Records

Revelations in masters reports: Pete Taylor comeback, $10,000 for John Seto, missing Lagat records

Masters track subcommittee reports have been posted in the USATF annual meeting Document Library. Interesting stuff. We learn, for example, that John Seto was paid $10,000 for maintaining top-25 USATF masters rankings (actually seasonal lists) at his amazing site. We also hear from USA Team Manager Phil Greenwald (I assume) about the Malaga relay issues. Here’s what the team manager report says: Following the meet, there has been discussion in various blogs and social media about the M65 to M80 teams in the 4×100 and the M65 and M70 in the 4X400. The M65/M70 selections were discussed with the people…


W90 Heather Lee stomps on guys, her own WRs in two racewalks Down Under

Last Sunday, Aussie star Heather Lee beat M70 Brendon Hyde and M60 Christopher Worsnop in a 10K road walk at the Pan Pacific Masters Games on Queensland’s Gold Coast. Sorry, fellas. But it wasn’t just a victory of the sexes. Heather is 91 (turning 92 this weekend). In clicking to a time of 1:24:21, she also lowered her own listed W90 world record of 1:25:28, set last April in Perth. And just for a warmup, she won gold in the track 3K walk in 24:45.29 — bettering her own listed WR of 24:56.97. (But I’ve also been told that no…


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…


Czech Republic’s Jarmila Klimešova claims W70 javelin world record on eve of Malaga worlds

A couple months before the 2015 Lyon masters world championships, Carol Frost of Nebraska set a W70 world record in the 500-gram javelin. Saturday in Croatia — about two weeks before she competes in Malaga worlds — Jarmila Klimešova of the Czech Republic improved Carol’s record by almost exactly five feet. Jarmila threw 29.32 meters (96-2) at a six-nation masters meet in the Croatian town of Čakovec. Carol’s listed WR was 27.78 (91-1 3/4). So how did Carol do at Lyon? She took gold provigil with a 25.58 (83-11 1/4). Thus I’ll go out on a limb to predict Jarmila…


Ian Richards sets 2 walk WRs at British nationals; Peters, Saunders-Mullins sweep sprints

With 700 Brits entered at Malaga worlds, it’s worth noting how they fared at their masters nationals over the weekend. (See results here.) The top performers were both in their 65s or 70s, including Ian Richards, who claimed W70 world records in the 3000 and 5000 race walks. On Saturday, Ian clocked 15:07.43 for 3K. On a rainy Sunday, he strolled 25:48.50 for 5K. The listed WRs are countryman Arthur Thomson’s 15:15.24 and 26:01.52 from 2006. My favorite Olympic shrink doctor — Steve Peters — swept the M65 sprints, going 12.56, 26.22 and 62.59 (on the same day as the…


Dwain Chambers-anchored Brit 4×1 relay claims WR from Willie Gault’s M40 team

Results haven’t been posted (headed here eventually or on the Powers of 10 page), but Darren Scott’s latest Masters prednisone Grand Prix meet Sunday at London’s Lee Valley track apparently saw a world record in the M40 4×100 — anchored by world champion Dwain Chambers. The reported time of 42.17 by Jason “Juggler” Carty, Dominic Jon, Mensah Elliott and Dwain nips the listed WR of 42.20 by the American team of Frank Strong, Cornell Stephenson, Kettrell Berry and Willie Gault in 2004. Dwain isn’t listed in the stromectol Malaga entries. At least he doesn’t have to worry about being drug-tested…


M50 Antoni Bernadó quietly crushes 3000 WR with oldest sub-8:40 in Spain

Antoni “Toni” Bernadó Planas — an Andorran legend and reportedly the only man to run in five Olympic marathons (1996-2012) — has blasted the listed M50 WR for 3,000 meters, according to IAAF. Eleven years after clocking a PR 8:03.69 in 2007, he ran a stunning 8:37.94 at age 51. The mark came July 14 at Granollers, stromectol Spain. The listed WR is 8:41.2 by France’s Christian Geffrey in 2007. His IAAF bio site shows a 3000 progression that jumps from 2011 to 2018. So apparently he’s been busy at other distances. On the Age-Graded Tables, his 8:37 is worth…


O Karla, Karla, Karla! Del Grande claims third W65 WR in 100 at NACAC exhibition

After setting four world records in a couple weeks, what does W65 Karla del Grande do to relax? On Saturday, she jumped into a masters exhibition 100 and lowered her own WR anew. Competing at the NACAC Senior (Kiddie) Championships in Toronto, Karla rode a legal wind to a sizzling 13.91 clocking for third (behind a W40 and W45). Minutes later, M50 Chris Warburton won the men’s race in 11.72 (thanks to an illegal wind of 3 mps.) Also contested were men’s and women’s 800s. And in the open women’s 100, W35 Tahesia Harrigan-Scott of British Virgin Islands clocked a…


Canadian greats Karla del Grande, Carol LaFayette-Boyd crush sprint WRs in Surrey

Karla del Grande added to her legend at two recent Canadian meets, setting and lowering the W65 world records in the 100 and 200. She clocked 13.96 to beat her late-July mark of 14.00 at Ontario, and 28.53 to beat her own recent 29.21 and lower the listed 200 WR of 29.37 by Nadine O’Connor in 2007. And a masters mole tells me: “Due to a timing glitch in the 200-meter race, Karla and another competitor had to rerun their race about 30 minutes after the first race. We will never know what her time was in the first race, but…


Records set (W80 pentathlon, W55 throws pent) and record lost (W60 800-meter run)

So much for a lull between Spokane nationals and Malaga worlds. Christa Bortignon of British Columbia scored 4838 points in the outdoor pentathlon over the weekend to nip the listed W80 world record of 4319 by Vermont’s Flo Meiler at 2014 Winston-Salem nationals. Christa competed at Canadian masters nationals at South Surrey Athletic Park. (See results here.) Not far away, in Seattle, Neni Lewis beat the listed American record in the W55 throws pentathlon, scoring 4370 points. The previous record-holder (4219) was fellow Hall of Famer Carol Finsrud, who also competed — and set an AR in the ultraweight pent….