Ken Stone, this site’s founder and editor, 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, 2012 and 2024 Trials, two as a blogger. (See the first-ever real-time Trials blog here.)

Ken was born in Detroit in June 1954 but grew up in Orange County, California, and Omaha, Nebraska, where in 1972 he was the top high school hurdler in the city. He was a walk-on hurdler at the University of Kansas for two years. At KU he interviewed mile great Jim Ryun several times and covered his retirement press conference for Track & Field News.

Ken has competed in masters track since 1995, attending more than 16 outdoor nationals and three WMA world meets (in 1999, 2009 and 2011). His marks are top-secret.

After 17 years as a copy editor with The San Diego Union-Tribune, Ken joined the paper’s website, SignOnSanDiego, in July 2003. Along with most of the SignOn staff, he was laid off in June 2010, but was hired a month later as a local editor for Patch.com. His site, now called La Mesa-Mount Helix Patch, launched in late September 2010. In March 2012, he was promoted to associate regional editor of San Diego County, overseeing 10 Patch sites. AOL laid Ken off (along with hundreds of others) in August 2013.

A member of Track and Field Writers of America, Ken posted the original Wikipedia article on masters athletics. In June 2009, he won TAFWA’s first annual Adam Jacobs Memorial Award for excellence in blogging.

In late 2009, he won blogger Pete Magill’s All The President’s Men Award for Masters Track Investigative Journalism. He has has won dozens of writing and photography awards from the San Diego Press Club, mostly for work as a contributing editor with Times of San Diego. His LinkedIn address includes his personal record in the 440-yard hurdles.

Ken can be reached at TrackCEO@aol.com or kens@timesofsandiego.com.

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