Striders in Action

Andy’s Report 02/24/25

Guys,

You guys recently suggested that I turn my track race musings into a blog. I quickly agreed. However, this might be my only “blog” contribution. I have just returned from 5 days in the hospital following a sudden totally unexpected kidney shut-down. Fortunately I responded very quickly to therapy and am now home. It was determined that I have kidney stones. I return to the hospital in 6 weeks to have those removed.

In short, by competitive days may now be over. It was really great interacting with you all. Hopefully, I will be back, but it is uncertain when or even if that will happen. Interacting with the San Diego Striders has been wonderful!!! Farewell!

Andy

Andy’s Report 02/13/24

On Saturday I ran the 800 meter in an All Comers track meet at Santa Monica High School. I thought All Comers meant Open/Masters/Seniors. But no, there were hundreds of high school and college runners but almost no one older. As far as I know, there was only one other senior: a 52 year old who ran the 400 meter.

I had not run an 800 or 400 since 10/15 at Santa Barbara (which was the first time I wore my San Diego Striders singlet; I wore it again on Saturday). I really ran out of steam during that 1500 meter on 1/20, as you know, where we met. So I entered Santa Monica just to start a slow training process for Nationals. As we all know, every year you get slower, so I wanted to begin my 800 training now. I would have been very happy running a 4:10 or even a 4:15 on Saturday.

There were 62 young males plus me in the male 800 and so they ran 4 heats. Of course, all the youngsters immediately ran off and left me, but I just ran my own pace. Coming down the straightaway at the end of the 1st lap, I was quite far behind. To my surprise, teenage runners were coming to the track edge to cheer me on. When I realized that it had to be me because I was running alone, I started giving a thumbs up to the various groups of cheering young people. Then, there was an announcement that the oldest runner in the meet was on the 2nd lap of the 800. At that point, the inside of the track was totally filled with cheering young people. When I was about 60 meters from the finish, a track coach came out on the track and ran with me encouraging me to run faster. Somehow, that, and all the cheering, stimulated me to break into a final all-out sprint for the last 40 meters.

The result: I ran a totally unexpected 3:57.61, just 2.28 seconds slower than my 1st place finish at Nationals (3:55.33) last July! I am stunned with how much of a positive effect a cheering crowd, and competition at the end, can make. In addition, it was the most fun I have ever had running a race!

I am convinced that the cheering came because I was wearing a team singlet. I was not just an old man running around. I was a team member, like them; a serious runner, like them; and I was doing that as an 87 year old. That is what they were cheering.

I know this was rather long-winded, but I really enjoyed Saturday and wanted to tell you (and the team) about it.

Andy’s Report 02/10/25

Keith Wetterer and I were at the Patrick Henry H.S. Meet on Saturday 2/8/25. Keith ran several races well, while I ran a poor 800. My hamstring flared up last week while training for the 400, so I scratched the 400 and struggled through a slow 800. But something really good became obvious when talking with Keith.

Keith told me about an incident at a previous meet. If I remember some of the details incorrectly, I apologize. Keith said that he was lined up in the traditional waterfall and a little girl was right beside him. He was concerned that he did not want to bump the girl in the crowded start.

But when the gun went, the little girl shot out like a rocket. As he watched her from further and further behind, she never seemed to slow down. He was so impressed that he talked to her father/coach (?) afterwards and discovered that she is the national champion in her age group and had just broken the national record in a recent meet. Wow!

I had a similar experience 3 weeks ago at the University City High School Meet on 1/18/25. We were lined up in a waterfall start for the 600 and a small boy was right next to me. He told me that he was 11. I almost told him that I would drop behind him so as to give him a clear path to start.

I’m glad that I did not make such an embarrassing statement because when the gun went off he bolted forward and in 10 meters he was already 5 meters ahead of me! And he never slowed down. He came in second with a time of 1:24.57; my time was double his in: 2:46.43 (a PR for me). High school runners were first and third.

I ran Cub Scout/Boy Scout and summer camp races when I was little during the late 1940s. I always won, but the idea of running against high school athletes was inconceivable.

What I think is really really good is that youngsters are not just allowed to enter track meets, but are encouraged to! Youngsters (and oldsters like me) are always cheered by the crowd as we run the final straightaway.

At the Patrick Henry Meet, there were three 400 meter groups: men, women, and “12 and under”. And the 12 and under needed two heats! Future Olympians are being trained right now. Three cheers for the various meet directors who encourage kids to compete!!!

Andy’s Report 01/19/25

My time in the 600 was 2:46.43, a PR by nearly 6 seconds. My previous best was 2:52.16 on December 7, 2024, at the San Diego State University track meet.

I am now 88 years old and was the only Senior (and, I think, there were no Masters level runner) in the Men’s 600, but there were certainly a lot of 10–12-year-olds!

One 11-year-old was second with a time of 1:24.57! A 12-year-old was fourth with a time of 1:27.28. Not surprisingly, when I got onto the final straight away, everybody else had already finished! People politely applauded the old man as he ran the final 100 meters.

Now I will see if my 600 PR will translate into a 400 PR.

Andy’s Report 12/08/24

Kent,

Delighted to have seen you at the meet yesterday. You asked if I was happy with my time in the 600. No. I always carry a stopwatch to check my split times at each 200-meter mark.

My time at the finish was slightly slower than my standard 600-meter time point in my 800-meter runs! This despite my very active training with repeat 300-meter workouts in preparation for, hopefully, a faster 400-meter time this next year.

Sadly, I must consider that Old Father Time might be catching up with me. We’ll see with the January 18 meet at University City HS where I will run the 400. I hope to see you there.

Andy

Andy’s Report 10/13/24

Steve,

You have expressed interest in my running. Okay, here is what I am doing and why I am not planning any other race at the moment except the 400 meter.

History: I was a sprinter and 440 runner in high school and early college (the 1950s). But then I tore my left hamstring trying to sprint outdoors in Boston in the freezing late winter. After getting that rehabilitated I was back running, but pulled (but did not tear) my right hamstring.

I did great indoors every winter but outdoors in Boston it is still very cold even in the early spring and that is when one or the other of my hamstrings would pull. My coach recommended switching to the 880 outdoors which I did and ran well enough to go to Nationals.

In late spring (when it was hot) of my junior and senior years (1957-1958) I trained with Charlie Jenkins who had won the 400 in the 1956 Olympics in 46.85 (those were the days of long heavy spikes and cinder tracks). Charlie was training me for the 400 in the 1960 Olympics to repeat his 1956 victory.

I took 2 years as a graduate student in Cambridge University in England to gain additional training time. In the early summer of 1960 just before the Olympics trials in the U.S., I ran a final meet in White Stadium in London. I was out to achieve a personal best in the 440 in preparation for the American Olympic trials a couple of months later.

I had run a 47.6 in practice and had Charlie’s Olympic victory of 46.85 as my goal. In the race, I was running nicely, felt good, and was in the lead as we entered the backstretch, so I opened it up. Suddenly the scar tissue in my left hamstring gave way. That was it. No Olympic trials for me.

After a decade of finishing my medical training, I tried in my 30s, again in my 40s, and again in my 50s to enter Master 400 meter races. But every time when I was about ready to compete, I re-pulled that left hamstring. You can feel a hole in the back of my leg where I have just scar tissue. So I gave up and just ran 5Ks though I never liked them.

Current: Starting in 2022 I began running in track meets again, but only the 800 seriously. I occasionally also ran a 400, but only at a moderate pace. I easily won the 800 in the 2023 Nationals in Pittsburgh, and was just nipped by 85 year old Sherwood Sagedahl in the 800 in 2024.

After the Senior Games in San Diego on 9/15/24, I decided to make one last serious effort to run the 400. Key was/is to strengthen the few muscle fibers I have around my left hamstring scar tissue to be able to run a full 400 meters at a fast pace.

I knew/know that that would take a long time and very careful workouts. Because 1:30 would have been first in the world in 2022, 2023, and 2024, in the 85-89 age group, that is my goal. [In late September a Japanese runner in Japan just ran 1:27.63.]

A 1:30 400 means an average time of 22.5 seconds per 100. So I started with a workout that includes 3 days a week with x8 50 meter runs beginning slowly and finishing with the final 2 at 11.0-11.5 seconds. In addition, 2 longer workouts a week.

First it was to run 2 back-to-back 100 meters in 22-23 seconds. Then after I accomplished that: 2 back-to-back 200 meters in 44-45 seconds. This latter was accomplished on 10/07. I am now striving to do a 300 meters in 67-68 followed by a 200 in 44-45. Not there yet, but it should come. My left hamstring keeps sending me little signals of warning. I listen to it and remain very careful.

Conclusion: This is almost certainly the last opportunity I will ever have to run a 400 well. Therefore, I am focused 100% on the 400 and nothing else for the time being.

Andy

Andy’s Report 07/22/24

(Addendum: Andy addresses Strider Mark Gookin’s DNF; he was leading his 5000 race with 2 laps to go…)

Would you send my sympathy to Marc. I cannot send out group emails from my computer so anything I write to you three can go to anyone you want. 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, Marc, 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, Marc, 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.

Andy’s Report 07/21/24

I am back from the Nationals and here is my report. I had planned to be there 7/17-7/20 in order to run the 400 and 800. However, my wife had an emergency medical problem just before leaving. She recovered and insisted that I be at Nationals the 19th and 20th so that I could at least run the 800. And I was.

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.

Andy’s Report 06/08/24

I just returned from the USATF San Diego-Imperial Association Championships held at the Elite Athlete Olympic/ParaOlympic Training Center in Chula Vista, San Diego.

There were 8 of us in the 400 meter and, as the oldest, I was in lane 8. The others looked to be in their 20s and late teens. At the beginning I immediately captured last place and held on to it diligently for the entire race. As I came onto the final straight away it was difficult to generate a fast final sprint when the nearest competitor is 60 meters in front of you. So I am not surprised that my time was a second slower than my PR of last week.

The problem came 2 hours later when I began warming up for the 800. The muscle I strained at Moorpark just would not warm up. I had to scratch the 800. For 70 years I have been injuring myself running the 400, but never the 800. One would suspect that perhaps I should quit the 400 and just concentrate on the 800. But that degree of realization requires a level of intelligence that I do not appear to have.

No matter. We’ll see what happens next Saturday at the Pain-McMahon Masters Meet at Cuyamaca.