WMA errs by a country mile on Daprano’s W70 world record
Over the weekend, 73-year-old Jeanne Daprano ran a fantastic mile. She clocked 7:02.86 at her association masters meet in Statesboro, Georgia. When I got the results from Jim and Joyce Hite, the meet directors, I checked the USATF records. I saw Jeanne was about 15 seconds off her own W70 American record. Then I proceeded to blog Carol Young’s W70 hammer AR. Later I was informed that Jeanne’s 7:02 was a world age-group record. Say what? I immediately went to the World Masters Athletics records page and saw this: W 70 7:47.91 Jeanne Daprano USA 70 05.05.07 Durham. After a minute, I realized the error. Her AR is listed as 6:47.91 at Durham, NC, 2007-May-05. A mistyped mark. WMA messed up.
Later in 2007, Jeanne ran an American record 3:07.69 for 800 meters at Occidental College in Los Angeles. (Photo by Ken Stone)
Double-checking the Web, I came across Mike Tymn’s column on Jeanne’s world record.
In the November 2007 issue of Running Times, Mike wrote:
If you put all the girls from most any high school on a track and ask them to run a mile as fast as possible, the odds are that, except for the few competitive distance runners on the school’s track and cross country teams, you won’t find more than two or three of them, if that many, able to go under seven minutes. In fact, you won’t find many high school boys able to break seven minutes for a mile.
With that in mind, one can better appreciate the performance of Jeanne Daprano, a 71-year-old retired elementary school teacher, certainly old enough to be a grandmother to current high school students. On May 5, at the Bob Boal meet on the Duke University track, she became the first woman 70-over to run a mile under seven minutes, shattering the listed 70 – 74 world record of 7:15.68 set by Helly Visser of Canada in 2004 with an awesome effort of 6:47.91
The WMA Web site errs on the W70 mile record by exactly a minute.
I also found a Google link to this long-forgotten report, titled “Jeanne Daprano cracks 7 at 70 — a masters milestone.” And mastersrankings.com listed 6:47 as well.
OK, it’s a typo. WMA made a booboo. Big deal. Off by a minute.
But I can only imagine the track world’s reaction if the IAAF listed Hicham El Guerrouj’s mile world record as 4:43.13. How many milliseconds would it take before Monaco was beset by a torrent of ridicule?
So I’m sending this blog entry to WMA records czar Sandy Pashkin and the leadership of WMA. My hope is they’ll fix this pronto, if not sooner.
As for Jeanne, my apologies for not noting her latest magnificent mile — which betters the unofficial single-age record. Pete Mundle’s Masters Age Records says the fastest 73-year-old lady miler in history is Pearl Mehl, who ran an indoor mile in 7:29.22 back in 1987. Congrats, Jeanne. Another record under your belt!
Pete Mundle's unofficial single-age records shows Jeanne's recent progression.
Just for fun, let’s predict when the WMA women’s record page is corrected!
5 Responses
Jeanne Daprano, as everyone knows, is the real deal. What a treat it has been to have her be part of the masters scene for the last two decades or so (in 1989 in Eugene she ran on a record-setting 4 x 400 squad that also included Irene Obera, Marilyn Fitzgerald, and Barbara Meadows).
I had the unique pleasure of announcing Jeanne’s world record at Durham in 2007 (6:47.91). For as long as I can remember, it has been listed as 7:47.91 on the WMA site — perhaps the listing can be corrected at some time in the future. After all, a 7:47.91 is excellent, but a 6:47.91, the real time, is Dapranoesque.
I am glad to see that Jeanne continues to run so well.
Will WMA change the typo – well – who knows – it has been there for a couple of years – It is correct on the USATF website.
As for the WR for 75 – WMA has Suzi MacLeod down as running 8:16.3 – last year.
I had the great pleasure to watch her courageous run in Statesboro. When the announcer proclaimed ‘world record’ Jeanne told me she ran 6:47.91 in Durham. Sandy Pashkin has been contacted numerous times… to no avail. This stinks! A few other things made me happy in Statesboro. Jim & Joyce Hite ran yet another wonderful meet, a true masters family affair. Everything is right on time. Results are posted within minutes after the conclusion of each event. And things are run with the wonderful southern hospitality, you simply have to experience. My total driving time for the weekend adds up to 10 to 12 hours, depending on the location in Georgia. That is nothing compared to the time (and love) Jim & Joyce and their team put in to make this one of the best little events in America. And what a pleasant surprise to see Max Hamlyn back on the track! Max is still bothered by the knee that forced him into retirement from competition but he’s giving it a shot. If it comes to guts, Max is one of my role models. He gave yet another ample display that fired me up to give my best as well.
The record on the wma-list is right. It will be staying there, staying there, staying there…
Miss Deprano in 5-5-07 was running to fast. Exact 1 minute to fast. You cannot run that fast at that age.
Sandy Pashkin sent this note to me and WMA honchos at 5:30 tonight:
All,
Typo has been corrected and will show on the next update.
Sandy
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