Australian Masters sprinter John Wall challenged a fighter jet to a race. Wall, 62, recently raced the L-39 jet on a runway in Australia in the 100-meter dash to promote the World Masters Games, which will take place in Sydney, Australia, in October 2009. The jet has a top speed of 850 kilometers. Wall has a top speed of 11.97 seconds for the 100 meters, which is the second fastest time ever for the M60 age group. Wall led for the first 60 meters, but the jet's 4,000 pounds of thrust was too much as the machine eventually overtook man to win the race.

Stone on Track: USATF rejects pair of world record applications

John Hinton is a 45-year-old runner living in North Carolina. Kay Glynn, a grandmother of two, is a 55-year-old pole vaulter hailing from the Hawkeye state of Iowa. He's black and she's white, but they share a unique bond besides their love of Masters track. In 2008, they both beat world age-group records. What else in common? Their marks will never show up in the record books because the USATF Masters T&F Records Committee has rejected both applications for the records. Read more to find out why.

Swimmingly There was a great article by Karen Crouse in the New York Times on Aug 12, which I somehow overlooked. Fortunately Donal Fagan did not overlook. He made this post on the TI Discussion Forum about a week ago. The article provides a rare insider insight into the elements of speed. From the NY Times: "(Cullen) Jones, a Bronx native, was third in the final, missing a berth to Beijing by 0.16 second. He was pretty sure he knew what went wrong. His hunch was corroborated by the printout, which listed his reaction time on the start; the elapsed time from when he hit the water after the dive to his first stroke; his splits at 15, 30 and 45 meters; and his stroke-rate count." . . . keep reading...>> Off Their Rockers The latest thing you thought was good for you, debunked: stretching. An article from the New York Times, which was written by Gretchen Reynolds and appeared on Oct. 31) cites various medical sources who say the usual warm-up routines can leave you worse off than if did stood around and did nothing. Take a short jog, hip-hop around, crawl on all fours and do a spider jig--anything to warm up your cold quads, glutes, etc., will help you in whatever race, game, etc., you're about to enter. The popular "static stretch", where you reach down or across and hold a pose, does the opposite, making you 30 percent weaker, on average, if you believe the experts cited here. . . . keep reading...>> The Wright Stuff I'm about to tell you something that, as a Masters athlete, you already know: Exercise keeps you younger from the inside out! It keeps your muscles powerful, your bones strong, your heart and lungs youthful and efficient and your brain sharp! Did you know that long term exercise is the key to longevity? Now you have even more ammunition to fire back when people think you are crazy for continuing to push yourself. Hot off the presses is a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine from Stanford University that found that "older runners are less likely to become disabled with age and may live longer." . . . keep reading...>> The Irongeezer Chronicles Here are some simple exercises that require no equipment, but can help you boost your fitness if you spend just a few minutes every day. Here's the first one: Dance -- Pop in your favorite upbeat CD and dance. Put plenty of energy into it wiggle your hips, wave your arms and lift your knees up, have fun for three tracks in week No. 1, four in week No. 2, five in week No. 3 and six in week No. 4. . . . keep reading...>> Geezerjocks I had never broken a bone, that I know of, until this past September. In my first session of a 13-week open gym near my home in Chicago, I jumped up to block a shot, got completely faked out, bounced off my opponent's back and landed on the floor. Somehow my foot hit the floor straight on, just the way George Blanda used to kick a football, and it really hurt. Of course, I played for another 45 minutes after that. As I walked home, though, I realized my foot was really hurting. After two days of icing it, the pain wasn't subsiding. An x-ray showed that there was a small chip of bone out of my big toe. . . . keep reading...>> Stone on track John Hinton is a 45-year-old runner living in North Carolina. Kay Glynn, a grandmother of two, is a 55-year-old pole vaulter hailing from the Hawkeye state of Iowa. He's black and she's white, but they share a unique bind besides their love of Masters track. In 2008, they both beat world age-group records. What else in common? Their marks will never show up in the record books. Oregon's Sandy Pashkin, chairwoman of the USATF Masters T&F Records Committee, reports that applications for Hinton's M45 world indoor record in the mile (4:20.18 set last January in Ithaca, N.Y.) and Glynn's W55 world outdoor record in the pole vault (10 feet, 1 1/4 inches set last June in Los Gatos, Calif.) have been rejected. . . . keep reading...>> Training with Lisa Everywhere you turn, there is a 5k on Thanksgiving morning. These so-called "turkey trots" are definitely something we can be thankful for. Why? It's a great and healthy way to start a day that can often end in overindulging. Generally, the Thanksgiving holiday finds people taking in extra calories. And this can carry into the rest of the December holidays as well. We can think, "I've worked hard this year and I am going to cut myself some slack 'til January." I am all for that if it means resting the body and giving the muscles a break from hard training. I am not all for it if it becomes an excuse to pack on pounds. . . . keep reading...>> The Villages Life Sister Mary Aggrsssive (wife Carol) is back in competition and as before in a winning way! We competed in the Army 10-Miler on Oct. 5 in Washington, D.C., with 18,000 other very fit runners. We could not have asked for better weather or a prettier day. As we were waiting for the start, noticed one young lady with "Beat Army" in pink on ther back of her shirt. This typically signifies some connection with the U.S. Naval Academy. I thought to myself, it takes a lot of courage to wear that apparel in an event sponsored by and featuring the U.S. Army! I introduced myself and found that both her husband and her friends were Naval Academy graduates, albeit about 30 years after me! I then offered them lemon drops which I always carry with me when I run. At that point Carol gave me the customary kiss and off we went at the start. . . . keep reading...>>

 

Hamstrung by hamstring problems? The hamstrings are a group of muscles that form the back of the thigh. They run from the pelvis to just below the knee joint. The three most commonly referred to muscles of the hamgstrings are the Biceps Femoris, the Semimembranosis and the Semitendinosis. These muscles are very commonly injured for a variety of reasons. They span two joints: the hip and knee. They act as hip extensors and more importantly as knee flexors. It is in the function as knee flexors that these muscles are most frequently injured. The classic scene that everyone has witnessed is the 100-meter sprinter pulling up lame in the middle of the race grabbing the back of his leg and going down in a heap. What exactly went wrong to cause this catastrophic muscle failure? . . . keep reading...>> Chargers almost win Villages softball title for fallen teammate The Chattanooga Chargers almost didn't make the third annual Villages Masters Athlete Softball Championships, which were held Oct. 24-26 in The Villages, Fla., an active adult community of 70,000 in central Florida. The Chargers, who hail from Tennessee and played in the 60+ women's division, lost teammate Ann "Pineapple" Lusk a few days before the tournament. The 69-year-old died several days after having an aneurysm. "We almost didn't come," said the Chargers' Billie Dempsey. The team debated not traveling to the championships, but Lusk, during some of the good moments she had after the aneurysm but before taking a turn for the worse, told her teammates, "Win for me. Y'all go on," according to Inez Hartline, a member of the Chargers. . . . keep reading...>> Devlin wins sprint at second annual Masters Triathlon Championships Scott Devlin, of Hunter's Creek, Fla., held off Greg Brown, of Orlando, Fla., to win the men's sprint division of the second annual Masters Triathlon Championships, which were held Sunday, Oct. 26, in Orlando. Devlin, who gets his good lungs as a saxophone player at Walt Disney World, exited the water after the 750-meter swim with a 2 minute-lead over Brown. Although Brown gained almost a minute on the 20k bike portion of the race, Devlin gained back most of his lead from the swim on the 2.75-mile run, finishing in 1:01:02, almost two minutes in front of Brown, who crossed the finish line in 1:02:53. . . . keep reading...>> More

Athletes in the Military There are mornings when Marine Corps Maj. Andrew Christian wakes up before the sun in anticipation of a tough workout. The 40-year-old might lie in bed, dreading the three-hour bike ride and 90 minutes of running he's facing. Then he thinks about that morning in February 2006 when he and a team of Marines were traveling by convoy to a military compound in Karbala, Iraq, and a roadside bomb exploded, killing one of his comrades and severely wounding two others. "I want to make something good out of something tragic," he says. "It could have been me." Christian thinks of those impacted by the blast -- the fatherless children, the Marines' painful rehabilitations, their wives' struggles to pay the bills -- and he gets out of bed. They are the reason he trains. With each endurance event Christian competes in, he earns money from sponsors that he donates to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund and to a college fund to benefit 6-year-old Kaiya Collado, the daughter of Staff Sgt. Jay Collado, who was killed in the attack. So far, he has raised more than $100,000 and completed two Ironman triathalons, a marathon and a half Ironman. In October, he was slated to compete in the 2008 Ford Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. Not all Masters athletes who serve in the military compete for such a dramatic reason. But many share his determination to be the best they can be at their sport. . . . keep reading...>> State of the Sport: Golf In honor of golf's grand scale and booming 300-yard drives, we've devoted plenty of copy to our look at the state of the sport in senior golf. We have included some advice for staying in shape to hit the ball those long distances. There's a look at new equipment and coverage of the U.S. Golf Association's senior amateur championships for men and women. There are also lists of associations that can help senior golfers and tournaments for the over-50 player. . . . keep reading...>> Wallen wins CEO Challenge triathlon Aaron Wallen lives in Hawaii so when he trains for triathlons he swims in the warm waters of his home state, which are 80 degrees and familiar. So when he plunged into the relatively chilly waters of Portland, Ore., for the CEO Challenge Triathlon in mid-September, where the outside temperature was 55 degrees and water temperature was in the 60s, Wallen had a challenge within a challenge. Even in a wet suit, his muscles were tight. "I'm a poor swimmer to begin with, and the temperatures seemed to affect my race," Wallen said. "It wasn't anything I was accustomed to." It still did not keep him from winning. . . . keep reading...>> More