Rex Harvey

Charlie Allie, the M70 supersprinter, says he'll apply for travel grant. He and others say inducements will raise Team USA medal count.

Rants January 1, 2019

USATF racing clock to inform world-classers of potential $2,000 Toruń travel grants, prize money

It’s only taken 50 years, but USA masters athletes are finally getting serious financial help from their governing body. As told in my deep-dive story for Times of San Diego, more than 300 eligible Americans as old as 103 can claim up to $1,000 for travel to Toruń worlds this March, and they can bring home up to an additional $1,000 for medals — $400 for gold, $200 for silver and $100 for bronze. Relay team members, too. The overall budget is $125,000, including $25,000 pledged by a mystery donor. I contacted masters national chair Rex Harvey and a dozen…

M55 webmaster John Seto was a weight throw specialist,

Rants December 8, 2018

Special Report: John Seto’s mastersrankings.com raised $244,000 in 3 years, still got USATF grants

An argument can be made that John Seto has done more to turbocharge masters track than anyone since David Pain ran his Johnny Appleseed track tours of Europe and Oceania in the 1970s and Al Sheahen spotlighted the sport via National Masters News. After growing his site, mastersrankings.com, for a decade, John won our highest honor a year ago — induction into the USATF Masters Hall of Fame. John wasn’t coy about his commitment, saying he worked 10-12 hours a day. He wasn’t shy about asking for donations, either. And in July 2015, he won nonprofit OK from the IRS….

General November 26, 2018

USATF could end masters club scoring (titles at indoor, outdoor nationals) under rule proposal

Last January, the WMA Competition Committee issued the world body’s “Rules of Competition 2018-2020.” Buried within, under Scoring, is Rule 151.1: “There shall be no overall Team Championships.” That appears to mean that WMA meets won’t score national teams for the purpose of identifying the top teams. OK fine. But since USATF likes to stay in step with World Masters Athletics, a rule proposal at the Columbus annual meeting this week aims to update USATF rules to end club scoring at masters nationals. (See team results from Maryland indoor nationals and Spokane outdoor nationals.) Have you been struggling with infertility?…

General November 14, 2018

Help save our memories: Contribute materials to 10-year-old mastershistory.org

I must have been napping. But I failed in February to mark the 10th anniversary of mastershistory.org — our worldwide geezertrack museum. This year’s updates have been slim, however, since we’ve exhausted the Al Sheahen archive. So now we’re launching an effort to crowd-source materials from others. Masters History subcommittee chair Jeff Davison recently visited national masters chair Rex Harvey in Arizona, who is making available some of his papers, including newsletters of the Over The Hill Track Club in Ohio. And yet some basic materials are still missing. For example, USATF Masters T&F Records czar Jeff Brower needs complete…

Rants October 16, 2018

National Masters Chair Rex Harvey: Medals were goal of Malaga relay selections

It goes without saying that the goal of USATF masters is winning as many medals at possible at worlds. But was a decision to move Charlie Allie down from the M70 4×100 to the M65 team in Malaga the most efficient course? I’ll let others debate that. For now, I’ll pass along the first response I’ve gotten from USATF National Masters Chair Rex Harvey since posting the Roger Pierce complaint nearly a week ago. Rex graciously writes: Please make it known to your readers that, while he does more work than any of the rest of us, volunteer Phil Greenwald…

Charlie Allie anchors America's gold-medal M65 4x100 relay team at Malaga.

General October 9, 2018

Special Report: Were rules broken for sake of Yanks’ record shot in Malaga 4×100?

I love records and record attempts. But should a chance at a WR trump rules at worlds? That’s a question being raised after Charles Allie dropped down from M70 to M65 at Malaga, causing a domino effect of anger and disappointment that reached into the M80 age group. On Friday, M70 sprinter Roger Pierce contacted me via Facebook to describe what he considered a debacle involving the 4×100 relays. Later I spoke with him on the phone, as well as Charlie. I also wrote George Haywood, another M65 relay member and teammate of Charlie’s. Phil Greenwald, longtime U.S. masters team…

For some reason, the track stadium at North Carolina A&T is wasted on football.

General September 1, 2018

USATF greenlights Greensboro for 2020 masters outdoor nationals after Upstate N.Y. drops out

Last December, I reported that two bids were received for the 2020 outdoor masters nationals – one from Greensboro, North Carolina, and the other from the Niagara Association in upstate New York. “However, because of questions about the facilities in Greensboro and the lack of detail in the Niagara Association bid (and the fact that site visits had not been conducted prior to the Annual Meeting in either Greensboro or Brockport), the [MTF] committee decided to postpone the decision,” said a report. Now we know the verdict: Greenboro. Fidel B’s keen eye spotted the dates in a recent USATF email…

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…

USA Cycling appears to be targeting older athlete for out-of-competition testing.

Doping May 22, 2018

Cyclist, 59, suspended for refusing drug test outside race. Are we next?

Two months ago, I wrote about M50 thrower David Burrell in Britain, who is suspended until October 2021 for refusing a drug test, possibly at home. Now comes news that an M55 cyclist — Scott Gross of Orange Park, Florida — has accepted a 4-year suspension for refusing an out-of-competition drug test May 3. This hits close to home. So I wrote USATF national masters chair Rex Harvey whether masters tracksters could get a knock on the door. He replied: “All USATF athletes are liable for testing at any time and any place.” While conceding that MTF has no formal…