Striders in Action


SomerStrong 5K + Run the Vineyards – Unionville Winery 5K

East Coast Strider Ed Wright at the SomerStrong 5K (Somerset County, NJ), 10/26/24 and at Run the Vineyards – Unionville Winery 5K (Ringoes, NJ), 11/03/24. (RTV series: 30 races, 27 vineyards, 7 states!)

SomerStrong 5K 2024

SomerStrong 5K 2024

Run in the Vineyards 2024

Run in the Vineyards 2024


SD-I USATF Cross Country Championships 2024

SDI USATF Championship 2024

New Strider Peter Stern,
Robert Fanjas, Kent & Alan

SDI USATF Championship 2024

Myrtle Spowart, Paul Baumhoefner,
Joe Crosswhite & Alan


 San Diego Senior Games 2024

4 Striders gave it their all at the Senior Games, September 15th. Since each 5-year age group at the meet often had only 1 or 2 runners, we thought we’d see how the times will fare when they get added to the 2024 lists on MastersRankings.com:

Andy Anderson (87) ran a strong 400m in 1:36.86; while not quite as fast as his best this year, this time still would have been good enough for a #1 ranking in the country and #8 worldwide (his best has him at #5). In the 800m, he posted a 4:06.92 – a bit off his best but still would be #2 in the US.

Ana Bruno (56) made an appearance in the 50m, running a 9.04. Unfortunately, she’s not yet listed on MastersRankings,com. Good job, nonetheless. Also, we’re sorry that you did not connect with the guys to be in the photo below!

Ed Rose (75) showed off his versatility: His 8.55 in the 50m should put him at #20 in the US. In the 200m he ran 34.20, which should get him into a tie for #16. His 1:20.48 didn’t quite match his #5 PR in the 400m, but a good run, regardless. In field events, Ed posted a 3.56m in the long jump – just off his #11 PR; and in the triple jump, his 7.25m should get him to #10 on the list. A great day’s work!

Last, but not least, Keith Wetterer (83) ran 7 events! As follows:
50m – 11.86, #26/US
100m – 23.50, #37
200m – 48.16, #17
400m – 1:39.13, #8
800m – 3:51.52, #5
1500m – 7:21.6, #3
3000m – 13:32.17, #1 – and also #1 in the world – by nearly 18 seconds. Amazing!

A final shout out to team captain, Alan Olson, 81 (pictured below) – his 10.85 in the 60m, run in January, is still #1 in the US!

Congratulations to all!

San Diego Senior Games 2024

Andy, Alan, Keith and Ed

San Diego Senior Games 2024

Ed Rose


10th Annual 5K Run/Walk

Our New Jersey Strider, Ed Wright (78) has been busy: on August 26th Ed ran the 10th Annual 5K Run/Walk (In Memory of SSG Jorge Oliveira), finishing in 47:01.85. He then ran a beautiful trail course on September 14th: the Mountain Lakes 5+K Trail Run (1:01:31.4); photos below.

10th Annual Walk/Run 2024
10th Annual Walk/Run 2024
10th Annual Walk/Run 2024

World Master Athletics Championships 2024

World Masters Athletics Championships

Strider Mark Gookin competed  in the 1500m (65-9 division) at the World’s in Gothenburg, Sweden in August. On the 22nd he ran in the prelims, finishing 6th in his heat with a time of 5:24.94 and qualifying for the finals. Two days later he improved on that mark, with a 2024 PR of 5:22.16, good for 11th place overall. Well done, Mark!

World Master Athletics Championships 2024

Dirt Dogs XC

The Dirt Dogs XC season is underway, and the Striders have been giving it their best.

At the first race, the Wild Duck 5K (August 24th), Joni LeSage (62) won the F60-4 division, with a 24:10 finish. Robert Fanjas (61) also ran a strong race, clocking 22:12. One week later, at the 59th Balboa 4 Miler, Jan Kafka (77) wore our singlet to a third place finish in his division, running 42:50. At the Crazy 8’s 5K this past Saturday, Robert returned to run a fine 21:31, and Allan Miller (67) took time off from his San Diego Rowing Club commitments to join us, finishing in 24:59. Congratulations to everyone!

Also this past weekend, the San Diego Senior Games track and field events were held at Mesa College. We’ll highlight the Striders who competed there as soon as the results are available.


Striders Spotlight | Ed Rose

CAL State Games

Strider Spotlight | Ed Rose (75)

We’d like to give a shout-out to Ed for his terrific accomplishments at the track this year. His personal bests for the year (according to MastersRankings.com) are as follows:

50m – 8.80 (Pasadena Senior Games – June 1)

100m – 16.43 (Summer Nights, Poway – March 2)

400m – 1:16.32 (CA State Games, San Diego – July 20-1)

Long Jump – 3.58m (Summer Nights, Mesa College – July 10)

Discus – 24.12m (Palm Desert Senior Games – February 3)


Congratulations Ed! Let us know if we missed anything, and we’ll update this post.


Notes from the T&F Nationals | Sacramento

Two Striders competed at the Nationals in July; here is Andy Anderson’s report from his 800M race (85-9):

Here is a summary of my race. I took the lead immediately. Once around the curve to the 1st straightaway I heard one set of footsteps right behind me, but by the time I was on the second straightaway for the first lap, they were gone. Since last year I won in 3:55.33 and the 2nd place runner was 4:30.10, that put him 35 seconds and over 100 meters behind me at the end. Yesterday I figured that whoever was keeping up with me during the 1st 200 meters had dropped way back so I would run alone again. I went through the 1st 400 in 1:48, but then apparently unintentionally slowed down. Halfway down the 1st straightaway on the 2nd 400, the footsteps were back! This was a serious competitor behind me! He was maintaining a steady pace while I had run the 1st 400 hard and had now slacked off. He had caught up with me. After the race we talked and he told me that he had thought about not passing me, but then decided that maybe I had burned myself out, so he passed me just before the beginning of the curve. I let him go by and then stayed right on him, ready to pass him in the final straightaway. Most of my major wins when I was younger were accomplished in the final 50 meters (then yards) of the race.

When we hit the final straightaway I immediately quickened my pace and started to go by him. But as soon as I went by, he revved up and regained a slight lead. This was a real competitor! With 50 meters to go I increased my pace again, lifting my knees higher and pumping my arms stronger. Again I passed him, but again he met the challenge and regained a small lead. So my thinking was this. I can get by him for a moment, but then he meets the challenge. I would wait until the final 3 meters, bolt ahead of him and he would have no time to re-challenge me. That is what I did, BUT he anticipated what I would do and bolted himself just as I was passing him. We crossed the finish line together and the announcer proclaimed that “It looks like the 800 ended in a tie!” But the electronic timer caught him 0.33 seconds ahead of me: he was 3:46.58 and I was 3:46.91. I was 8.42 seconds faster than last year, and still came in 2nd.

In retrospect I realize that I should never have let him pass me. If we have a follow-up next year at Nationals, I will recognize that he, Sherwood Sagedahl, 85, is a skilled competitor. Likewise, Sherwood said that it was a mistake for him to have thought that I “might have burned myself out”. He felt lucky to have held me off at the end. In any case, it was a great race and I loved it. Now there are two 800 races (a distance that I do not like; my love is the 400) that I have really enjoyed: this one and at Santa Monica on 2/10/24 when the teenagers lined the track cheering for the old man!

I do owe an SDS member an apology. I wrote in my 2/13/24 race report after Santa Monica that: “As we all know, every year you get slower …” In response, one SDS member strongly argued against that statement. I forget who it was. Now I look at my 800 times. My best 2022 time was: 4:08.98; my best 2023 time was: 3:54.23; my current 2024 best time is: 3:46.91. Okay, I admit I was wrong. I am certainly growing older, but I do not appear to be getting slower.

Mark Gookin was at Sacramento as well, and had a big battle with the heat. After leading his race (5000m, 65-9) with 2 laps to go, he wound up a DNF due to dehydration. Fortunately, he recovered to run the 1500M several days later, finishing 3rd in a conservatively-run race, finishing in 5:22.18.

Here is what Andy had to say about the heat:

It was beastly at Nationals. I was told that although the air temperature was “only” 107 degrees, the track surface was close to 140 degrees. Runners with metal spikes were getting serious burns on the bottom of their feet! When I ran on Saturday, we were all told to not wear metal spikes if possible. Personally, I like the heat. But it was really uncomfortable running just 2 laps around the track, much less what you, Mark, ran. At the end of each race on Saturday, personnel were at the finish with a small bucket of ice water containing a big sponge that they used to cool runners’ neck and back. Sherwood and I finished in a near tie but then there was a 1 minute 15 second gap before 3rd place. I asked if they needed the small bucket of ice water; the girl said: “No, do you want it over your head?” I said yes and boy, was that ice water wonderful! My dizziness immediately disappeared. So, Mark, I admire your courage in staying in the race as long as you could. Hopefully, that was a one-time tragedy that will never happen to you again.

Mark and Andy, congratulations to you both!


Pasadena Senior Games

On June 1st, Andy Anderson competed at the Pasadena Senior Games, and won the 400m (85-9) with a PR time of 1:36.75. He followed up with a win in the 800m (4:01.37).

The following day, Aleksandra Avakova ran the Rock and Roll Half Marathon, finishing 9th (F40-44) in 1:37:35; and Morgan Smith got 4th (M45-49) in the marathon, running 2:58:10.

Andy returned to the track on the 8th, competing at the USATF Association Championships in Chula Vista in the 400m, finishing with a time of 1:37.75.

Of note: currently Andy is ranked #1 in the US and #4 in the world in both the 400m and 800m for the 85-89 age group, according to MastersRankings.com.

Congratulations, everyone!

Striders – email us your race results and we’ll share them here. Happy running!


Summer Nights Track Meet #2
January 20, 2024
University City High School

Congratulations to our 80s Team!

60m
Alan Olson (81) – 10.85

600m
Keith Wetterer (82) – 2:37.30

1500m
Keith – 7:06.71

Andy Anderson (87) – 8:35.08

Lowell Smith (83) – 11:07.71

2024 | Summer Nights Track Meet