Records August 22, 2018

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…

Toni_Bernadó is shown in his last of five Olympic marathons — at 2012 London Games.

Records August 22, 2018

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…

International August 20, 2018

Declarations at Malaga worlds are dicey — USA team manager issues reminder

Phil Greenwald, aka USA Masters Team Manager for Life, has posted a reminder on Facebook that all Malaga-goers need to heed: “Note the declaration requirements: By 8 pm for events up to 3 pm (the next day) and by noon for later events (the same day).” So this isn’t your usual masters nationals an-hour-before-the-running-event check-in routine. Email has gone to Americans, but furriners deserve a heads up, too. Meanwhile, excitement is building for WMA worlds, with national records falling just three weeks before the meet begins Sept. 4. Darren Scott posted about fellow Brit: “Congratulations to Jon Tilt who has…

Rants August 15, 2018

Usatfmasters.org — our official portal — being redesigned with WordPress modernity

Jeff Brower, our USATF masters webmaster and records czar, is working hard behind the scenes to freshen up our official website. It hasn’t been publicly unveiled (until now), but its WordPress theme (aka design) is adapted by masters media maestro (aka MMM) Sandy Lee Triolo “in collaboration with Jovette Jolicoeur,” says the site, which can be seen here. The old design — full of ancient HTML affectations and overly busy graphically — doesn’t do justice to our hip vibe. WordPress also allows Jeff (and anyone else with the password) to easily update a page. The old site required coding chops….

Joy Upshaw, a longtime friend, is as playful after a race as she is fierce during one.

General August 13, 2018

PressPatron is my promise to dig deeper, faster into masters track worldwide

For 22 years, I’ve showcased and watch-dogged adult age-group track and field – in America and around the world. Y’all have motivated my passion to cover this niche, often poorly covered elsewhere. As you’ve likely noticed, I recently added a “Become a supporter” button to every page. It’s also within the blue banner at the top of the page. If you click either, you’ll discover my new funding campaign to support the growth of this site. As a semi-retiree, I have self-funded this site. With your support, I’d like to take mblog to the next level. Thankfully, my needs are…

If Karla keeps up the super sprinting at Malaga, she'll be a WMA Athlete of the Year contender

Records August 12, 2018

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…

Karla del Grande completes her first WR sweep with a 29.21for 200 in Ontario championships at site of 2020 Toronto worlds.

Records August 10, 2018

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 August 7, 2018

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….

At Malaga, Spain, delegates to the General Assembly on Sept. 8 will elect a new WMA president from these candidates: Margit Jungmann, Vesa Lappalainen and Gary Snyder.

International August 5, 2018

Read ’em and vote: Interviews with candidates for WMA president at Malaga worlds

Who will succeed Australia’s Stan Perkins as WMA president? Will the General Assembly in Malaga downsize itself — by limiting each nation to a maximum of three delegates instead of five? Will the Age-Graded Tables be updated for single-year use instead of the current five-year groupings? Those questions will be answered the first Saturday of the world meet, under way in a month. Also up for a vote — eliminating the office of women’s representative. (The WMA Council, which made the proposal, said: “Over time the composition of the Council and the Committees of the Council have changed so that…

In 2008, George Mathews (left) and Jerry Bookin-Weiner chatted at the Reno annual USATF meeting.

General August 3, 2018

M90 records expected at National Masters Throws Championships in Seattle

If M100 Orville Rogers was the media star of Spokane, look for M90 William Platts to be the recordman at Seattle this weekend. He’s entered in the throws pentathlon at the USATF National Masters Throws Championships (strangely absent from the USATF nationals calendar.) His fan Suzy Hess Wojcik, a W75 Eugene thrower and former National Masters News publisher, called Bill: “Number 1 in the world in 5 events and 2 World ranking in another event.” In any case, USATF master mediafolks have issued a nice preview of the meet at West Seattle Stadium directed by George Mathews, a former masters…