Damien Leake looms as M65 WR man after 12.40 in 100 on May 6

Damien led Striders teammate Robert Richardson at an earlier meet.

Results are posted for the Southern California Striders Meet of Champions at Santa Ana College. The top mark was by Damien Leake, who at 65 clocked a legal 12.40 in the 100 — with the listed world record being 12.33 by Bill Collins at the 2017 Penn Relays.

On Saturday, Damien responded to some queries.

“I am hoping to take a real shot at Bill’s WR,” he said. “I was a little surprised at how close I was this early in the season, as I am a little ‘soft’ because I’ve been doing a lot more coaching than training this year.”
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He says he expects to be in better shape at the Sierra Gold meet and Spokane nationals — if his professional actings gigs allow.

“As always, my schedule changes according to what work comes my way,” he said.

I’m not aware of any American records at the May 6 Striders meet, but our friend Annelies Steekelenburg of Malibu was excited to set a Dutch W70 record in the high jump with her 1.22 meters (4 feet even.)

She knows it’ll last only until W65 WR holder Weia Reinboud turns 70 in 2020. Former NFL star Phil McConkey, 61, smoked my butt in the 100 and 200 (with times of 12.60 and 26.80). But his example pulled me to a sub-16 (a surprise given my shape).

I also had a chance to praise his form to a camera crew filming Phil for a documentary. Greg Pizza (who ate my lunch) also was competing in M60 (running 13.46 and 27.94) as he continued his comeback from a 20-month doping suspension.
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My old friend Richard Watson, the Yuma anesthesiologist, did his usual five throws (winning the hammer at 65) and revealed he retired six months ago. Gorgeous sunny day in the mid-70s. For once I didn’t take pictures. But images are vivid in my head.

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About the Author

Ken Stone
Ken has followed track as an athlete, writer and webmaster since the late 1960s, and saw most sessions of track and field at the 1984 Los Angeles and 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He also attended the 1988, 1992, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 Trials. He worked for 10 newspapers and now reports for Times of San Diego. Write him at TrackCEO@aol.com or kens@timesofandiego.com. Story tips always welcome!

4 Comments on "Damien Leake looms as M65 WR man after 12.40 in 100 on May 6"

  1. Was my 1st Strider meet. 400m. Plan to be back next year!

  2. Let’s see; we have had Damien Leake, Oscar Peyton, and Bill Collins to cheer in the M60 or M65 men for a few years now. Only one (Bill C.) is in the Masters Hall of Fame, but Oscar should definitely be there. We can only hope that Damien will stay with us long enough to be inducted in a few years.

    What we’ve experienced with Damien, Oscar, and Bill has been absolute brilliance, but because there are three of them we might have shortchanged them a bit, although most likely not Bill.
    The point is that sometimes when you have three stars at once you do not realize until many years later how good each of them was.

  3. Jerry Bookin--Weiner | May 21, 2018 at 10:08 pm | Reply

    Pete,

    You’ve been led astray about Oscar by a USATF.org page that only includes LDR inductees for 2015. If you look here: http://www.usatfmasters.org/halloffame.htm you’ll see that Oscar was inducted into the HOF in 2015 on the MTF side. Damien is not in though.

  4. Thanks, Jerry. Every time I have searched for Oscar’s name on the “official” list I have not been able to find it. I was always amazed, as Oscar has been brilliant for so many years, a true force in masters T&F. Thanks for the information, Jerry.

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