Malaga's official gallery included shots of a bleeding Vern Christensen after slipping on a barrier.

Rants October 8, 2018

Were steeple barriers at Malaga safe to step on? Canadian M75 racer ended up bloodied

American M75 middle-distancer Ev “Doc” Murdock was eighth in the 2K steeple at Malaga, but he sent me photos of the fifth-placer — Vern Christensen of Canada. Vern is shown at the finish holding his bloody forehead. Ouch! What happened? Doc explains: Has anyone mentioned to you that the steeplechase barriers were not coated with the usual nonslip surface? Instead, they were painted with high-gloss paint. As a result, they were amazingly slippery as soon as they got wet. Those of us who normally step on the barriers as part of our technique for jumping over them slipped. Several of…

The nation's Capitol looms in background of Navy Mile, where Sonja set an age-group record.

Athlete of the Week October 7, 2018

USATF Athlete of the Week Sonja Friend-Uhl tells why she skipped shot at Malaga gold

On the final day of Malaga worlds, Courtney Babcock of Canada won the W45 1500 in 4:47.88. That’s the No. 3 time in the world this season, according to mastersrankings.com. No. 1 is the 4:39.15 by American Sonja Friend-Uhl last March. So where was Sonja? At home in Florida, getting ready two weeks later for the Navy Mile on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington. Her road mile mark of 5:06.33 beat the old course record by more than 10 seconds, and Friday she was named USATF Athlete of the Week. “She finished 11th in the elite women’s race as she added…

Rants October 4, 2018

Nominate masters for USATF awards by Friday — if link comes back from dead

The USATF Masters Awards panel, chaired by W40 Malaga worlds hep champion Rachel Guest, is doing a good thing — using our official USATF masters site to invite nominations for annual awards. But not so good — you can’t nominate someone. The specified page says: “Sorry, this nomination form is not available.” That’s an easy fix (I hope). But the deadline is Friday. “After the October 5th deadline, the USATF Masters Awards Sub-Committee will review all nominations,” the announcement page says. “The committee will review all performance factors prior to voting. All awards winners will be announced at the USATF…

Rants September 30, 2018

Florida M65 thrower rips Malaga facilities in letter to WMA President Margit Jungmann

Guy Dirkin of Florida had a good Malaga. As an M65 thrower, competing for Britain, he won silver in the hammer and was 23 points away from bronze in the throws pentathlon. But he wasn’t happy with the facilities and let the new WMA president know in a letter I obtained. “Dear Margit,” he wrote Germany’s Margit Jungmann, the newly elected leader. “Please find attached a letter to you regarding the WMA’s managerial performance at the recent Malaga World Championships and past Championships. This correspondence has been provoked by multiple participant complaints, primarily around facilities. The scope of this letter restricts coverage to…

International September 29, 2018

Banned Nazi version of German national anthem played 2 days at Malaga medal ceremonies

In Germany, singing “Deutschland, Deutschland über alles” (Germany, Germany above everything) is a Bozo No-No. Although the lyric was written in 1841 by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben — and had nothing to do with the Nazis — it was adopted by Hitler and sung at the opening of the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Since 1952, the German national anthem has dropped the “Deutschland über alles” stanza. But WTF. Guess what was played for two days at Malaga medal ceremonies? Yup — the “banned” version. According to the German masters website Lampis.net, the nonkosher version (with the correct 1797 melody by…

General September 28, 2018

San Diego State University alums trying to restore men’s track, dormant since 1992

When you review San Diego State’s men’s track all-time lists, you can’t help but note the superstars — including Olympic champion long jumpers Willie Steele (1948) and Arnie Robinson (1976). World-class sprinters and hurdlers include Steve Williams, Marty Krulee, James King, Wes Williams, Quentin Wheeler and Don Shy. Bill Halverson — a masters vaulter — is present. So is Billy Konchellah, who went on to win two world titles at 800 meters. Coach Bob Larsen went to school there. But after 1989 — nothing. Track was dropped in 1992. Women Take control of your form-building journey today! Visit our website…

International September 26, 2018

WMA posts results of pre-Malaga survey: Y’all like sprints most. Biggest group? 50-54

In mid-May, I surveyed y’all about surveys — specifically: “Should WMA regularly post them?” About 91 percent said sure. Now we’re seeing the survey (May 15 to August 5) that prompted the question. WMA has posted results of a 25-query athlete poll. It’s in the form of a slide show, so look for the little arrows at lower left, just underneath the survey. Click them to change pages. The sample size isn’t great — about 560. (Perhaps this should have waited until Malaga, with 8,200 entries. But I guess that isn’t representative of average masters.) The gender breakdown was 68…

International September 25, 2018

Relaygate at Malaga worlds: Will Yanks move up from silver to gold in W55 4×400?

Angela Sonn was a prolific W55 sprinter this season in Great Britain. She recorded nearly five dozen races between 60 and 400 meters. But I doubt she ran the W55 4×400 relay at 5:05 p.m. Sept. 16 at Malaga worlds and the W45 4×4 about 50 minutes later. Yet that’s what results show. In fact, she ran only once — dropping down to anchor the W45 relay, which took sixth behind Team USA’s fifth. So how does her name appear in the W55 results, which shows her team winning gold? I wrote WMA officials (crickets) and British meet manager Maurice…

Rants September 23, 2018

Stan Perkins’ WMA Marketing and Communications Committee short on communications so far

Old WMA presidents never die. They just get named committee chairs. So it goes for Stan Perkins of Australia, who finished his two terms this month at Malaga. I recently learned Stan had been appointed chair of the WMA Marketing and Communications Committee. So I shot him and his committee some Qs, seeking details on the gig. Stan, bless him, was first (and only so far) to respond. But he didn’t offer much info. In fact, he took me to task for asking stupid questions. (Sorry, but that’s my specialty.) “I will not provide any additional information at this time…

Athlete of the Week September 20, 2018

Charles Allie named USATF Athlete of the Week for Malaga magnificence, WR in 400

M70 Charles Allie, named USATF Athlete of the Week on Wednesday, is well-positioned to win his second WMA Athlete of the Year honor. (He also won five years ago.) One Speed’s world record 57.26 in the 400 in the Malaga prelims qualifies him. If he becomes the North and Central America and Caribbean nominee, Charlie has a chance to match Bob Lida (WMA AOY for 2017 and 2012). All-time sprint and hurdles great Guido Mueller of Germany won male WMA honors in 2004, 2009 and 2014. (Detect a pattern?) So USATF did the right thing by recognizing Charles for AOW…