Meet director Noel is entered at nationals as well. (He’s the top-seeded discus thrower in M55.)
Masters nationals may not be the most expensive meet you’ll find, but it’s still pricey (costing $75 for the first event). So you don’t want to to miss the June 19 deadline for
“early registration” for the July 17-20 meet in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. An extra $50 is tacked on for entries up to June 26. Meet director
Noel Ruebel also stresses that poles are available for rental.
Here are the sizes, models. Noel notes: “Poles will be available on a first-come, first-served basis at $40 for the day. Additional sizes may be available. To reserve a pole, please email
noelruebel@fcds.org and indicate your size choice and date/time needed. In order to reserve a pole, you’ll need to pay in advance with no refunds offered. Poles not paid for within 7 days of being reserved will be reinstated to the available list. Checks in the amount of $40 should be made payable and mailed to: Noel Ruebel, 412 Paigebrook Dr., Winston Salem, NC 27106. Poles will be available within 2 hours of your competition and must be signed out; you are responsible for the return of the pole to Implement Check-in.” Finally, Noel says: “If you find you are in need of a different size pole, you may exchange a pole for another (if available) during your competition. Broken poles will not be the responsibility of the competitor.”
16 Responses
Yes, the regular deadline is getting very close indeed. In fact, it’s just 5 days away. Several points:
1. Noel Ruebel has the background, knowledge base, and determination needed to make this a very successful meet. I am glad that he is the meet director.
2. Although I did not enter any events, I will be at the meet all 4 days. This event has been selected as the “target nationals,” if you will. I’m not sure whether the target is 1500 (a nice round number) or 1504 (1 more than the record of 1503), but this is the meet that’s supposed to draw big numbers. In fact, some athletes will even receive financial assistance, which should help the numbers a tad.
3. Although the record turnout of 1503 was set way back in 2000 (Eugene), no nationals since then has even approached that number. Moreover, no outdoor national championship in history that was conducted EAST of the Mississippi River has ever exceeded 1367.
4. Charlotte, in 2006, was the meet that drew 1367. The 2014 nationals, of course, are also in North Carolina, and thus this year’s meet invites comparisons with Charlotte in terms of attendance.
5. In Charlotte, if you were a 1500/mile specialist, it cost you $45.00 to enter just the 1500. In Winston-Salem this year it will cost you $75.00. Has cost become an issue?
6. USATF listed 213 entrants in the 1500 meters for Charlotte; given the final total of 1367 entrants overall, I think that a multiplier of 6.418 would be useful. Right now, Winston-Salem has 71 entrants in the 1500; multiplying that number by 6.418 gives me 456. Thus, I am guessing that Winston-Salem has about 456 entrants right now.
7. Can we put on a closing kick and reach 1368 to establish a new record for nationals east of the Mississippi River? Again, I have a personal interest in the meet, as even though I did not enter any events I will be there all 4 days.
I cannot attend this year but I hope to go to Costa Rica to the Regional WMA meet in August – not that I am in shape to do anything more than spectate.
I see very few women signed up at this point – but hopefully by the deadline there will be a rush and I will see more familiar names on the list.
There are 991 entries, 394 athletes.
There are 991 entries, 394 athletes. (correcting my email address. This may eventually be a double comment)
Thanks for that, tb. That would be 2.5 events per athlete, which is close to the multiplier of 2.3 that I have used with some success over the years.
As for using the entrants in the 1500 to project the final total, apparently it is too soon to do that, as that technique produced an inflated number when I did it yesterday.
Regardless, I checked the entries this morning. Almost nothing happened overnight; there were 994 entries at 6 AM (Sunday). That means we have still not reached 400 athletes.
We need a hard move today, with Thursday the final day before a penalty of $50.00 is imposed, moving the cost for entering a single event up to $125.00.
I considered entering the national meet this year to run the steeplechase. Although the 5,000 & 10,000 races are run in the early morning, the steeple will be run approximately at high noon (depending on how many heats are necessary in some sprint races). Knowing North Carolina and the problem with heat in the past nationals in NC, I can’t see spending the time or money to attend. I think serious consideration should be made to spreading out the steeple over the four days of the meet in the early morning right after either the 5,000 or 10,000 each day.
“Regardless, I checked the entries this morning. Almost nothing happened overnight; there were 994 entries at 6 AM (Sunday). That means we have still not reached 400 athletes.”
That is an interesting statement…..Yet there are thousands of runners in road races…6000 “runners” in a “color run” in my town of 90,000 people yesterday.
The question is “why would masters distance runners go to the masters outdoor meet when there are plenty of road races to choose from in the summer that do not have $75.00 race entry fees plus have to travel and get a hotel for 2 or three nights?”
I know that is the nature of the beast, some people like roads, some track , some both, but track- especially USATF events are getting to be a harder and harder sell to someone who finishes 5 to 10 in age group competition.
I’d like to echo Pete Taylor’s remarks concerning the meet and Noel’s ability to put on a successful National meet. He has the credentials aside from being a class act.
Beating college kids is good for a private moment of satisfaction, but it’s an even better feeling when you later coach them past you.
After very little activity the last few days, the numbers just popped up to 576 athletes in 1421 events
Thanks for that, tb. That means 2.47 events per athlete, a bit higher than my rule-of-thumb of 2.3 but well within the normal range. To establish a new record for east of the Mississippi we will need another 792 athletes, most of them presumably entering before 11:59 PM tomorrow (Thursday), as it seems unlikely that many people will pay the $50 fine for late entry.
Let me check the number of younger women in the 100 dash, which I have been following as a rough indicator of interest in the meet. In Charlotte (2006), there were 37 women under 50 in the 100 … I will be right back. OK, right now we have 8 women under age 50 entered in the 100 for Winston-Salem. A bit discouraging, but maybe there will be a late rush.
957 athletes, 2401 events.
Thanks for the information, tb. Well, that’s 2.51 events per athlete; perhaps my standard of 2.30 per athlete is useful only for indoors. Regardless, Charlotte’s total registration in 2006 was reportedly 1367, and thus it looks like we have a mountain to climb.
Why? Because we are in “late time” now, and you have to add $50 to your fee. Thus, if you enter online and you want to compete in a single event your cost will be $125, for two events it will be $148.
I’ve been keeping track of the shot put and the 1500 to get a general sense of how we are doing against the 2006 Charlotte meet. Charlotte had 213 in the 1500 (as noted in an earlier post), and it had 156 in the shot. As of 6:00 this morning, Winston-Salem has 174 in the 1500 and just 101 in the shot.
The good news in the low entry for the shot put is that in many groups it will be simple to get a medal. For example, M50 has superstar John Brenner (see other article) and just one other thrower. That’s it. There’s your bronze.
There we go, up to 1016 athletes and counting…
1109 athletes as the late deadline passes. Looks like June 19th was the busiest day for sign-ups.
And thanks again, tb. Well, 1109 is not a terrible number, but the goal was either 1500, 1503, or 1504 (not sure which). Regardless, the meet fell dramatically short of Charlotte’s 1367 in 2006, which will remain the record for a meet not in Oregon or California (4 such meets exceeded 1400, with 1 of them, Eugene 2000, hitting 1503).
Given the reports that the US added 23 million people between 2006 and today, with more than half of them aged 30+, no doubt, and given the emphasis on Winston-Salem attendance (with even a program for first-timers), and with no world outdoors with which to contend (nor a Senior Games, which won’t be until 2015), it is hard to know why the Winston-Salem turnout has fallen so short.
I have my own ideas but will not present them here other than to speculate that price may have been an issue for some people. For some, of course, this might have been simply a symbolic issue. I have to pay $98 for two events even though I am entering on time? Not me.
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