Masters Hall of Famer and former U.S.
Olympic coach Payton Jordan sets world M80 record of
30.89 in the 200-meter dash at the San Jose masters
nationals in 1997.
Photo by Ken
Stone
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Published August 13,
1997
SAN JOSE -- Nobody likes the long
sprint hurdles. They hurt like hell.
But here we are, awaiting the starters commands for
the 400-meter intermediates at the masters nationals.
Im in lane 2, not the best. Four-time champion Mike
Pannell of New Mexico is in lane 1, even worse.
Outside me are six other middle-aged athletes, including Stan
Vegar, a former assistant track coach at San
Diego State.
Only eight brave souls checked in for
this race in the 40-44 age group Saturday at the 30th
annual USATF National Masters Outdoor Track and Field
Championships.
So this is it: the finals.
Gentlemen, take your marks, the starter says.
In the late 1960s, gray-haired track
athletes were a rarity. Aging Australians and Europeans
would still run, jump and throw. But Americans were not
part of the veterans athletics movement.
Enter lawyer David Pain of San Diego.
Under his pioneering guidance, U.S. masters (over-40 men
and over-35 women) finally could exercise their love of
the sport.
Beginning in 1968, the first six masters nationals were
held in San Diego. The meet returned to San Diego in
1989, and 1,500 athletes competed. That was the last
California-hosted nationals until last weeks event
here.
Fine time to win my first national
championship.
So why run this grueling event at age
43?
Its part of my self-image -- maybe written in my
DNA, the same force that left me 6-feet-3 and 152 pounds
more than 20 years after running this race for Kansas. I
train only twice a week, doing lots of stretching and
laps before donning spikes for repeat dashes at MiraCosta
or Palomar College tracks.
More weight training would help, especially for arms and
back.
It surely aided many of the 1,000 athletes congregated at
this sky-blue track over four days last week at San Jose
City College -- professionals and plumbers, parents and
retirees.
One muscular specimen was Payton
Jordan, an 80-year-old former Olympic coach
(Mexico City 1968).
On Saturday, he ran the 100-meter dash in 14.42 seconds,
a world record for his age. On Sunday, he demolished the
200-meter standard with a stunning 30.89.
Jordans been active in track since youth. But other
men and women began competing in their 60s. And forget
about upper limits.
Burt DeGroot of San Clemente managed
only a bronze medal in his discus group -- beaten by a
Santa Barbaran, 86, and an Angeleno, 85. So what.
DeGroot is 90.
Track is for life.
Crack goes the gun. I safely attack the
first hurdle. Pannell powers past, but my rhythm is good.
I take the next 36-inch hurdle in stride.
Then the wind starts to play havoc. I fear I wont
reach the seventh hurdle with the correct foot. I
hesitate and lose momentum.
Off the final turn, Im ahead of only Andy
Hecker of Ventura, my recent nemesis. I feebly
hop the 10th and struggle home seventh. Pannell wins in
58.92.
But my time of 65.86 is only 0.3 second off my
years best despite the wind and choppy steps.
Im very pleased.
The next day is Sunday, when Id normally rest my
protesting bones. But relays are scheduled, and Im
handed two chances for victory.
I run the second legs of the 400- and 1,600-meter relays
for an all-California quartet called the Webmaster Track
Club (after my masters Web site). My friend Hecker is a
teammate on both.
With solid baton exchanges, we rain on Monsoon TC, our
lone rival.
Less than an hour later, I run a 57.0 leg as the WTC
dusts a 4x400 Arizona squad by seven seconds.
We climb atop the victory stand twice to receive gold
medals.
This is heaven.
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