November 2018

Roland Heitink of Getty Images took iconic shot of future 49-year-old. But will he look as good at 50?

General November 8, 2018

M65 Dutch gent wants court to make him M45 for sake of sex appeal

Feeling old? Wish you were 20 years younger? Well, you can hit the gym. Or do what Emile Ratelband did in Holland. You can ask a court to change your legal age. Old Emile is 69 and wants to be declared 49. Yeah, I thought it was fake, too. But lots of outlets are covering this — including HuffPost, whose weird-news writer David Moye lives a few minutes from me. NPR’s headline goes straight for the jugular: “69-Year-Old Dutch Man Seeks To Change His Legal Age To 49.” The story begins: Emile Ratelband, a 69-year-old motivational speaker from the Netherlands,…

Tina Bowman (photographer not listed) took silver in the W65 long hurdles at Malaga worlds.

General November 4, 2018

Overcoming misery to excel in Malaga: 3 Americans with medical issues

Three recent profiles of Malaga-goers make my favorite point: Everyone in masters track is competing despite issues. In the case of W65 hurdler Tina Bowman, M75 hammer dude George Mathews and M60 discuser Ralph Fruguglietti, the hurdles are medical. From the Redmond News of Washington: “A year ago, Matthews took a break for hernia surgery at the Cascade Hernia & Surgical Solutions at Meridian Surgery Center in Puyallup. He credits his excellent care for getting him back to training in six weeks and competing a few months later.” From the562.org of California: “Bowman recovered from rotator cuff surgery in April…

General November 2, 2018

60 dash for the 60s will be masters exhibition event at NYC indoor nationals

The USATF Masters Twitter feed informs us that the 60-meter dash for men and women will be the exhibition race contested at USA indoor open nationals on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2019, at the new Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in New York City. Cool. Even cooler: The ages eligible for this event are 60-69. (Now if only I can compile home addresses for a few hundred guys and hire a discount knee-whacker, then I’m in!) If I can’t, then the likes of Damien Leake, Thomas Jones, Val Barnwell, Sky Webb and Michael Kish are the male favorites, while Amanda Scotti, Loretta…