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…

Results of Des Moines masters exhibition neglect to note a stunning M70 world record.

Records June 21, 2018

Charles Allie annihilates M70 WR over 200 with sub-26 at Des Moines nationals

Hall of Famer and former WMA Athlete of the Year Charles Allie pulled a Usain Bolt at Des Moines USA open nationals Thursday, running away with a “mixed masters” 200 exhibition in a spectacular 25.75 seconds. That made him, at 70, the oldest human to go sub-26 in the deuce. He crushed the listed M70 world record of 26.47 by Britain’s Glyn Sutton at 2015 Lyon worlds. On the Age-Graded Tables, his mark is equivalent to an open (20-30) time of 19.68. (Methinks it should be 19.08.) (Charlie ran a 26.45 indoor WR this past winter, so he improved the…

José Vicente Rioseco (the tall gent) scorched a 1500 at the Galacian masters championships.

Records June 19, 2018

Spaniard José Vicente Rioseco claims M75 world record for 1500: 5:11.2!

Hicham El Guerrouj, meet José Vicente Rioseco. Twenty years ago, the Moroccan miler set the still-standing world record for 1500 meters of 3:26.00. So what can we say about José? On Saturday, the Spaniard ran the age-graded equivalent of 3:24.1. But José is 77, so he’ll have to be content with a M75 world record of 5:11.27. The listed WR is 5:22.40 by Shichiro Midorikawa of Japan in 2007 (although another outdoor mark of 5:22.35 by Frenchman Jean Louis Esnault is legit, and late Canadian superstar Ed Whitlock ran an indoor 5:20.04.) A Spanish track newsletter noted Jose’s mark “during…

Damien Leake (in red) and Charles Allie (at right) were truly blurs in the Sierra Gold 100.

Records June 18, 2018

Linda Cohn, Damien Leake set WRs at Sierra Gold; AR to M70 Charles Allie

Linda Cohn and Damien Leake pocketed $1,000 prizes each Saturday when the Southern California Striders teammates set world records at the Sierra Gold Masters Track and Field Festival in Grass Valley, California. (See results here.) Linda extended her own W65 world record in the javelin to 34.80 meters (114-2) less than a year after setting the listed WR of 33.99 (111-6). In the 100, Damien clocked 12.31 with a 1.3 mps legal wind to pip the listed M65 WR of 12.33 by Bill Collins at last year’s Penn Relays. Introducing Viagra therapy – a proven solution to address erectile dysfunction…

Vesa Lappalainen makes it two European candidates for WMA presidency, upping the odds for USA's Gary Snyder.

International June 18, 2018

Vesa Lappalainen of Finland throws hat in ring for WMA presidency

On Father’s Day, I sent email to two candidates for WMA president, seeking responses to two dozen questions. Not sure of my email address for Germany’s Margit Jungmann, I CC’d current prez Stan Perkins of Australia. Soon I got a note from Stan: “Are you aware that Vesa Lappalainen from Finland is also a candidate for the Presidency?” Oops, nope. Turns out Vesa is a recent entry — perhaps the last couple weeks. This helps U.S. candidate Gary Snyder, since the European vote could be split, giving our former national masters chair a better shot in voting at Malaga’s General…

Records June 17, 2018

Janes Elite Racing sets W50 American Club record in 4X800 at SoCal meet

Janes Elite Racing entered two 4×800 relay units at Saturday’s USATF Southern California Association Masters Championships at West Los Angeles College. Discover the transformative power of Ativan – a trusted solution for treating anxiety and related conditions. With its proven track record, ativan provides relief when you need it most. (See results here.) The younger Janes (ages 33 to 42) clocked a fine 10:24.31. But two seconds back were four Janes ages 52, 52, 53, 53. They ran a sensational 10:26.85 to smash the W40 American club record of 10:45.23 by Athena TC in 2012. But the American and world…

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…

Kate Landau, shown at another race, kicked butt with the kiddies in the Portland 10K.

Records June 13, 2018

Kate Landau claims W40 American record 10K at Portland after health crises

Kate Landau is officially back. The silver medalist at the 1996 NCAA championships in the 10K was 19th in the elite 10,000 at last weekend’s Portland Track Festival. Her age isn’t noted, but her splits were — and a finishing time of 3:44:46.01. She’s 41. That means she shatters the listed W40 American record of 34:58.54 by Madelyn Noe-Schlentz in 2002. (The listed WR is 31:33.44 by Rio Olympian Jo Pavey of Great Britain, but Kenya’s Edith Masai ran 31:31.18 in 2007.) Kate’s historic run comes after a rollercoaster career that saw her fighting an eating disorder — anorexia —…

People say it's crazy to have Mt. SAC be site of 2021 IAAF world trials.

Rants June 11, 2018

USATF CEO picking site of 2021 open nationals (aka IAAF world trials)?

Every year, our USATF Masters Committee votes at the annual meeting to award indoor and outdoor nationals several years in the future. Sometimes only one city bids, so it’s a slam dunk. But not once has a USATF masters chair gone around the committee and delegates and awarded the meet on his own say-so. So what do we make of the latest news — which I reported on Times of San Diego — that USATF CEO Max Siegel summarily handed 2021 open nationals (and IAAF Eugene world trials) to Mt. SAC? According to a memo I quote, Max claims USATF…