonso Martin ESP DNF
Hilario Beizama Larrarte ESP DNF
Xanti Blanco Lategui ESP DNF
Jordi Camins Just ESP DNF
Manuel Castiñeiras Del ESP DNF
Joaquin De Goiburu ESP DNF
Txomin De La Iglesia ESP DNF
Francisco Diez Iglesias ESP DNF
Xabier Elias Zabala ESP DNF
Kepa Fernandez Arroyabe ESP DNF
Jose T. Fernandez Mendez ESP DNF
Jose A. Galparsoro Artola ESP DNF
Jose Antonio Garcia Lopez ESP DNF
Carlos Garcia Saenz ESP DNF
Jesus Garin Zubeldia ESP DNF
Jorge Garrido Menendez ESP DNF
Gregorio Garrido Perez ESP DNF
Juan M. Gonzalez Beltran ESP DNF
Jose L. Gonzalez Sanchez ESP DNF
Antonio Hernandez Casas ESP DNF
Ramon Irazu Riveira ESP DNF
Dionisio Jimenez Saez ESP DNF
Felix Lizarralde Olave ESP DNF
Jose M. Manzisidor S. ESP DNF
Josu Manzisidor S. ESP DNF
Jacinto Martinez Poza ESP DNF
Miguel A. Navarro Bonilla ESP DNF
Tomas Novo Robledo ESP DNF
Ignacio Obeso Fernandez ESP DNF
Victor Otero Molero ESP DNF
Roberto Patallo Rodriguez ESP DNF
Vicente Prades Torres ESP DNF
Jose I. Riaño Garcia ESP DNF
Sabino Rocha Casas ESP DNF
Segio Somoza Gonzalez ESP DNF
Juan Fco. Soroeta Liceras ESP DNF
Cecilio Suazo Rodriguez ESP DNF
Jose M. Vicente Pardo ESP DNF
Jose L. Zubiaurre Gonzale ESP DNF
Claude Bernard FRA DNF
Jean Duparfait FRA DNF
Anthony Mccarthy GBR DNF
Ulrich Langer GER DNF
Iosif Nikolaidis GRE DNF
Peter Donnan IRL DNF
Sergio Ruscelli ITA DNF
Jose M. Miranda Da Silva POR DNF
Jose M. Pereira Guerreiro POR DNF
MEN’S Marathon M50
Roland Taubert GER DNF
Josep Romera Sanchez AND DNF
Bjorn Dybdahl AUS DNF
Steven Deram BEL DNF
Felipe Agirrezabala Bermu ESP DNF
Javier Alberdi Etxeberria ESP DNF
Bernardo Apestegui D. ESP DNF
Manuel Brazo Ostos ESP DNF
Esteban Campeny Talleda ESP DNF
Francisco J. Campo Peña ESP DNF
Iñaki Eizaguirre Sexmilo ESP DNF
Aurelio Eugenio Reyes ESP DNF
Maximo Fonseca Zamora ESP DNF
Ramon Garcia Garcia ESP DNF
Jose Giraldez Osuna ESP DNF
Manuel Lahoz Bosque ESP DNF
Jesus A. Lecuona Salaberr ESP DNF
Miguel Martel Martel ESP DNF
Manuel Maseda Prieto ESP DNF
Manuel Mateos Lopez ESP DNF
Andres Medina Medina ESP DNF
Jose Muñoz Vega ESP DNF
Javier Oñate Larrosa ESP DNF
Miguel A. Oñederra Ramire ESP DNF
Felix Ortega Perez ESP DNF
Iñaki Palomar Fernandez ESP DNF
Manuel Pasalodos Toral ESP DNF
Julio Pascual Fernandez ESP DNF
Eloy Rodriguez Leo ESP DNF
Julian Rodriguez Lopez ESP DNF
Jose A. Torres Zabalza ESP DNF
Francisco Toscano ESP DNF
Erkki Forsman FIN DNF
Harri Ojansuu FIN DNF
Tenho Paavola FIN DNF
John Kerley GBR DNF
Luitger Von Der Stein GER DNF
Denis Cahill IRL DNF
Errol Grant JAM DNF
Miguel Cisneros Martinez MEX DNF
Gerard Hendriks NED DNF
Julio M. Vargas Morales PER DNF
Julio Maria Meireles POR DNF
Serguei Demidov RUS DNF
Miaden Tomasic SLO DNF
Cäsar Hüsler SUI DNF
Kevin Dillon GBR 3:39:15.00
MEN’S Marathon M55
David Arnold Pottage AUS DNF
Johann Siegele AUT DNF
Pablo Vera BOL DNF
Teofil Teofilov BUL DNF
Luis D. Seguel Garrido CHI DNF
Miguel Agueda Casado ESP DNF
Enrique Arango Arango ESP DNF
Eugenio Arconada Muñoz ESP DNF
Patricio Arrue Imaz ESP DNF
Estanislao Baidez Sanchez ESP DNF
Jose Ramon Basterra Lopez ESP DNF
Pedro Honrubia Blesa ESP DNF
Francisco Larroya Benito ESP DNF
Roberto Lopez Arranz ESP DNF
Jesus Manrique Lopez ESP DNF
Juan J. Mariezkurrena ESP DNF
Jose Martinez Ruano ESP DNF
Jesus Mauleon Ganuza ESP DNF
Osbaldo Moreno ESP DNF
Ramon M. Mugica Zubillaga ESP DNF
Juan J. Neira De Lucas ESP DNF
Jose Orriols Verges ESP DNF
Jose Potente Gonzalez ESP DNF
Abel Poza Lastra ESP DNF
Jose Maria Romero Uria ESP DNF
Josetxo Sanzberro ESP DNF
Xabier Ugarte ESP DNF
Jose A. Ventoso Fernandez ESP DNF
Karl-erik Blomgren FIN DNF
Matti Seppälä FIN DNF
Pete Marsh GBR DNF
Jose E Sarriegui Zurutuza GBR DNF
Derek Stewart GBR DNF
Derek Stwart GBR DNF
Hans-josef Leinen GER DNF
Reinhard Millanowski GER DNF
Jl Alejandro Villegas Gle MEX DNF
Aad Vink NED DNF
Jose Eduardo Elvas POR DNF
Alexander Tsukanov RUS DNF
Yevhen Dereko UKR DNF
Marcos E. Ortiz Hernandez VEN DNF
Javier Valdez Flores MEX 3:34:08.00
MEN’S Marathon M60
Stephen Barker AUS DNF
Malcolm Brown AUS DNF
Jim Langford AUS DNF
Carlos E. Borel Salas CRC DNF
Joan Alba Tutusaus ESP DNF
Jose Luis Alzola Bengoa ESP DNF
Pello Iriarte Lusarreta ESP DNF
Indalecio Lopez Perez ESP DNF
Tomas Mauleon Goñi ESP DNF
Nicolau Municio Garcia ESP DNF
Joaquim Saiz Martinez ESP DNF
Daniel Dounovetz FRA DNF
Robert Rueda FRA DNF
David Lesley GBR DNF
Anthony Stranger-jones GBR DNF
Helmut Klösel GER DNF
Peter Lessing GER DNF
Edmund Schlenker GER DNF
Ioulios Abbott GRE DNF
John Sheridan IRL DNF
Pasquale De Vita ITA DNF
Giulio Passot ITA DNF
Remo Polo ITA DNF
Ko Van Der Weyden NED DNF
Alwin Wurster RSA DNF
MEN’S Marathon M65
Paulino Cano Garcia ESP DNF
Sebastian Crespi Serra ESP DNF
Alfonso Gomez Piqueras ESP DNF
Geoffrey Harrold GBR DNF
John Taylor GBR DNF
John Tipping GBR DNF
Reginald Wild GBR DNF
Peter Seiler GER DNF
Spiros Dimopoulos GRE DNF
Benito Mazzuzi ITA DNF
Carmelo Sacca’ ITA DNF
Manuel Gonzalez Martinez MEX DNF
Tarverdi Aliev RUS DNF
Valeriy Kioun RUS DNF
Evgeny Kornienko RUS DNF
Kaspar Scheiber SUI DNF
Bertil Lansén SWE DNF
MEN’S Marathon M70
Bent Lauridsen DEN DNF
Joakin Urra Agirre ESP DNF
Einart Alus EST DNF
Claude Jacquet FRA DNF
Jürgen Lauricks GER DNF
Alfred Mielke GER DNF
Kiyoharu Maehara JPN DNF
Igor Burkov RUS DNF
Vasiliy Smirnov RUS DNF
MEN’S Marathon M75
Marc Ducla FRA DNF
MEN’S Marathon M80
Taro Kalevi Karesniemi FIN DNF
Desiderio Valdes Alcantar MEX DNF
WOMEN’S Marathon F35
Ana Carcamo Garmendia ESP DNF
Ira Capri ITA DNF
WOMEN’S Marathon F40
Angela Goyeneche ARG DNF
Teresa Gracia Gomez ESP DNF
Anibaliana Muñoz Culebras ESP DNF
Miren Usoa Sorazu Otamend ESP DNF
Joelle Conan FRA DNF
Maria Natalia Pinho POR DNF
Rachel Anderson USA DNF
WOMEN’S Marathon F45
Margarita Munne Bastus ESP DNF
Ana Isabel Uriarte Uriart ESP DNF
Barbara Keller GER DNF
Eileen Martin IRL DNF
Ida Surbek SLO DNF
WOMEN’S Marathon F50
María Ester Aguayo Mendez CHI DNF
Dolores Cuenca Martos ESP DNF
Inmaculada Zuzuarregui Ve ESP DNF
Elisabeth Gebauer GER DNF
Barbara Hüsler – Schwab SUI DNF
WOMEN’S Marathon F55
Mirta Navea Roy ARG DNF
Marie Francoise Simon FRA DNF
Mary Radford GBR DNF
Lucia Soranzo ITA DNF
Helen Tobin NZL DNF
Liubov Galina RUS DNF
Alfiya Semenova RUS DNF
WOMEN’S Marathon F60
Diana Southern AUS DNF
Tiare Lund NZL DNF
Rose Hartmann SUI DNF
WOMEN’S Marathon F65
Ingrid Lauricks GER DNF
Birgitta Eklund SWE DNF
Janet Baumann USA DNF
WOMEN’S Marathon F70
Ruth Helfenstein SUI DNF
WOMEN’S Marathon F75
Maria Seng AUT DNF
WOMEN’S Marathon F80
Giuseppina Gurtner SUI DNF