Profile:

Name: Jess Brewer

Born: January 6, 1946, in Orlando, Florida, USA

Occupation: Professor, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

Home: Vancouver, British Columbia. Married to Pat Sparkes. Children: Jed and Rebecca

All-time T&F Bests: Ran 19.5 in 180y low hurdles to beat the great Willy Betts at the 1963 Central Michigan University Relays for a Cranbrook School record. Best in 440y hurdles at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., was 53.1. PR in 400m IH was 52.7 a year later in graduate school at UC Berkeley. “The next year, right after my best HH race, I developed Achilles tendinitis and had to take a season off, and never got my edge back. At 26 I accepted the popular wisdom that old men shouldn’t try to run fast and gave up the hurdles for 15 years of road running and knee pain.”

Masters achievements: “In 1993, I came to my senses, with the help of an understanding coach (Bill Morrish) and team (the UBC runners under his care) and the moral support of some good friends like Grant Lamothe and the late Rich Reinhart, who convinced me that I could run in the U.S. National Masters Championships and not look like a fool. Since then I have been training mainly for the 400m IH and (since turning 50) the 100m HH, in which I can now get my steps again! As a result, I am a least 10 years younger than I was five years ago.”

Took sixth in M45 group in 400m hurdles at the 1995 WAVA World Championships in Buffalo, N.Y., with a time of 62.45 (after 62.40 in the prelims.) Won the M50 100m HH (15.98) and the M50 400m IH (62.90) at the 1996 Canadian Masters T&F Championships in Victoria, BC, and took silver in the M50 100mH (15.84) and gold in the M50 400m IH (60.72) at the North American/Central American/Caribbean WAVA Championships in Eugene, OR., in August 1996.

Trivia: Jess was unbeaten in the long hurdles at Trinity College except once by an Amherst hurdler and once by Boston University’s Dave Hemery, the 1968 Olympic gold medalist for Britain. Jess’ masters PR is equivalent to 51.39 for a hurdler between 20 and 30.

First posted in 1995

One day in 1995, Ken Stone asked Canadian hurdler Jess Brewer for help getting started. Brewer’s reply via e-mail has stood the test of time as sound advice to novices in any masters event.

Brewer wrote in part:

Lessons I have learned from the past few years of masters running are probably highly idiosyncratic, but some of them may be applicable.

The first mistake I made was when I was just 41 and went out for my first all-comers meet to test the water. I ran the 100 and did OK, considering, but was hungry for more, so I looked around for another event; there were no other running events I felt in shape for, but I saw the high jump was being run and thought, well, I haven’t done it in 25 years, so what harm can it do? I then proceeded to take three jumps at the opening height, missing each time and each time pulling a muscle deep in my chest a little worse, until it was so severely injured that I was out for the rest of the season and could hardly move or breathe without agony.

Lesson: Don’t do ANYTHING in competition until you have eased up to it in practice for a while. That doesn't mean you can’t do crazy stuff like a kid, but you just can’t be quite so spontaneous about it!

I was so demoralized by my initial experience that I went back to beating my bones on the pavement and didn’t get back on the track until I was 47 -- missed the best part! So remember: As a masters athlete, you are (1) more susceptible to injuries and (2) a LOT slower to heal than when you were a kid. Use your head.

Having said that, let me turn around and say that, while you should probably concentrate on what you consider “your race,” there is a lot more freedom to experiment in masters T&F than there ever was in elite competition, as long as you give yourself a chance to get used to a new event before you try to go all-out in it.

The first masters runner I met (there at that meet where I hurt myself) was Harold Morioka, who ran so fast in the 100 that I got a completely distorted view of the standards for masters T&F (how was I to guess he was the world-record holder in the 400?) He has since turned 50 and took advantage of the lower hurdles (women’s height, 33 inches, for over 50) to branch out into the 400mH, where I believe he also has a WR (or at least a Canadian record). I think he also set a WR for the 800 in the WAVA World Championships in Japan two years ago. Anyway, an amazing athlete right here in the Vancouver area; and there are several others. This is one advantage of living in a major metropolitan area: You can find some decent competition and lots of good meets to run in.

The most important thing, however, is to find a group to work out with on a REGULAR SCHEDULE. Training on your own and/or with a “when I get a chance” schedule will be frustrating, demoralizing and relatively unproductive. I have been lucky to get in with an informal UBC team and patient coach (Bill Morrish) who has been a tremendous help to my training -- it’s not so much that I need to be told what I need to do, rather that I need someone to keep me honest when I feel like quitting early, taking a day off, easing up a little or taking just a few extra seconds between repeat 200s.

I have also been fortunate to find a running-mate on said team who is fairly well-matched to my current performance level -- in this case an 18-year-old woman 400m runner who hits 58 or so consistently but has the same trouble as me getting under that. You can really benefit from having someone to keep the competitive instincts in constant alertness, otherwise it seems sort of silly sometimes and you tend to slack off.

Ideally you develop a nice “teammate” spirit at the same time as a fierce but sportsmanlike competitiveness, then you both get better fast! As I said, I have been really lucky!

Still, the guy who persuaded me to go run in the USA masters championships in Provo back in 1993 (my first “serious” masters race) is pretty much self-trained and a loner, yet he has been doing masters decathlon for years with enormous gusto -- it’s painful to see how much he could improve if he just had some regular coaching and more practice, especially in the throws. But hell, he’s having a great time, staying in great shape, and has been over the All American standard every year for the last three years. He’s 5 1 now.

I am actually looking forward to my 50th birthday next January (1996), after which I can run the HH again (over 50s get to run the women’s hurdles -- 100m, closer spacing and 36-inch height, so I will be able to get my three steps again!) and I won’t be competing against 45-year-old kids like I was this year! (On the other hand, I will be up against Harold Morioka until he turns 55 three years from now.)

The age-grouping is a really fascinating twist on the whole experience! For one thing, you get all these second chances. For another, a semi-talented enthusiast like me can make it to the finals of the World Championships with a 62.4 in the 400mH even if I was running against a field of 45- to 47-year-olds! That was in Buffalo. Next worlds are in Durban, South Africa, in 1997.

You have just enough time to get ready -- no qualifying standard, just pay your reg fee and show up! If you are worried about humiliating yourself, don’t -- there are LOTS of people with no shame whatsoever who will make you look great! On the other hand, there will be (at every USA or World meet) some legendary athletes who, at 50, still look like Olympians; and it’s a delight to be in the same race with such \superhumans!