Masters News and Muse

In late July, the Eurovets held their biennial championships. Ivar Soderlind of Sweden has now filed a report on the records set at the meet in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Click here for his summary of records. But take the list with a grain of salt. Some of the marks he cites, including Howard Moscrop's 400-meter hurdles time of 56.85 on Day 4, fall short of marks set earlier in the season. Howard ran 56.56 at the British masters championships several weeks before the Eurovets. But I give Ivar credit for trying to summarize the meet's achievements. Where is the Spokane compilation?

One of my masters moles writes about next summer's world masters championships in Finland: "I understand from my sources that there are no more accommodations available in Lahti and the best ones have gone to the Germans and other Europeans. Official website says bookings will be available online on 8/30. (An) email to me from travel agency says fill out form and will get back to you this autumn. There is a group of Americans trying to get group housing, but I don't think there is a leader making it happen. Too late. We are screwed. (It takes) 45 minutes to 1 hour ride after you get to the train each way everyday."

Continue reading "Lahti 2009 housing already booked up? Try other options" »

Three years ago, M60 decathlon champion Robert Baker saw a little storm named Katrina interrupt his season. He described his evacuation from a New Orleans suburb and later reported his return to Metaire. Last weekend, he won gold in the M60 pentathlon at Clermont WMA regionals (finishing behind a guest from South Africa). Then came Gustav and deja vu. How did he do? I wrote Bob to find out.

Continue reading "Gustav was no match for Katrina evacuee Robert Baker" »

To grow the masters movement, we need more women as well as men. Now a coach in Portland, Maine, has one solution: Offer a track camp for female athletes only. It's still in the conceptual stage, but Deb Smith, director of Not Too Late Basketball Camps for women 50-plus, is talking up a track camp for the summer of 2009. The idea came from W50 sprinter Kim Williams, who competed in Spokane. Anyone interested?

Continue reading "Track camp for women over 50 in works for Maine 2009" »

The World Masters Games, a multisport festival held every four years, is ramping up for its 2009 edition in Sydney, Australia. It includes a big ol' track meet, which can conflict with the masters circuit. Now comes word that the 2013 meet is being coveted by Berlin, Germany. The Koops' site quotes Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit as saying Berlin has applied for the 2013 event, which is run by the International Masters Games Association. Klaus says Sydney is expecting 35,000 participants. Apparently, Turin (Italy) and Copenhagen-Malmo (Sweden-Denmark) are interested in 2013, too. The 2005 Games were in Edmonton, Alberta, and the 1998 Games were in Portland, Oregon.

Knut Henrik Skramstad of Norway won the M70 decathlon and pole vault at last year's Riccione world masters championships in Italy. And he was appalled at how the meet was conducted. In an undated narrative he lists several outrages, including the observation that hand times in a decathlon 100 were converted to automatic times for the official results. Knut isn't some nobody either. He's listed as head of Norway's masters track body. Click here for his original screed. Knut concluded: "This was a big event, but one should be able to require a minimum degree of competence of the organisers. . . I have only mentioned the things I have seen and heard of them when I was living with."

Continue reading "Norwegian masters enchilada rips 2007 Riccione worlds" »

Reprising her gig at Clermont-Ferrand, France, Linda Carty informs us of her latest masters video production -- a couple dozen clips of finals in some 200s, relays and assorted other Sunday events at last weekend's WMA regionals in Clermont, Florida. Click here for the Iist of AVI files, which take a while to download. It was surprising to see so many athletes milling around on the infield, like an all-comers meet. But security appeared lax. Thank you again, Linda!

Continue reading "Couple dozen videos show WMA Clermont 200s, relays" »

M40 sprinter John Simpson from Texas is used to heat, but he wasn't ready for the poor facilities at the WMA regionals over the weekend in central Florida. So he took some pictures to document the site of the 2009 masters nationals. (See below.) The shots also support arguments made in the petition against the National Training Center site. John writes that the online petition was a collaborative effort of him and Allan Tissenbaum, Andrew Seach, Val Barnwell, Tony DiSalvo, Lonnie Hooker, Courtney Muhammad, Don Drummond and Allan Sims -- "basically every athlete at our hotel," John says. "It must be known to all folks thinking about Clermont that it will be a pain in the ass the entire time. We aren't here to complain, only speaking the truth."

Continue reading "Photos back critics of Clermont site of 2009 nationals" »

Patricia Girard may be this season's Usain Bolt in masters track. She ran the 100-meter hurdles yesterday in 13.22 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. "Unbelievably, the wind was -1.9. Reina-Flor Okori of France won the race in 12.95," reports Ed Gordon, a world-class tracknut. Patricia is 40, so this should be an age-group record, right? Nope. World Masters Athletics doesn't keep 100H records for the W40s. (That group runs the 80-meter hurdles.) Click here for Patricia's old fan site. And this ain't no fluke. The IAAF Top list for her event says she ran 13.23 earlier this season. Is this amazing or what?

Continue reading "Frenchwoman sets hurdle record that won't be ratified" »

As you may have read in these comments, some sprinters have been circulating this online petition rapping Clermont, Florida, as the site of the 2009 masters nationals. Tellingly, it doesn't ask for a new venue. But that's how it might be read. It's not just the central Florida heat, however. Petitioners argue that the site isn't suitable for nationals. In any case, USATF won't change the venue on the basis of a petition. Not if a contract is signed. Yet you still have a voice, as you did when Clermont was a candidate in late 2006. (See my blog post on the race.) The key is having a choice. And letting your association's masters reps know your preference BEFORE they vote at the annual convention in late November/early December every year.

Continue reading "Petition opposes Clermont, Fla., as site of 2009 nationals" »

Yesterday's finals at the WMA regionals in Clermont, Florida, included the 400, 800, steeple, short hurdles and some jumps and throws. This very tight M45 finish in the 4 caught my eye: Paul Brown (51.95), Marcus Shute (51.99) and Courtney Muhammad (52.07). At Spokane nationals, the top three were: Muhammad (51.41), Saladin Allah (51.61) and Shute (52.20). Phil Raschker (who didn't compete in Spokane) and Jeanne Daprano are winning a bunch of events. M55 Horace Grant won a very tough double: the 400 in 55.65 and the 800 in 2:08.45. Antwon Dussett, 32, one of the few M30s in the country to take submasters seriously, won the 400 in 48.16. He won the Spokane 4 in 48.75. Click here for Friday's results.

The latest WMA handbook is prefaced with this revealing note from South Africa's Monty Hacker, interim president (until 2009). "Fellow WMA members, I must begin by drawing your attention to the loss of two of our former presidents in the space of just two years, Torsten Carlius (Nov. 2005) and Cesare Beccalli (Dec. 2007) in their late sixties and middle seventies, respectively. As we remember their passing we become more and more aware of our need to re-think the composition of our Council. In doing so, we must endeavour to bring onto our Council and committees, younger people willing to give voluntarily of their time and experience to our sport."

Continue reading "WMA Prez Hacker calls for younger council candidates" »

The WMA regional championships got under way today in Clermont, Florida, site of the 2009 masters nationals, and results for Day 1 have been posted. (Click here for the results PDF.) Officials aren't cutting entrants any slack, however. Among the DQs in the 5K racewalk was 91-year-old Maria Ramirez of Mexico. And one of my masters moles reports: "42-inch lanes and folks were still getting DQ'd for cutting the corners." But rigorous officiating is a plus. Shows that officials are doing their job.

Continue reading "Results being posted for WMA regional championships" »

The September issue of Masters Athlete magazine (formerly GeezerJock) is the biggest money-maker ever, I'm told by founding editor Sean Callahan. That's thanks to the staff's own efforts, and not the company that owned it, however. A year ago, Turnstile Publications acquired GeezerJock and renamed it Masters Athlete. Then in late May, it sold Masters Athlete back to its original owners, based in Chicago. An erroneous report said the magazine had been folded. "GeezerJock Media LLC is the official owner of Masters Athlete," Sean tells me. "Our coverage is going to continue to get better, and we plan to add e-newsletters next year. We like Masters Athlete (as a title) and so do our readers and advertisers." Moreover, its Web site is logging 30,000 unique users a month -- pretty darn good traffic.

Continue reading "Masters Athlete magazine flourishes after being 'folded'" »