USATF Masters Hall of Famer Rachel Guest of Arizona, a W45 combined-events star with many world titles (turning 50 in April), is a candidate for USATF Masters T&F secretary. She responded to my Q&A invitation only hours after Colleen Barney sent her own responses. Like Colleen, she took pains to answer carefully — and not step on toes. But she deserves credit for committing to posting meeting minutes online. This isn’t always done. At this point, Rachel (and all the others) are running unopposed. But rules allow late candidates at this week’s annual meeting in Orlando.

Masterstrack.blog: How would you grow masters track — both in USATF membership and major meet participation? 

Rachel soars in her hep AR at 2015 world meet in Lyon, France. Rob Jerome photo

Rachel Guest: Our current masters membership numbers are not what I see as the immediate issue. What I do see as an important focus going into 2025 and beyond is how do we increase participation at the association, region and national level? There is an opportunity to improve marketing in local areas, increase social media marketing and build on the partnership and support from the national committee.

What changes, if any, would you make in national masters budget allocations? What would you cut? What would you boost?

This is a difficult question to answer at this time. I do not have enough information from the masters community and from the various members that are present at executive committee meetings to say if changes or cuts are necessary. Until the necessary conversations have been had, I would prefer to not give an answer or opinion at this time.

Is USATF Indy HQ supporting masters track sufficiently in funds and support? What changes would you like to see?

In my opinion, Masters Track has a solid partnership with the national office. In recent years, strides have been made towards programs that support our masters funds.

As a member of the executive committee, I would continue to explore ways we can continue the progress. With new staff that has joined the USATF national office I would say it is our responsibility to help build the understanding and communicate the inner workings of our segment of the sport. This will allow masters track to continue the strong partnership with the national office that we have built over the years.

If elected, would you commit to posting your annual budget and all meeting, officer and committee minutes on usatfmasters.org?

If elected as secretary, it will be my responsibility to take minutes and to post the minutes online for our masters community. As for the budget, I would first defer to the operating procedures and follow proper guidelines on posting budget information. I feel it is important to be transparent while also abiding by any rules and timelines in place.

Would you also commit to making available upon request of any USATF member the applications for USATF masters age-group records? If not, why not?

First, it would not be up to me as secretary to make the decision to make record applications available upon request. We have a committee dedicated to the records process and they should be included in the discussion.

What comes immediately to mind are the questions: Why would it be necessary? Is the request for applications a reasonable task with possible committee time constraints (keeping in mind these roles are volunteer positions)? Are we violating any privacy regulations making the application public due to member contact information, etc., on the application?

Does USATF masters do enough drug testing? If not, what would you support — beyond the current testing at outdoor and indoor nationals? Would you like to see out-of-competition testing? Should masters drug-testing be limited to certain age groups?

Unfortunately, I do not think we have the funding to test more than we do. Our membership is upwards of 12,000 athletes. I do not think it is realistic to explore out-of-competition testing for a myriad of reasons (cost, whereabout of athletes, etc).

It would be reasonable to explore other possible competitions such as region meets to conduct testing and randomize the location, age groups and events. I do not think we should limit testing to certain age groups.

We have seen positive testing results from a mix of age groups. If we limit the testing to certain age groups, we may see an increase of issues in the non-tested groups.

Drug-testing at masters nationals is officially random. But testing sometimes appears targeted at certain individuals and age groups. Do you commit to guaranteeing that tests are randomly executed? Would you commit to announcing the number of tests made at any given meet? If not, why not?

I am willing to commit to guaranteeing that majority of the time, tests are randomly conducted. It is my understanding that there are times that USADA may need to conduct a test on an athlete that has been accused of violating the anti-doping standards.

I trust the standards that are in place and USADA to conduct such tests based on ensuring the integrity of our sport. I also think it is important to keep details such as the number of tests scheduled to be conducted or actually conducted confidential.

If too much information is made public, then we may be at risk of an athlete trying to “figure out the system” and compromise the integrity of clean competition.

Mt. SAC opted out of hosting 2025 outdoor nationals, saying it feared losing money on the event. What changes in meet selection are needed to avoid a repeat? Can USATF masters lower its financial demands of LOCs?

When looking at what is involved in meet selection, it is important to remember that there are many aspects that are involved.

It is the job of the executive committee and the officers to ensure we make every effort to consider all aspects. This includes and is not limited to creating an exceptional experience (both for the athletes and the LOC), working with the LOC to find ways to keep their costs down, provide a financially affordable championship for the athletes.

Cutting corners on any one side can negatively impact the other. So I think to avoid a repeat, we need to look at the decision Mt SAC made, consider all variables of that situation and take the learnings into future bids/contracts.

USATF.TV does a great job of airing masters nationals, but the cost is prohibitive to many. Would you support a lower cost for accessing masters events and archives via USATF.TV?

If this was something we had control over, yes. However, we do not.

Many conventions air and archive their sessions via Zoom or similar tools. Would you commit to making available live and recorded video of your general sessions and executive committee meetings?

If we have the technology available, yes. We are limited to what is made available to us in the meetings and therefore this may not be a possibility. I would definitely be willing to look into if this is something we could make possible.

Should National Masters News be made free to USATF masters members, since it’s used as an official communications mechanism? Or at least be made available at reduced cost to USATF masters athletes?

Rachel (left) poses in 2018 with one of her many record-setting relay units. Photo by Ken Stone

Considering the magazine is not owned by USATF masters, no. It is privately owned and therefore we do not have any rights to the magazine or its pricing. All official communications are sent through the national office via email as well as posted on our website.

Would you support a physical presence for USATF Masters at the National Track & Field Hall of Fame at The Armory in NYC?

Any time we can have USATF Masters highlighted, I am in favor. However, I am not sure what that would look like and who would manage and decide what was included. I am more inclined to consider a venue that is easier to access for anyone interested in viewing the hall of fame. Location, accessibility, cost, etc should all be considered.

Anything else masters athletes should know about your candidacy, qualifications or plans?

I have been an active member of USATF masters since 2005 and been competing at the national level since 2007.

In 2017 I became more actively involved at an administrative level when I was appointed chair of the USATF Masters Awards Sub-Committee. For the last four years, I have served as a chair appointee on the executive committee and recently was appointed interim secretary when Amanda Scotti was unable to continue in the role.

I have been interested in continuing my involvement within USATF Masters and grow my knowledge and support of the sport. When I learned that Robert Thomas was running for chair, I knew this was the right time to run for a position I feel will fulfill my goals, allow me to give back and be an active part in the growth of our sport.

I believe in Robert and his passion for the sport and the athletes. He tirelessly works to create opportunities to improve the sport, experience and move us forward.

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