Spring! ... and a tale of two performances

Wow, what an early spring. Saw lightning bugs yesterday on the Spring Equinox... and that's early.

Was in Bloomington, IN for the 2nd time in 2 yrs. The last time I was there, I played a high pressure solo guitar and lute concert at Indiana University's Auer Concert Hall for the IU International Guitar Festival.

This past weekend, I was there for a different type of performance: sprinting.

At the Harry Gladstein Indoor Track facility, I won a National Championship in my age group as a 400m sprinter in the USA Masters Indoor Track and Field Championships. It was unexpected, but it sure makes this spring very sweet.

The new pool heater is in and tomorrow I'll be swimming.

My new state 400m record

56.09

Breaks the 13 year old M50 mark of 57.00

Double Gold at the TN State meet. More at Sprint Forever blog.

400m Gold: Southeastern US Masters Championships

Gold medal in the 400 meter dash Southeastern Masters Championships M50-54

Official time: 55.54

Presently ranked 6th in the USA Men's 50-54.

Silver medals in the 200m and 100m, M50-54

More at Sprint Forever blog...

Wings clipped - temporarily

It's really a gift to sprint competitively ... at age 50. On 3/26 I ran the 100 meter dash at Vanderbilt's Black and Gold Invitational. It was a bad day, I injured a hamstring during the race, my first race injury of the season. It wasn't a serious pull, I still managed to hobble across the line in 13.10 ... (0.2 faster than my age group was won at the Finals of the TN Senior Olympics last year). It could have been worse. Fortunately, it was only a "level 1 strain", no 'pop' or serious tear. It felt more like a cramp, and I kept running, albeit, with a shorter stride.

It was really disappointing. Suddenly not being able to run. I should have known I was pressing my luck, my fifth consecutive weekend track meet. I didn't warm up enough. I just ran 3 full speed bursts, no more than 6 steps full speed. It was a cold day and I stood around at the start for more than 10 minutes without doing much. I won't make that mistake again. I was even planning on running the next two upcoming weekends but now, I'm thinking I should wait until May. Also thinking about running the 400m instead of the 100m in my next race. Doing 400m training would be good for me and help strengthen my legs. I'll see how it goes, but there is another invitational at Vandy in 3 weeks, but that is probably too soon.

My ultimate goal is to break some or all of the TN state age group records in the July TN Senior Olympics. It would be a tall order: 12:32 100m, 25.70 200m, and 57.0 400m. The 200m would be the easiest to get.

Looking around at the other sprinters at last weekend's meet, I was the only one who was not wearing tights. After reading an interview with masters sprint champ Bill Collins, I emailed him and asked him about the CW-X tights he wears. He swears by them as being supportive and helpful in preventing injuries. He both trains and competes in them. So, I'm going to give them a try.

It's been 5 days since the injury and it's feeling good. No pain, I'm jogging at a good pace, doing light static stretches in the hot tub and doing a light rehab program. I can run up stairs with no pain. I hope to do one day of light speed work next week and then pick up the pace the week after, returning to full training by the 3rd week in April. I definitely want to run the 400m full speed at the Chattanooga District Senior Games on May 5th, and the 100m and 200m in Nashville on May 14. Unfortunately, these are hand timed events with little competition but participation is required to compete in the state finals.

The injury came really at an opportune time. I need to concentrate on guitar playing since I will be leaving in a week for a clinic and concert in NH. Anyway, this makes me want to train more carefully and intelligently because being injured is no fun. It's a gift to sprint and worth preserving.

Two more Golds and faster still - Indiana Masters Indoor Track Championships

Since I had nothing better to do on spring break, I drove to Taylor University in Upland, IN for the Indiana Masters Indoor Track Championships on 3/12. I won my age group in the 55m with a 7.43 and ran the 200m for the first time ever. Surprisingly my 200m time won both my age group and the overall best time of the meet in all age groups: 26.30.

My 7.43 in the 55m is my best time so far, down more than 3 tenths of a sec from my first meet 6 weeks ago. That is 4 PRs in a row, a nice way to end my indoor season. My only regret is missing the USA Masters 'All American Standard' by just .03 seconds in the 55m.

The Indiana meet didn't offer much competition. I won both my heats and didn't see anyone during the race (although I ran the 55m in a heat of 8 sprinters). These masters meets are so different from running in college meets where I'm far behind the heat winners. In college meets, I feel accomplished to not finish last.

I worked out Tuesday with weights ... the squats and dead lifts have made me quite sore, but I hope to recover by Saturday to run my first 100 meter outdoor race at Governors Stadium in Clarksville on 3/19. I may scratch, I haven't run all week but I'd really like the opportunity to get a baseline time from which to improve upon. I can run the 100m three consecutive weekends: 3/26 at Vanderbilt and 4/2 at either Sewanee or Clarksville.

My goal for the first race is to just get below 13.00. BTW... the TN Senior Games was won last year at 13.28 in my age group. Ultimately, I'd love to get below 12.5. 12.28 was the slowest qualifying time in last year's USA Masters Nationals final heat. We'll see, I've not run a 100m race in 33 years!

UPDATE:

I ran 12.56 in the 100m at APSU on 3/19. A good start.

Next Saturday 3/26: Black and Gold Invitational at Vanderbilt

I hope to run the 100m and 200m

The TN Senior Games state sprint records for the Men's 50 age group 100m and 200m are certainly within reach: 100m - 12.32 and 200m - 25.7

Getting Faster - Mason Dixon Indoor Track Meet

My 55m time is now down to 7.52 and I ran my first 400 meter race ever in 61.72. Good enough for 2 age group Gold Medals in the 51st Annual Mason Dixon Games in Louisville, KY on 3/4/11. The 400m was a surprise since I did not train for it, earned me a national rank of 22nd for that event. I really faded in the last 50m, in better shape, I could easily run under a minute. My splits were approximatley 26 and 35! Talk about languishing in the end.... I was flailing across the finish line, but in first.

My new Nike Superfly R3 shoes seemed to help, although the spike pad got a little chewed up on the antique wooden track. I love these shoes, a big improvement over my old 'UT orange' Adidas Demolishers. They are really light, about 5 or 6 oz.

My 55m time still ranks 8th nationally and will likely remain in the top 10 since the indoor season is wrapping up.

I just may run the outdoor season. 100m and maybe more.

Sprinting the 55m: College Indoor Track Meet

Moving up a notch in the National Masters Track rankings. I'm presently 6th ranked nationally in my age group in the indoor 55m dash - with a 7.60 at the Sewanee Invitational last Saturday, 2/26/11.

My start was good but not great, and I'm happy to have run about the same time as I did at TSU more than 2 yrs ago. My weight was good, probably around 141 at race time. I was proud to be the oldest competitor on the track, and it's amazing that I actually beat 2 college sprinters at this meet. (If I were them, I'd hang it up). I did not train for this, so it gives me motivation to take it more seriously next year. My present speed is not trained ... just 'au naturale.'

I think there is room for at least a 0.35 improvement, maybe more. I need to do some serious lifting and resistance work begining late summer and then work on my starts and leaps with some explosive plyometric training. It would be nice to be able to be strong enough to do more actual sprinting so as to work on form, rather than just saving myself for the meets to avoid injury. The only complete 55m full out sprints I've done this year have been just in the 2 races.

This will be my last sprint race of the season, unless I get crazy and drive to Louisville on Fri.

The guy in the blue in the photo is Dezman Cage who ran a smokin' 6.37 in the finals to win the event.

This has been pure fun, nothing like the feeling of sprinting 100%.

Power and joy.

Return to the track - competitive sprinting at age 50

This blurry video frame is from my 55 meter sprint race at the Tiger Invitational at Sewanee, TN, a college indoor track meet on 2/5/11. Obviously, I'm in third place here, running against college sprinters 30 years younger than I. I finished in a dead heat for third with a college runner who was behind me at this point in the race (just out of the frame).

It was my first sprint race in 2 years and my time wasn't as good as I had hoped for: 7.74. However, it was good enough for a national ranking of 7th in the USA Track and Field Masters for my age group. It's over a second slower than I ran at my peak of speed 32 yrs ago, and 0.15 slower than in '09. Amazingly, I was not the slowest sprinter at that track meet, but naturally, close to it.

It felt great. I'm so happy to be able to participate at my age. Sprinting full out on a nice track when everything is working is a great feeling. Unfortunately, at my age, I simply can't practice full out sprinting as much as I would like. I have to be cautious and save my legs for races.

I feel I can run much faster, and I regret not training for this. Perception is funny, it 'felt' like I was running faster, but the clock doesn't lie. The video shows I had a good start. If I had started training in October, I'm sure I'd be a few tenths faster.

A lot of it is weight control. The higher my body weight, the more stress on the body. It wasn't until just the past few weeks I was able to get down to my high school weight of 143 lbs. I was up as high as 160 just after Christmas.

Indoor track events are not very common around the south without having to drive long distances to attend. I'm happy to have discovered the Fowler Center track at Sewanee and hope to compete there again in 3 weeks. Sprinting is so much more fun than training and running 5K races, although 5K are really good for the heart, lungs, weight control and general health. 5K training however, is hard on the knees. Maybe I'll grit my teeth and run one 5K this year too.

First week of 5k training - TORTURE!

Maybe I'll run a few 5k races. I really hate this training but part of me loves it, I must have a masochist streak in me.

This was my first week of serious 5k training after a meager injury filled indoor sprint season. I'm amazed that my crappy 55m sprint time is still in the top ten (#8) nationally in my age group. I know I can do better.

But for now, I'll just torture myself with 3 or 4 more weeks of 5k training and maybe run a few races before it gets warm.

Here was my first week - and it was a ball buster!!

2/27: 4 miles - 7:02 avg pace

2/28: 6 miles - 7:09 avg pace

2/3: 8 half miles intervals with 3 min rest between at 3:01 avg pace

2/5: 3 miles in 20:01 (6:40 pace), 2 miles in 13:41 (6:50 pace); 1 mile in 6:13 .... 8 min rest between intervals

TORTURE !!!

I AM a sprinter

Not just any sprinter... a white 48 yr old sprinter.

Today, I worked out with the MTSU sprinters under the watchful eye of USATF Hall of Fame Track Coach, Dean Hayes. I took several gun starts with the team. It felt great. No injuries or strain. I ran several full speed sprints letting up after about 30m. I preceded this with an hour long warm up of jogging, stretching, and a variety of striders and lunges.

It was really cool to hang with the team. Many of these sprinters are here on scholarship from Africa. Being the only white guy and twice their age, they treated me so politely and were so friendly, it was a joy to be there. I felt like a kid again. I can't tell you how much fun I had. I was definitely a curiosity. Like that writer George Plimpton who used to write about his experiences as an ordinary guy doing extraordinary things. When the gun went off, I definitely did not feel out of place. Even though I was just slightly faster than some of the women, I did have one real good start where I was only 2 steps behind the guy leading at 30m when I let up. Based on the times these guys run, and how far ahead they are, I would estimate my time to definitely be over 7.

I think a realistic goal for Sunday's Ed Temple Classic would be 7.2 for the 55m. According to Masters Rankings, 7.2 is listed as the "all-American Standard" for my age group for the 55m. There has been only a few times posted for this event in my age group thus far this season, and no fast electronic times.

Dean Hayes asked me if I was ready, and I said, "I only have to hang together for 7 seconds... hopefully 6.9."

Dreamin'....

Masters Indoor Track - 'tis the season

Well, I've been threatening to do this for a year now and finally, the time is now. I'm planning to sprint competitively for the first time in 30 years on Dec. 27 (pending weather) at the Upstate Holiday Classic at RIT in NY. Of course, I've not really been training for this specifically, but I have been running. Like last year, this was a last minute decision. I will be in NY for the holidays and this year, I'll be bringing my Adidas. I plan to run the 55m and the 200m at RIT. If all goes well and I do ok, I'll likely run in the Ed Temple Indoor meet at TSU on 1/11. I've already registered but not yet paid.

I tried out my sprint legs yesterday at the Murphy Center. I ran two 300's with some of the elite college runners. Yea they smoked me but I was able to stay with them for 150m, not bad for an old white guy. I also did 4 full power starts out of the blocks with my spikes. Felt fine! No leg issues except that I'm a little sore today. Amazing that I can run 2:45 half mile repeats for days and feel no soreness, but just sprint two 300's and I'm sore. It's a totally different running experience.

For my first meet, I'd love to be around 7.5 in the 55m and under 25.0 in the 200m. I'd like to 'get on the board' at the Masters Rankings website. On the other hand, if I can't break 8 in the 55m and 26 in the 200m, I think I'll just hang it up.

Maybe if I get two meets under my belt with decent times, I'll get the balls to bug Dean Hayes again to let me run in a college meet at the Murphy Center. Last year he was kind enough to put me in but I had to scratch at the last minute. I don't want to ask him again unless I've actually done it before ...
I mean sometime since 1978:



UPDATE: I scratched from the 12/27 RIT meet. It was 3 hrs away and I entertained at my parent's 49th Anniversary party the night before and didn't feel like getting up early to drive the 3 hrs to race. I would not have been able to run the 200m and the 55m would have been risky since my left quad has again been strained since the last workout. I hope I'll be ready in 2 weeks to run the 55m at TSU.

Something the world has not seen the likes of before - Usain Bolt breaks the 200m WR (19.30)

There has never been a sprinter in history that has dominated the Olympic games like Usain "Lightning" Bolt. Bolt not only broke the 200m world record... but it was Michael Johnson's record (19.32) - the record that was set in 1996 by a miraculous 0.34 seconds, a record many thought would stand for generations ... and, Bolt broke that world record running into a headwind at near sea level, beating a field of the best in the world, by 10 meters!! To put it in perspective, the 200m time of 19.30 is a milestone - no man had ever run under 19.60 but Michael Johnson, and Johnson set his WR with a +o.4 m/s tailwind. Bolt set his record in a 0.9 m/s headwind - certainly a factor for a 6'5" sprinter. No 200m world record in at least 20 years has been set with a headwind of that speed. (When looking at the margin of victory in the photo above, note that the guy in red - Churandy Martina, was disqualified for running out of his lane as was Walter Spearman. USA's Shawn Crawford took the Silver and Walter Dix, the Bronze).

This is the first time any person has set world records in the 100 and 200m races at the Olympic games.

After Bolt's performance in the 100m, I predicted he would break this record but one has to wonder. Is Bolt at a place in a moment in time where he is at his physical pinnacle or is this guy capable of more? Is this just a freak occurrence, an anomaly? Bolt is just 21, much of this speed is natural, he simply hasn't had a long career of training.

Again, out of corporate greed, NBC has withheld coverage of the event that occurred at 10:30 am EST this morning so they can appease their corporate sponsor, Chevy, by showing it tonight - 12 hours after the fact. I picked up up a few bootlegs from Britain and watched it. Gives me chills - Watch it
As the commentators say, he is like "a man running among boys."

Absolutely extraordinary... undoubtedly the track event of the Games. Bolt steals the show. Lightning strikes twice... this time he ran through the tape unlike the 100m:

Usain Bolt - the fastest man in the world. NBC withholds coverage

Usain Bolt is the fastest man in the world... not by a little but by a lot. Breaking the 9.7 mark for the first time in history, he won the Olympic 100m race in world record time 9.69, beating a field of the fastest sprinters in the world by 2 meters, celebrating 15m before the finish by beating his chest and cruising through the finish without even 'leaning to the tape.' He could have had a better time but nevertheless, a stunning display of top end speed. . I can't wait to see what he can do in the 200m. If any human is capable of breaking 19 seconds in the 200m, it is Usain 'Lightning' Bolt. I predict Michael Johnson's 19.32 record to fall next week.

This race occured on Saturday evening, Beijing time... about 10:30 am US EST. However, instead of broadcasting this race live on Sat morning in the US, NBC was led by corporate greed and advertising revenue. NBC waited until late Saturday evening to show the race - 12 hours after the fact. This was disturbing because by the time the race was shown by NBC, everyone knew the result. Watching events happen live is exciting. Watching an event knowing how it ends is anti-climactic. By late Saturday morning, video of the race started leaking out on to the net. Many of the videos became blocked shortly after they were posted. The motive was clear ... to commercialize one of the Olympic glamour events for maximum profit instead of covering it live. Shame on NBC!! Even now, NBC is working hard to "own" Bolt's performance ... the video is hard to find and most youtube posts have been removed.

Bolt is the real deal. If he stays focused, this guy will break every sprint record in the book and hopefully will continue to improve as his is just short of 22 yrs old. A true freak.

Let the games begin

I love the Olympics. When can a true sports junkie tune in all night long to watch such a huge variety of international competition than during the Summer Olympiad? I'm totally thrilled to see the amount of TV coverage of the events, both live and recorded. Over 1400 hours of TV coverage will be available on NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Oxygen, Telemundo, and specific digital channels for basketball and soccer.

Most people watch the condensed prime time NBC version but that will never include live coverage since the games are in Beijing, China. Live coverage usually starts at 1 am and runs all night long. Opening ceremonies will be broadcast on NBC tonight and live coverage starts Sat at 1 am with a wide variety of sports including boxing, soccer, fencing, shooting, badminton, and equestrian. The coverage will run all night long and includes a rebroadcast of the prime time show. I know this is odd, but I just love watching an unfamiliar sport contested live during the Olympics. You might find me up at 3 am watching the men's whitewater kayaking final, or the judo competition... heck, I'll even watch fencing, table tennis, handball or trampoline. I love it all.

T V schedule is on the NBC Olympics website.

Some of the highlights of USA athletes to look for:

• USA swimmer Michael Phelps, arguably the best swimmer in history, could win 8 gold medals. His 8 event, 17 race schedule is one of the most ambitious athletic feats in Olympic history. The Speedo company is offering a $1,000,000 prize to Phelps if he can match Mark Spitz feat of winning 7 gold medals.
  

• The USA Basketball team was defeated in 2004 in Athens, but this year with Kobe Bryant and Lebron James, they've made it clear nothing less than gold will be acceptable.
  

• One of my favorite sports, track and field, will feature an incredible field of 100 meter sprinters. We could see a world record. USA's Tyson Gay just ran a 9.68 in the trials - which would have shattered the world record but was wind-aided. Nevertheless, the fastest 100m ever. He will face 2 Jamaicans, world record holder Hussein Bolt (9.72) and former world record holder, Asafa Powell. Both these guys have run in the 9.7's. The winner of this race usually can claim the title of "world's fastest man."
  

• Being a "masters level" athlete (old guy that still competes), I'm particularly partial to the older athletes who have maintained superlative physical condition and are competing in the Olympics while in their 40s. USA swimmer Dana Torres (41) and USA polevaulter Jeff Hartwig (40) will represent the USA. Hartwig competed for the USA team in 1996. His personal best is 19'9 1/4".

These are the real athletes. Those who have the magic combination of being physically gifted, determined, and have been disciplined over the long haul to sacrifice whatever it took to achieve through dedicated physical training ... (not like the guys who drive cars round and round on a track). Let's hope for the best, these athletes have earned their moment in the spotlight

GO USA!!!

Third generation track athlete graduates

My brother's son Kris, third generation track athlete, graduates from college.

My brother (on the right) polevaulted 16'1" in highschool, a New York State record that stood for around 25 years. My dad (on the left) set a college polevault record of 14'4" just after the fiberglass pole was invented. The world record during that time was only 15'8".

Is that a good lookin' family or what?

I'm trying to get my brother into running 5k races. We'll see.


A local (Binghamton, NY) newspaper did an article on the Yelverton family of legacy of track athletes. The thing is, we had such good genes, we never really trained hard in high school. I didn't know what painful training was until I started seriously training for 5Ks.

Sprint training: practicing starts with resistance

Practicing starts with resistance.
Here, I'm blasting out of the blocks wearing a harness attached to a 30 lb weight. Practicing starts dragging weight is good to promote forward lean and high knee action.

Work outs and racing

It's been a good week for workouts and I'm looking forward to finally racing next Friday in the 48th Annual Mason-Dixon Games Masters and Open Indoor Championships in Louisville, KY at Broadbent Arena.

A variety of workouts this week: weights, plyometrics, some fast distance (20:18 three mile - 85% effort). Five - half mile intervals at between 2:44 and 3:11 with 3 min rest in between finishing with a 65 sec quarter after 7 min rest, and some wicked hill sprint repeats. These hills were a steep 300 meter uphill sprint that I ran on my toes at 400m sprint pace. After 10 repeats, I was wiped, and my ass hurt for the next 2 days.

Running in sprint stride on the balls of the feet is a completely different thing from running distance pace. Different muscles are working and the stride length is way longer while the foot contact with the ground is way shorter, more like jumping or bounding. A lot of technique study and refinement is necessary. Running a 400m completely on the balls of the feet in sprint stride is hard work. My goal for my first indoor 400m race is to break 58. It'll be easier to go faster outdoors. In the 55m, I'd love to break 7. That is, if I'm healthy enough.

I've been doing starts from the blocks with a resistance harness, dragging a weight along the ground behind. It's a great for developing power and high knee action at the start. I can't wait to take it to the track and do it with spikes. I'm almost ready, but not quite. I did several speed ups to full out sprint speed tonight but didn't want to go more than about 30 or 40 meters full blast. Still a little tentative that I'll reinjure myself so I'm taking it very cautious. I'll probably do a very light week, take a day or 2 off to make sure I'm healed, and hopefully be ready for some time trials full out on the track on Wed.

They'll probably do the Masters events in intervals of 10 years, so I'll probably be competing against last years winner who is 41 and was ranked 4th in the nation last year in the 100m 40-44. Some of these guys travel to meets all year, even to Europe. Willie Gault is my exact age (47) and he set the 100m world record for my age group in 2006: 10.88. Amazing.

On the Masters Track site, I was reading workout advice from a successful sprinter, Courtland Gray, World Gold Medalist in the 100m (55-59). He said:

You have to practice running fast. It is impossible to achieve your meet potential practicing mostly intervals and slow runs.

Also, a key to workout efficiency is less recovery time between reps and sets -- just like in the gym. ... Practicing at "50-75% speed" with periodic tests at 90% won’t get it for me. I tried that. Then again, he [the person suggesting this approach] runs track events from 100m to 5Ks. Not something many of us do seriously. A serious runner should decide if he/she is a sprinter or distance runner. A serious sprinter should know he/she needs to work much harder.

I have to disagree in part. If one wants to compete as a sprinter and still do 5Ks, why not? However, I do think it's easier to be a "sprinter/runner" than a "runner/sprinter" ... if you know what I mean. I think it would be dangerous for me to try and run a 100% all out 100m every workout. I look forward to the day I can sprint everyday 100% with confidence, like I did as a kid. I'm not there quite yet. Maybe by the outdoor season. It feels really good to sprint when everything is working right, it's like flying along and barely touching the ground.

World class 400 meter runner with no legs barred from Olympics

A new runner burst on the scene a few years ago. Oscar Pistorius was born without legs but was fitted with prosthetic legs to run. And holy shit, can he run ... like 46.56 in the 400 meters. Not bad for a beginning runner... with no legs.

Oscar is 22, and known as "the Blade Runner." He ran his first major race in 2004. Maybe he has been too successful. After monitoring his track performances using high-definition cameras and analyzing the information, scientists determined that Pistorius enjoyed considerable advantages over athletes without prosthetic limbs. On the strength of these findings, on 1/14/08 the IAAF ruled him ineligible for competitions conducted under its rules, including the 2008 Summer Olympics.

The IAAF amended its competition rules to ban the use of "any technical device that incorporates springs, wheels or any other element that provides a user with an advantage over another athlete not using such a device". It claimed that the amendment was not specifically aimed at Pistorius. (right)

Watch this video of his 400 meter race in Rome. He is in the outside lane and crosses the finish in second place. Watch his acceleration in last 100 meters. It is quite remarkable. I don't know what to think. He goes from last place to second place in the last 70 meters in a tremendous burst of speed.

I seem to remember the NFL record for longest field goal (63 yds) was held soley for 28 years by Tom Dempsey who was born without toes and used an unusual prosthetic shoe on his kicking foot. (The record was tied in 1998 by Jason Elam). As a reaction, the NFL imposed a new rule: "any shoe that is worn by a player with an artificial limb on his kicking leg must have a kicking surface that conforms to that of a normal kicking shoe."

Oscar Pistorius claims new evidence in his case and is fighting the ban. His claim is based on a fellow sprinters performance. SA sprinter, Joseph van der Linde, is more than a second slower over 100m with an artificial leg than he had been before he lost a leg in an accident.

Pistorius has launched an appeal and is setting his sights for the 2012 London Olympics. I say let him compete. He's fast, but there are many faster guys. It's not like he's threatening Michael Johnson's world record of 43.18. But what if he does someday? If he runs any faster, it's not going to help his case!

The Family of All-Stars

I am truly lucky to be a part of a family of all-star athletes and performing artist/ teachers. It was good to visit home for the holiday and see my family, despite the depressing upstate NY weather. Allow me to brag a bit ...

I got a chance to see my brother's son Kris practice polevaulting at SUNY Binghamton. Here he is going over 16 feet.



This is a family tradition. Kris's dad, my brother Tom was a 2 time NY State Highschool Polevault Champion and record holder. He was the first highschool vaulter in NY to clear 16'. He was recruited to MTSU in 1980 by Coach Dean Hayes. Tom's MTSU polevault record still stands today at 16'1" - a record that has lasted 27 years. The longevity of this record speaks to the fact that those successful in the complex sport of polevaulting are quite rare. It takes speed, strength, gymnastic ability, technique, and courage.

Here is a photo of brother Tom flying high, wearing the MTSU Blue Raider uniform with the ceiling of MTSU's Murphy Center in the background.

I was never as successful as Tom in track as shoulder injuries cut my polevaulting career short, but I did manage to win a few sectional Gold medals in sprinting and sprint relays (indoor 60, 4x200), and a Silver in the long jump. I had a pretty good start in the sprints. Here's a photo of one of my high school 100 races a few steps after the starting gun.


My new goals for running are overall health and I continue to run today, not sprints but 5k races.

I credit these abilities to good genes. My dad was a stand out athlete, polevault record holder and all-conference semi-pro football player in the EFL.

My mom is a renown dance teacher and choreographer. Her students have performed prominent roles on Broadway, appeared in major Hollywood movies, Vegas shows, ballet companies, etc... Tom's daughter Kari is a very talented singer and dancer. Tom plays guitar and both he and his wife Debbie are good singers.

Me, I play a little guitar too. But... you oughta hear my students play - Matt, Silviu, and Salome.