Rants

Thoughts on 30 years: My funky, infamous masters track coverage began via AOL in February 1996

In September 2017, I blogged about a racist-sounding Facebook post by the president of my masters track club. National-class M60 sprinter Joe Ruggless, who eventually resigned as president of the Southern California Striders, had written: “That piece of shit rich NFL athlete Colin Kaepernick who was raised by white parents has no idea what a real african american has experienced, so for him to disrespect the flag, that my father was seriously wounded for, my uncle, neighbor and friends died for, can go to hell.” Highlighting Joe’s post won me few friends. Said one commenter: “Ken Stone, you are a…

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National Senior Games age-group rules debated: Should USATF practice apply?

Kathy Bergen doesn’t turn 80 until late December, and Brenda Matthews doesn’t turn 70 until early July. But at last week’s National Senior Games in Albuquerque, Kathy won W80 sprints and Brenda won W70. For those in the parallel USATF masters circuit, this is crazy. In Senior Olympic state, regional and national events, it’s par for the quirky course. As I’ve explained to newbies for decades, USATF (and World Masters Athletics) assigns your age group based on your actual age on the first day of a given meet. (This leads to some folks aging up in the middle of the…