2018

International October 23, 2018

Was it a good idea for WMA to spin off marathon champs from world outdoor meet?

Close to 4,500 ran in Sunday’s Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, with many (if not most) over 35. It was designated the World Masters Athletics Marathon Championships — the first time a 26-miler was held outside the WMA world outdoor track meet since 1975. So how many folks competed for WMA medals? Would you believe 35? Yup. Forty-three years after the first WAVA gold medals were awarded in the marathon — at Toronto worlds — runners couldn’t care less about a “world title” at Scotiabank. One reason: You had to pay an extra $110 to enter the WMA event, run concurrently…

General October 20, 2018

Help Dave Albo pick out top pic from Malaga worlds for IAAF photo contest

Dave Albo the supershooter from Colorado is asking for help picking out his best of 9,300-plus images at Malaga worlds for entry in the IAAF photo contest. He’s chosen his top 13 and wants y’all to advise him on which to submit. “If I were to make the top 3,” he notes, “I’d get a trip for two to Monaco in December to attend the award ceremony. I have a LOT of good images from Malaga, so .. why not enter and see what happens? There is no downside in doing so. The hard part is that I must submit…

General October 19, 2018

Thanks, The Onion, for reminding us we don’t have to run fast — my new motto

With a heads up from Herb K, I learned of a Thursday post in The Onion that made me smile. The headline: “Sprinter Feels Like An Idiot After Finding Out About Jogging.” Of course, the reverse holds as well: “Marathoner Feels Like An Idiot After Finding Out About Sprinting.” In the meantime, I’m adopting the best of both worlds — running short distances slowly. What led YOU to choose your event?

International October 17, 2018

Butterdome awaits 2021 indoor worlds athletes — Edmonton meet previewed

I’m getting excited for 2021, and not just because I might burn my mortgage that year. Indoor worlds comes to Edmonton that year (as noted in Malaga coverage). A report last month in the local paper has a great quote: “It’s a very attractive event from the city’s perspective because it’s not a group of athletes coming on a government-funded program, who stick around their hotel and eat Ramen noodles. They’re out spending money, they’ve got disposable income.” So says James Rosnau, executive director of Athletics Alberta. I’m also eager to compete in the coolest named arena — the Butterdome….

Rants October 16, 2018

National Masters Chair Rex Harvey: Medals were goal of Malaga relay selections

It goes without saying that the goal of USATF masters is winning as many medals at possible at worlds. But was a decision to move Charlie Allie down from the M70 4×100 to the M65 team in Malaga the most efficient course? I’ll let others debate that. For now, I’ll pass along the first response I’ve gotten from USATF National Masters Chair Rex Harvey since posting the Roger Pierce complaint nearly a week ago. Rex graciously writes: Please make it known to your readers that, while he does more work than any of the rest of us, volunteer Phil Greenwald…

Records October 15, 2018

Marie-Louise Michelsohn claims W75 steeple WR by nearly slimmest margin

Results of the Sept. 30 Club West Masters meet in Santa Barbara show Jeff Davison’s hurdle time and Marie-Louise Michelsohn’s steeple mark next to each other. Not shown: How spectacular they were. At 76, Marie-Louise nipped the listed W75 world record in the 2000-meter steeplechase with her 11:30.52. WMA shows the record as 11:30.55 by China’s Xuhua Chen at 2016 Perth worlds. I wrote Marie-Louise for details on her amazing mark at UC Santa Barbara. She graciously responded: My lap times were 2:07, 4:36, 6:54 9:17 11:30.52 Final time. So splits were 2:07, 2:29, 2:18, 2:23, 2:13. The first lap…

Huntsman is among many Senior Games-style meets that offers the 50-meter dash.

General October 11, 2018

Huntsman World Senior Games boasting Mondo track at 50-plus Utah meet next week

The forecast for St. George, Utah, early next week is highs in the low 70s. Nice. It’s time for the Huntsman World Senior Games — the last major geezer meet in North America. It’s Oct. 15-17 at Snow Canyon High School (“NEW Mondo Track!!”). I don’t have access to the entrants list, but the schedule shows a lot of competition in many of the 50-plus age groups. At least nine gents over 85 are entered in the 100, for example. (And 16 in M75, 22 in M60.) So you’ll have to earn your medals. The popular 50-meter dash and standing…

General October 10, 2018

M70 SoCal TC foursome run 4×800 WR, crashing 11-minute barrier in Wichita

Relay records fall so often that I tend to get jaded. But when an M70 SoCal Track Club foursome ran in Wichita a couple weekends ago, the result was stunning and historic. The team of Gary Patton, Tim Wigger, Salih Talib and Grady Cash clocked 10:51.08 in the 4×800 to crush the listed WR of 11:09.87 by Jim Selby, Alfonse Escobar, Gunnar Linde and Avery Bryant at 1998 Orono nationals. That’s 20 years ago! In July, the team of Fred Lindsley, Grady, Tim and Salih ran a pending WR of 11:03.46 at West Regionals in Culver City, California. (I noted…

Charlie Allie anchors America's gold-medal M65 4x100 relay team at Malaga.

General October 9, 2018

Special Report: Were rules broken for sake of Yanks’ record shot in Malaga 4×100?

I love records and record attempts. But should a chance at a WR trump rules at worlds? That’s a question being raised after Charles Allie dropped down from M70 to M65 at Malaga, causing a domino effect of anger and disappointment that reached into the M80 age group. On Friday, M70 sprinter Roger Pierce contacted me via Facebook to describe what he considered a debacle involving the 4×100 relays. Later I spoke with him on the phone, as well as Charlie. I also wrote George Haywood, another M65 relay member and teammate of Charlie’s. Phil Greenwald, longtime U.S. masters team…

Malaga's official gallery included shots of a bleeding Vern Christensen after slipping on a barrier.

Rants October 8, 2018

Were steeple barriers at Malaga safe to step on? Canadian M75 racer ended up bloodied

American M75 middle-distancer Ev “Doc” Murdock was eighth in the 2K steeple at Malaga, but he sent me photos of the fifth-placer — Vern Christensen of Canada. Vern is shown at the finish holding his bloody forehead. Ouch! What happened? Doc explains: Has anyone mentioned to you that the steeplechase barriers were not coated with the usual nonslip surface? Instead, they were painted with high-gloss paint. As a result, they were amazingly slippery as soon as they got wet. Those of us who normally step on the barriers as part of our technique for jumping over them slipped. Several of…