2018

Iowa's Kay Glynn (center) and San Diego's Rita Hanscom (right) battle in 400, ending Day 1.

Records July 1, 2018

WRs set in masters women’s decathlon in Grass Valley — only question is: How many?

This weekend’s USATF masters women’s decathlon is in the books. All that’s left is the shouting over who set world age-group records. (No official lists are kept, but these marks will likely get wide recognition.) See results here. I suspect most of the six entrants will lay claim to some WR or AR, given changes in age-graded factors and implement weights since the last major masters women’s dec in 2009. (The dec also was contested in 2011 in Dallas. And Jen Freemas set a W35 AR in 2015.) One thing is certain: Nobody at Nevada Union High School was in…

Tom LeGan, trailing some kiddie teammates last year, has targeted Nolan Shaheed's M50 WR mile of 4:25.04.

Records June 30, 2018

Tom LeGan inching toward M50 world record mile, plans July 17 attempt

Berkeley-based Strawberry Canyon Track Club is reporting that its M50 mile star Tom LeGan ran a road mile last weekend in 4:24.8, supposedly breaking the point-to-point age-group WR of 4:28 at the Fifth Avenue Mile. (Not sure of details.) The Los Gatos event, called the One Mile Bang, isn’t yet listing results. But road miles don’t count in World Masters Athletics stats anyway. Tom has his eye on the listed WR, however — Nolan Shaheed’s 4:25.04 from 2001. Tom’s moonshot reportedly will take place July 17 at a meet in San Rafael. (I’m worried about it being unsanctioned, however.) A…

General June 28, 2018

USATF SoCal association handing out $7,000 to big-meet masters, para-athletes

The four-county Southern California Association of USATF is making good on its nonprofit status — offering grants to masters and para-athletes this summer. Chris Gentile, a longtime master middle-distance star, is interim president of the association and shared details in a recent phone chat. Chris says $7,000 is available for those headed to Spokane nationals and Malaga worlds (also the Para-Athletics Youth World Games in Athlone, Ireland) — for travel, lodging and entry fees, etc. Applications will be reviewed by the association’s Athletes Advisory Committee led by Lorraine Williams. It asks a lot of questions, including some that may freak…

M55 world champion Don McGee eyes the sprint triple and relay double at Malaga worlds.

General June 26, 2018

GoFundMe raising tens of thousands of dollars for Malaga-goers

The race for Malaga is on. Not for medals. We’re talking moolah via social media. Masters tracksters globally have discovered crowdfunding sites — just as John Oleski suggested two years ago. GoFundMe appears to be the go-to site for age-groupers. World champion sprinters Emma McGowan ($1,380 raised so far) and Don McGee ($795) are making progress toward their September worlds goals. Newcomer Andrea Collier has $1,995 so far, Clinton Aurelien $225, Ty Brown $300 and Tony Williams $850. At least one is overpromising. John Wall ($1,675 of $3,000 goal) writes: “I am a two time Gold Medallist for Australia and…

General June 23, 2018

Now for something completely slower: Ken Stone outsnailing 6-year-old

The older I get, the faster they get — the young’ns I race in San Diego all-comers meets. In previous years, I reveled in smoking 10-year-olds. On Wednesday, at the Summer Nights Series meet at Cuyamaca College near my home, I had no problem with 6-year-old Jude Jefferson in Lane 8. (I was in Lane 7.) But over in lane 5 was Gregory Jefferson (his brother?). I saw him just ahead of me and tried to reel him in. But alas, he beat me 15.14 to 15.40 as fellow 64-year-old Mark Atherton got a masters PR in 15.02. (See results…

a young Jim Ryun never ran at Rock Chalk Park, but his events may be on masters menu at Kansas Relays.

General June 22, 2018

Kansas Relays aims to rejoin masters exhibition rotation in 2019

One of the country’s longest-standing meets is hoping to get masters events back on its schedule. The 92nd annual Kansas Relays will be held April 17-20, 2019, at the university’s recently built Rock Chalk Park. The meet features several high school, college and university races, a unique quadrathlon format for Division I schools, and appearances by a handful of professional athletes. Up until two years ago, it also had a few events for masters athletes. But the number of athletes over age 40 who would show up to run had been dwindling, causing the meet organizers to take those events…

Results of Des Moines masters exhibition neglect to note a stunning M70 world record.

Records June 21, 2018

Charles Allie annihilates M70 WR over 200 with sub-26 at Des Moines nationals

Hall of Famer and former WMA Athlete of the Year Charles Allie pulled a Usain Bolt at Des Moines USA open nationals Thursday, running away with a “mixed masters” 200 exhibition in a spectacular 25.75 seconds. That made him, at 70, the oldest human to go sub-26 in the deuce. He crushed the listed M70 world record of 26.47 by Britain’s Glyn Sutton at 2015 Lyon worlds. On the Age-Graded Tables, his mark is equivalent to an open (20-30) time of 19.68. (Methinks it should be 19.08.) (Charlie ran a 26.45 indoor WR this past winter, so he improved the…

José Vicente Rioseco (the tall gent) scorched a 1500 at the Galacian masters championships.

Records June 19, 2018

Spaniard José Vicente Rioseco claims M75 world record for 1500: 5:11.2!

Hicham El Guerrouj, meet José Vicente Rioseco. Twenty years ago, the Moroccan miler set the still-standing world record for 1500 meters of 3:26.00. So what can we say about José? On Saturday, the Spaniard ran the age-graded equivalent of 3:24.1. But José is 77, so he’ll have to be content with a M75 world record of 5:11.27. The listed WR is 5:22.40 by Shichiro Midorikawa of Japan in 2007 (although another outdoor mark of 5:22.35 by Frenchman Jean Louis Esnault is legit, and late Canadian superstar Ed Whitlock ran an indoor 5:20.04.) A Spanish track newsletter noted Jose’s mark “during…

Damien Leake (in red) and Charles Allie (at right) were truly blurs in the Sierra Gold 100.

Records June 18, 2018

Linda Cohn, Damien Leake set WRs at Sierra Gold; AR to M70 Charles Allie

Linda Cohn and Damien Leake pocketed $1,000 prizes each Saturday when the Southern California Striders teammates set world records at the Sierra Gold Masters Track and Field Festival in Grass Valley, California. (See results here.) Linda extended her own W65 world record in the javelin to 34.80 meters (114-2) less than a year after setting the listed WR of 33.99 (111-6). In the 100, Damien clocked 12.31 with a 1.3 mps legal wind to pip the listed M65 WR of 12.33 by Bill Collins at last year’s Penn Relays. Introducing Viagra therapy – a proven solution to address erectile dysfunction…

Vesa Lappalainen makes it two European candidates for WMA presidency, upping the odds for USA's Gary Snyder.

International June 18, 2018

Vesa Lappalainen of Finland throws hat in ring for WMA presidency

On Father’s Day, I sent email to two candidates for WMA president, seeking responses to two dozen questions. Not sure of my email address for Germany’s Margit Jungmann, I CC’d current prez Stan Perkins of Australia. Soon I got a note from Stan: “Are you aware that Vesa Lappalainen from Finland is also a candidate for the Presidency?” Oops, nope. Turns out Vesa is a recent entry — perhaps the last couple weeks. This helps U.S. candidate Gary Snyder, since the European vote could be split, giving our former national masters chair a better shot in voting at Malaga’s General…