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Lead Stories: Friday, December 5, 2008

Lois Ann Gilmore named Masters Athlete of the Year

Posted November 30th, 2007 at 9:00 AM by Martha Jones

Section: News & Results, Masters

Lois Ann Gilmore of Janesville, Wis., one of the most successful and prolific age-graded masters distance runners in history and a survivor of two life-threatening illnesses, on Thursday was named USA Track & Field’s Masters Athlete of the Year. The announcement was made by the Masters Long Distance Running and Track & Field Committees at USATF’s Annual Meeting in Honolulu.

Gilmore, 77, has run 54 road races to date this year, at distances from 5 km to 15 km. Her accomplishments have included an American record time of 26:01 for 5 km, which has been the distance at which she has found the most success.

More than a decade ago, age-grade standards were established which enabled the performances by athletes in different age groups to be compared. Using the tables, performances at a given age are assigned a percentile to indicate where it would rank on a scale of 1-100. Out of Gilmore’s 54 road races this year, a remarkable 35 of them are 90% or above.
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Race Walk Competitor/Official Lori Maynard Dies

Posted November 24th, 2007 at 4:06 PM by Hariz Siddiqui

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Masters

Longtime master level official and race walk enthusiast Lori Maynard died at her home in Redwood City, Calif. on Sunday, November 18.

A national class race walker in the late 70s and early 80s, Maynard held numerous masters records and titles. In 2005 she was inducted into the Masters Athlete’s Hall of Fame. She was a master level track and field official and an international race walk judge, who officiated at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics, and she served as the manager of several USA Track and Field international teams. Maynard also served on many administrative committees within USA Track & Field over the last two decades.
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Raschker named World Masters Athlete of the Year

Posted October 29th, 2007 at 9:45 PM by Hariz Siddiqui

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Masters

Phil Raschker Philippa (Phil) Raschker, of Marietta, Georgia, has been named Female World Masters Athlete of the Year by the World Masters Athletics Association (WMA), the organization designated by the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) to conduct the worldwide sport of masters track and field.The selection was made on October 28.

The WMA recognized Raschker for her 10 gold-winning performances at the World Masters Championships Meet in Italy in September, the 12 world records she established during her competitions this year, and her 27 gold medals at national championship meets in the United States.
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“The Wisdom of Experience” Puts Masters Athletes In Front

Posted October 21st, 2007 at 8:45 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Motivation, Famous Quotes, Trail / Ultra, Masters

The Denver Post has published an article giving masters athletes a little well-deserved publicity. Along with several masters athletes, the ageless ultrarunner Marshall Ulrich is featured in the article, as is Chris Carmichael, Lance Armstrong’s trainer, who said that history is witnessing a new phenomenon of athletes who train and compete over the course of a lifetime. Carmichael says, “they just keep on going. They just keep on getting more efficient with their use of oxygen. After years and years of aerobic training and competing, they are, in a sense, smarter athletes.”

Ulrich, 56-years-old and the four-time winner of Badwater, perhaps the pinnacle of extreme sports, said – after being in last place 40 miles into this year’s 135 Badwater race – was finally worried about being too old bu then realized that, “I had to give myself a little talk and say, ‘So what?’ I had to stop feeling sorry for myself. So I’m suffering. Big deal. I expect to suffer, and really, I just don’t care. You have to remember you always come back.”
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Scheduling and Qualifying Rounds at International
Track & Field Meets

Posted October 18th, 2007 at 8:53 PM by Jimson Lee

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Masters

track and field meet event Scheduling an international track meet with a full program of events is no easy task, especially when it involves a large number of competitors.

Add both genders, five year age groups starting from age 35 up to 100, and you’ll certainly run out of time and space. Often, multiple stadiums are used and the 2007 World Masters Athletics in Riccione, Italy, was no exception; hosting events in three different stadiums.

Of course, athletes representing our Italian host accounted for almost one-third of the 9000+ participants, and the most popular age groups (M40-44, M45-49, and M50-54) accounted for almost a third as well. Unlike local Masters competitions, straight finals are non-existent for these age groups.
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Silvester sets American masters record

Posted October 15th, 2007 at 5:46 PM by Martin Kennedy

Section: News & Results, Masters

National Track & Field Hall of Famer Jay Silvester set a M70 American masters record last Wednesday at the Huntsman World Senior Games in Saint George, Utah.

The 1972 Olympic silver medalist and former world record holder in the discus, Silvester’s winning throw of 50.27 meters/164 feet 11 inches smashed the previous record of 48.06m/157-8 set by Wendell Palmer in 2002.

Also at the Huntsman World Senior Games, Linda Cohn shattered the W55 American record in the javelin with her heave of 40.34m/132-4. The previous record of 28.06m/92-1 was set by LaTanya Glass in 2005. Marjorie Fitzgerald broke the W80 American 100 meter record, crossing the line in 18.76 seconds.
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Vaill, Green win USA
1 Hour Race Walk titles

Posted October 15th, 2007 at 3:15 PM by Martha Jones

Section: News & Results

Teresa Vaill and Mark Green were the respective women’s and men’s winners Sunday at the 2007 USATF 1 Hour Race Walk Championships at the Bentley College track in Waltham, Mass.

A 2004 Olympian and three-time USA 20 km champion, Vaill won the women’s national championship leading from start to finish in walking a total of 12,501 meters within the hour-long time limit. Maria Michta was the runner-up three laps behind Vaill with 11,356m. Diana Rado was third overall, winning the U.S. junior title with 11,254m, with Lauren Forgues finishing fourth overall and second in the junior competition with 11,249 meters.

In winning the men’s title, Mark Green set a pending U.S. masters 50-54 age-group record with his final distance of 12,225 meters. Mike Kazmierczak was the runner-up with 12,094m, with Roberto Vergara winning the junior competition and finishing third overall in walking 11,917 meters.

Paul Johnson, who placed 15th in the men’s competition, set a pending U.S. masters M70-74 record with his measurement of 10,250 meters.
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TFS News Briefs: 10/08/07

Posted October 8th, 2007 at 2:20 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Track & Field, Drugs In Sports, Trail / Ultra

TFS News Briefs

Novelist Credits Track & Field for Changing His Life
Nicholas Sparks, whose 12th novel “The Choice” has just been published, credits track and field for changing his life. Sparks said that that track, “taught me more about discipline and perseverance and character than any class I’ve ever taken, because to be good, you need to show up every day, rain or shine. And for me, I was talented, but I was not supremely talented. To get where I was, I had to outwork people, and it taught me to do that.” Read more at: [San Jose Mercury News]

Sunday: 26.2 Miles. Monday: 26.2 miles. Tuesday…
Another day, another marathon for Tim Borland, the California runner who is running 63 of them in 63 straight days in order to to raise awareness of ataxia-telangiectasia, a degenerative disease that leads to a lack of muscle control. Today Borland runs in Detroit on his way to the 63rd marathon on November 4th in New York City. Read more at: [Detroit Free Press][A-T Children’s Project]

Chicago Marathon Official Has “Never Seen a Finish Like That”
Pat Savage, DePaul’s track and field and cross-country coach who was head referee at yesterday’s Chicago Marathon, said that, “it was really close. Yet at the same time, you could see that one man was ahead of the other man.” Savage believes that the marathon will eventually have to go to some kind of photo-finish electronic system. Read more at: [Chicago Tribune]
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Maine entrants competing at the USA Masters Champs

Posted July 30th, 2007 at 8:00 AM by Jeanie Rebb

Section: News & Results, Masters

More than 20 Maine residents are slated to compete at this week’s 2007 USA Masters Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Orono, Maine, giving the meet a terrific local flavor.

Held this year from August 2-5, the USA Masters Outdoor Championships annually showcases extraordinary demonstrations of speed, power, skill and endurance by many of the world’s finest masters track and field athletes, proving that age is no barrier to lifetime fitness. Athletes compete in five-year age divisions, beginning at age 30. In 2007, the meet will be webcast live at www.usatf.org

Maine residents slated to compete include William Donnell, 75 from Sedgwick, a sawmill operator competing in the hammer throw, and Doug Allen, 66 from Orono, a Yale track standout in the 1960’s, now University of Maine philosophy professor, competing in M65 5,000m. Reverend Richard Camp, 70, Freeport, will compete in the 100m, 200m and discus. Camp was a member of the world record indoor

4×200m relay team (M70-79) this past winter and won the 65-69 100m dash at the 2003 Penn Relays.
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