General

Results are being posted expeditiously, so at least we know who's doing what. Americans swept M65 shot.

General July 21, 2018

No USATF money for Malaga-goers: Sponsors are no-shows for 2018 prizes

It’s a false start. Eight months after announcing hopes to hand out money to elite masters headed for Malaga worlds and reward them for medals, national chair Rex Harvey says the plan is a DNS for this year. “We have not been able to find a sponsor, but still working on this for future years,” Rex told me this week. Experience the cognitive boost you’ve been searching for. Join the countless success stories who have embraced the power of modafinil. Don’t let exhaustion hold you back any longer. Try modafinil today and experience a renewed sense of vitality and mental…

Paul Merca is humble about his masters knowledge but is world-class on elite level track and field.

General July 20, 2018

Track guru Paul Merca boning up for Spokane as 12-hour-a-day meet announcer

M55 track writer Paul Merca of Seattle is one gracious guy. He let me win the inaugural TAFWA blogging award in 2009 before swooping in for the honor in 2010 via his site. Now he’s onto another task – announcing Spokane masters nationals (actually Cheney, but whatever). Over the past few days, we’ve chatted about the challenge. He’s well aware he’s filling the superstar shoes of Peter Taylor (rehabbing from a near-stroke experience). But Paul aims to do justice to our niche, cramming daily with the help of Pete, spreadsheets of entries and reviewing this blog. On Facebook this week,…

Diane plays with a cane at start of a workout as she makes comeback from knee surgery.

General July 9, 2018

Conquering knee woes, Diane Tedford Pierce aims to revive speed, world-class status

World sprint champ Roger Pierce is well-known to readers of this blog. He’s been a Masters Hall of Famer for 10 years. But lately I’ve been more intrigued by his W50 wife of three years — Diane Tedford Pierce. On Facebook, I followed her progress in coming back from knee surgery. When someone suggested I interview her, I jumped into action. Her backstory is impressive, too. Diane — who bought a house with Roger and moved to Rowley, about 10 miles north of Essex in 2015 — graciously responded. Masterstrack.com: Where were you born, and where did you grow up?…

Ten years ago, Spokane City College hosted our meet. This year, it's at Eastern Washington University.

General July 5, 2018

Spokane is rare Left Coast nationals, so don’t complain about cost, travel

Starting in 1968 (yes, 50 years ago), seven of the first 10 masters outdoor nationals were held on the West Coast — six in David Pain’s home of San Diego and once in Gresham, Oregon. But in the past 20 years, the Left Coast has hosted our showcase meet only four times — Sacramento 2010, Spokane 2008 and Eugene 2003 and 2000. (I don’t count mid-Pacific Honolulu 2005.) So cry me a river when people complain about the cost of 2018 Spokane nationals. Some are griping about this year’s locale on Facebook. But the ones on the East Coast have…

General June 28, 2018

USATF SoCal association handing out $7,000 to big-meet masters, para-athletes

The four-county Southern California Association of USATF is making good on its nonprofit status — offering grants to masters and para-athletes this summer. Chris Gentile, a longtime master middle-distance star, is interim president of the association and shared details in a recent phone chat. Chris says $7,000 is available for those headed to Spokane nationals and Malaga worlds (also the Para-Athletics Youth World Games in Athlone, Ireland) — for travel, lodging and entry fees, etc. Applications will be reviewed by the association’s Athletes Advisory Committee led by Lorraine Williams. It asks a lot of questions, including some that may freak…

M55 world champion Don McGee eyes the sprint triple and relay double at Malaga worlds.

General June 26, 2018

GoFundMe raising tens of thousands of dollars for Malaga-goers

The race for Malaga is on. Not for medals. We’re talking moolah via social media. Masters tracksters globally have discovered crowdfunding sites — just as John Oleski suggested two years ago. GoFundMe appears to be the go-to site for age-groupers. World champion sprinters Emma McGowan ($1,380 raised so far) and Don McGee ($795) are making progress toward their September worlds goals. Newcomer Andrea Collier has $1,995 so far, Clinton Aurelien $225, Ty Brown $300 and Tony Williams $850. At least one is overpromising. John Wall ($1,675 of $3,000 goal) writes: “I am a two time Gold Medallist for Australia and…

General June 23, 2018

Now for something completely slower: Ken Stone outsnailing 6-year-old

The older I get, the faster they get — the young’ns I race in San Diego all-comers meets. In previous years, I reveled in smoking 10-year-olds. On Wednesday, at the Summer Nights Series meet at Cuyamaca College near my home, I had no problem with 6-year-old Jude Jefferson in Lane 8. (I was in Lane 7.) But over in lane 5 was Gregory Jefferson (his brother?). I saw him just ahead of me and tried to reel him in. But alas, he beat me 15.14 to 15.40 as fellow 64-year-old Mark Atherton got a masters PR in 15.02. (See results…

a young Jim Ryun never ran at Rock Chalk Park, but his events may be on masters menu at Kansas Relays.

General June 22, 2018

Kansas Relays aims to rejoin masters exhibition rotation in 2019

One of the country’s longest-standing meets is hoping to get masters events back on its schedule. The 92nd annual Kansas Relays will be held April 17-20, 2019, at the university’s recently built Rock Chalk Park. The meet features several high school, college and university races, a unique quadrathlon format for Division I schools, and appearances by a handful of professional athletes. Up until two years ago, it also had a few events for masters athletes. But the number of athletes over age 40 who would show up to run had been dwindling, causing the meet organizers to take those events…

Peter Taylor posed with middle-distance greats Nick Berra and Lorraine Jasper after a 2013 meet.

General June 16, 2018

Announcer Peter Taylor sent home after CT scan shows no sign of stroke

Good news from famed meet-announcer Peter Taylor. He’s at home in Fairfax, Virginia, after a brief medical scare. On Friday, we was getting set for outpatient surgery when the anesthesiologist noticed his mouth drooping on the left side. Fearing a stroke, they gave him a CT scan, his sister Phoebe told me. Later, Pete called me to report that it wasn’t a stroke but possibly a TIA — transient ischemic attack. Pete says they found an aneurysm in his carotid artery, but “not big enough” to be a threat. He’s has two strokes, including one in 2012. He was sent…

General June 10, 2018

Sonja Friend-Uhl takes Portland mile, but W60 Lesley Hinz has top mark

At least three world-class milers mixed it up Sunday at the Portland Track Festival at Lewis & Clark College, with W45 Sonja Friend-Uhl clocking a great 5:07.26. But video doesn’t reflect the results, which don’t list W50 Marilyn Arsenault of Canada and Kaitlyn Barthell (who ran stride-for-stride with Sonja the first two laps). Later, I learned that Kaitlyn, in her 20s, and Marilyn were entered as open runners, with times listed elsewhere. W50 Aeron Arlin Genet was credited with a great 5:19.84. But also impressive was W60 Lesley Hinz, fifth in 5:47.16. That’s less than 5 seconds off the listed…