General & News

2023 BC Masters Indoor Athletics Championships

RECORDS from  the 2022 BC Master Track & Field Champs. and Greyhounds Multi Events

2022 GREYHOUNDS MULTI EVENTS

2022 BC Masters Track & Field Championships

2022 BC Masters Indoor Championships - Thompson Rivers University - Kamloops - Feb 25/27

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CMA - We Are Running Canada

With several 2020 masters national championship road races cancelled and others may be too, the CMA invites all road racers and racewalkers to the “We Are Running Canada” event!
The goal is to have a collective effort by masters runners to complete 7,240 kilometres, representing Mile Zero in Victoria, BC to St. John’s NL. Each runner can contribute to the goal by doing one or all of the four CMA National Championship distances of 5k, 10k, half-marathon and marathon.

Read more at - https://canadianmasters.ca/cma-news/we-are-running-canada-parcourons-le-canada/

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ur Region, the North, Central American and Caribbean Masters Athletics (NCCMA) is providing all athletes aged 30 and above a chance to take part in a series of Virtual Road Runs or Walks from March 1 to 7, 2021 .

Designed to allow us all to have an experience which is as close to actual competition as is available at this time, this event is being provided at a nominal cost of $ 4.00 US for each distance run or walked, in tribute to César Sajché Valladares, the President of the Guatemala Masters who passed away in November, 2020.

Canadian Masters are encouraged to take part, in solidarity with masters in other countries in the Region, many of whom can't conveniently take part in as many virtual runs or walks as we can. The event uses the application “TYR” , available free from App stores, which will automatically record the distance and time for each participant and transfer it into the results for the event for which the participant has registered.  Running distances are available for 3K, 5K and 10K, while walking distances are 5K and 10K.

Please support this initiative from your Region. Registration for the events is open until 6:00 pm EST, on February 25, 2021.

Complete details, including instructions for registering, are available here;

Virtual Race 2021 English

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2021 BC Masters Track & Field Championships

After provincial restrictions due to Covid-19 forced the cancellation of the 2020 BC Masters Track and Field Championships, it was great that we were able to have this meet this year. The 2021 BC Masters Championships were hosted by the Greyhounds Masters Club on August 21-22, at Bear Creek Park in
Surrey. The pole vault competition was held two weeks earlier during the Greyhounds Multi-Events Meet at North Surrey Secondary School. The meet attracted 164 athletes who entered 443 individual events and 9 relay. For the first time, sub-masters (30-34) were invited to enter, but as non-championship
guests. Only a small number of sub-masters competed this year, but perhaps many more will enter in the future if allowed.

Blessed with good weather both days, mostly sunny with temperatures around twenty degrees, the meet generally ran well. Unfortunately the wind gauge was not properly set up for the first race (womens 80m hurdles) where there were two excellent results which would have been new BC Masters records. This
race was rerun after about fifteen minutes. With huge numbers in the throwing events and with the Electronic Distance Measurement (E.D.M.) device malfunctioning a few times, the throwing events got slightly behind schedule. But overall the meet was very successful.

There were many excellent results with athletes breaking nine Canadian and 24 BC Masters records.  David Guss broke two M60 Canadian records, the 3000m (9:52.30) and 2000m steeplechase (7:08.81).  Three athletes broke their own Canadian records: Renate Cheetham broke her own 3000m race walk
record (24:16.51), Myrtle Acton improved her W85 hammer record (22.33m) and Marek Glowacki improved his M80 shot put record (11.93m). Mark Pinckard ran an excellent race, breaking the M60 Canadian 800m (2:10.77) and Harnek Toor broke the Canadian M75 weight throw record (15.34m).

Two relay teams now possess Canadian Masters records. The relay team of Paul Reimer, Doug Henderson, Brent Scott and David Guss broke the M60 4x800m relay record (10:37.46) and the W75 relay team of Cherry Graf, Christa Bortignon, Marg Radcliffe and Avril Douglas set a new Canadian
standard in the 4x100m relay (1:19.88).

Breaking BC Masters records on the track were: Karl Mey M85 400m (1:32.68), Janette Wood W60 1500m (5:42.10), Carol Montgomery W55 3000m (11:28.68), Cindy O'Brien Hugh W60 80m hurdles (14.98) and Laurie Ritchie W60 300m hurdles (1:09.84). Setting new BC standards in the 2000m steeplechase were M75 Arthur Gee (13:21.07) and W35 Halimah Beaulieu (10:36.40). Sunette Lessing would have had a new BC record in the W50 80m hurdles (13.87) but there was no wind reading.

Field event athletes broke five BC Masters records. They were: Karin Adande W35 triple jump (8.36m), Patty Szybunka W60 triple jump (8.56m), Harnek Toor M75 hammer (36.53m), Marek Glowacki M80 hammer (36.58m) and Shane Wiebe M50 weight throw (15.01m).

Three relay teams broke BC records. The relay team of Derek Prevost, Shawn Nouraei, Steve Colbert and Paul Tshinyama broke the M50 4x100m record (49.47) and the team of Laurie Ritchie, Cindy O'Brien Hugh, Sharon Hann and Patti Rogers broke the W60 4x100m record (1:02.09). The relay team
of Fred Pawluk, Mark Stewart, Terry Riggins and Piara Bhullar broke the M70 4x800m record (12:25.94), just missing the Canadian record by 0.66 seconds.

A track and field meet can only be successful with the support from many others. The Greyhounds Masters Club is indebted and grateful to many. We thank the Ocean Athletics Club for the use of their high jump mats and standards, the Universal Club for the use of their steeplechase barriers and take-off
board, and BC Athletics for the use of their hurdles. We thank Dr MacPherson and his son Steve for once again serving as our First-Aid attendants, Randy our security person, the Surrey Parks and Recreation Department for preparing the facility, and our many sponsors for their generous donations.

Perhaps, most of all, we thank our hard-working officials and volunteers for your dedication and long hours of work. This was the first time that the Greyhounds Masters Club hosted this championships, but it definitely will not be our last.

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GREYHOUNDS IN-CLUB TRACK MEET
BEAR CREEK PARK – September 12, 2020
WORLD RECORD FOR LENORE MONTGOMERY

The Greyhounds Masters Club hosted their first-ever BC Athletics-sanctioned Track meet. Due to Covid-19, they were restricted to a maximum of 50 people, including athletes and officials, inside the track andfield facility. The meet was held at Bear Creek Park in Surrey under smoky conditions due to the smoke
travelling north from the many forest fires in the western states of America. Despite the smoke, their athletes ran very well. In fact there was more smoke coming from the heels of the runners.

The Greyhounds members broke 9 BC Masters records, 5 Canadian Masters records and Lenore Montgomery who recently entered the W90 age group, set a new world record in the 1500m (12:34.67).  She also set a new Canadian record in the 800m (6:13.82). Two race walkers broke Canadian records.
Dmitry Babenko, a new member of the Greyhounds, broke the Canadian record in the M45 Mile race walk with a time of 7:01.70. He easily broke the old Canadian record (7:48.7) by a huge margin of 47 seconds. Renate Cheetham broke the W80 Mile race walk record of 12:41.83 with a new record of
12:26.55. The fifth Canadian record was broken by Deborah Lee in the W70 80m hurdles. Despite reaggravating an injury the prior weekend at the Greyhounds Throws and Jumps meet while competing in the long jump, Deborah broke Ex-Greyhounds member Christa Bortignon's Canadian record of 20.20
seconds with a new record of 18.15 seconds.  

Breaking BC Masters records were: Cindy O'Brien Hugh broke the W60 80m hurdles record of 15.91 seconds with an outstanding time of 15.21 seconds. Laurie Ritchie despite being at the end of her age group, broke the W55 300m hurdles record by a whopping 9 seconds. Laurie broke the old record of
1:16.56 by running the race in 1:07.61. And next year when Laurie enters the W60 age group, she will be going over 27 inch hurdles instead of 30 inch hurdles. Mark Stewart broke one of the oldest BC Masters records. Mark broke the M75 800m record of 2:52.66 which had stood since 1989, by running an excellent time of 2:50.50. This was Mark's fourth BC Masters record this year. At the BC Masters Indoor Championships in Kamloops, Mark broke the BC Indoor 800m, 1500m and 3000m records.
Elaine Whidden broke one BC Masters record and just missed another. Elaine broke the W65 100m record of 15.80 seconds with a new record of 15.59 seconds. She missed breaking the W65 200m record by 0.01 second.

There were many other outstanding performances by the Greyhounds members. Two of them were: New member Piara Bhullar who turns 75 next year, pushed Mark to his 800m record and also ran a fast 1500m race (6:14.33). Carol Montgomery, another new member, ran two great races in the W55 800m and 1500m (5:40.32. It definitely helps to have Lenore's DNA.

The Greyhounds thank all of the officials and volunteers who helped make the Greyhounds first-ever BC Athletics-sanctioned Track Meet a great success.

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2020 BC Masters Indoor Track & Field Championships

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WMA 2020!

The Team Canada Page on the CMA website contains Team Bulletin #1.  This document describes what you need to do with respect to everything concerning the world championships.  You need to send a pdf copy of your passport or drivers licence or birth certificate as proof of age.  Send it to vern christensen.

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WMA 2020 Singlets and Information Link!

2019 55+ Games

World Masters Athletes of the Year 

Canadian Masters News

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2018 BC Masters Indoor Track & Field Championships - Kamloops

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Greyhounds defend their title at the 2019 Canadian Masters Track & Field Championships

Ste. Therese, Quebec - July 5-7 2019

The Greyhounds Masters Track and Field Club successfully defended their Club Championships at the Canadian MastersOutdoor Championships, which were held at Stade d'athletisme Richard-Garneau, in Ste-Therese, Quebec.  This makes three consecutive club championships for the Greyhounds who won the team title at last year's Canadian Masters Outdoor Championships in Surrey, and this year's Indoor championships in Edmonton.  The Greyhounds won the Harold Morioka Trophy, which CMA presents to the club who scores the most points (the top seven places receive 7,6,5,4,3,2,1 points).  The Greyhounds scored 452 points while second place Les Vainquers (Montreal) had 272 points.  Other clubs in the top 7 were:  U of Toronto Track Club (182), Throwers Club, Ontario (155), JamCam International T&F Club, North York, Ontario (148), Ottawa Lions (117) and Saint John T&F Club, New Brunswick (103).

Leading the way for the Greyhounds was Hardev Sandhu (M70) who scored the most points.  Karl Mey (M80) broke his own BC record in the 200m hurdles (40.88) and tied the BC record in the high jump (1.15m).  Sheila Allison (W70) won all seven of her events.

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CMA Hall of Fame

Congratulations to Tom Dickson and Jake Madderom!  The “CMA Board inducts into the Canadian Masters Athletics Hall of Fame individuals who are judged to have made significant contributions to masters athletics in Canada, in either of two categories – as Athletes or as Executives/Administrators.”  Tom will be inducted into the Athletes category while Jake will be inducted as an Administrator.  They have been invited to receive their award at the 2019 CMA Awards Dinner which will be held on July 6, 2019, at Sainte-Therese, Quebec, during the Canadian Masters track and field Championships.

TOM DICKSON  - ATHLETE

To be eligible for the CMA Hall of Fame as an Athlete, the athlete must have a minimum of ten years membership in the CMA and must be at least 65 years of age.  Tom has been a CMA member for 25 years and is now 66.  During these 25 years, Tom has been an outstanding sprinter with the 100 metre race being his specialty.  During the history of Masters athletics (from 1972 to present), Tom has been the best-ever 100 metre runner in BC, and one of the best in Canada.  Tom has been undefeated in 20 BC Masters Championships in the 100m and 200m.  Tom has competed in 9 World Masters Athletics Championships and has been a finalist in the 60m (Indoors) and 100m (Outdoors) every year, winning 7 medals.  Tom “has broken 13 Canadian records – often besting his own year after year.”  Tom's M60 60m record of 7.80 seconds is age-graded at 99.16% and his M60 Canadian record of 12.10 seconds is 96.70% (actually 97.28% for age 61).

Tom has been honoured by BC Athletics as Masters Athlete-of-the-Year ten times (five times as Masters Track and Field athlete and five times as Masters Track athlete (starting in 2013, BC Athletics Masters AOY was separated into two categories: “Track” and “Field”).

Tom has also given back to the sport as a coach for 41 years.  He has coached for the Vancouver Olympic Club (9 years), Valley Royals (29 years) and has been the sprint and hurdles coach for Simon Fraser University for the last 36 years.  Tom has also been a Team BC Coach many times:  National Legion Camp (twice),  Canadian Junior Championships (6 times), Canadian Senior Championships (once), Western Canada Games (4 times) and Canada Summer Games (3 times).  For his outstanding service Tom was honoured by BC Athletics with the Excellence in Coaching Award (1998), and by the NCAA as the Assistant Coach of the Year (2016).

JAKE MADDEROM – ADMINISTRATOR

Jake has competed in nine Canadian Masters track and field championships (winning 15 medals), in many Canadian Masters cross country championships, and in seven WMA Championships.

Jake's service to Masters athletics has been outstanding.  Soon after Jake joined the CMA in 1985, he has volunteered his time in many administrative capacities (not only for Masters) for track and field, road running and cross country.  He has been a member of the BC Athletics Masters Committee for 33 years, including about 20 years as the Chair.  Jake was a member of the BC Athletics Board of Directors for about 15 years, including serving as the Chairman and VP of Communications.  He has been the BC Provincial Director to the CMA for about 20 years.  He has served on the BC Athletics Road Running Committee since 1992, and was on the Athletics Canada Appeals Committee for six years. 

Jake became a BC Athletics official in 2007 and has officiated at many local, high school, provincial, national and international track and field meets.  Currently he is a NCCP Level 4 Horizontal Jumps Official.  He was on the Organizing Committee for the Canadian Cross Country Championships (2013 and 2014), and on the Organizing Committee for the Canadian Masters Track and Field Championships (twice), and has organized cross country teams for various CAN/AM /cross country challenges.  Jake was also one of the organizers of the Lower Mainland Cross Country Series and was a co-race director of the Kajaks' Icebreaker 8K Road Race (twice). 

In 2003, Jake was honoured by BC Athletics for his long-term service and contribution as Chair and Member of the Board of Directors.  He won the BC Athletics Official of the Year Award (2016) and was honoured with the Founders Award for outstanding service to track and field in British Columbia (2017).  Jake was nominated by Athletics Canada for the Commemorative Medal for the Queen's Golden Jubilee which is “Awarded to Canadians who made a significant contribution to their fellow citizens, their community, or to Canada over the previous fifty years.”

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2019 B.C. MASTERS OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Langley, June 14-16

The 2019 B.C. Masters Outdoor Track and Field Championships were hosted by the Langley Mustangs
from June 14-16, at Langley's McLeod Park and was held in conjunction with the Langley Mustangs'
annual Pacific Invitational Meet. About 140 Masters athletes registered for the meet in more than 400
events. The weather was excellent all three days with the temperature reaching into the high 20's.
The athletes broke 22 BC Masters records and 4 Canadian records. Another Canadian record was tied.
Breaking Canadian records were: Miriam Cavani in the W55 high jump (1.44m), Monica Pomietlarz in
the W60 high jump (1.40m), Myrtle Acton in the W85 shot put (6.72m) and Renate Cheetham breaking
her own Canadian record in the W80 3000m race walk (24:26.72). Julia Hengstler tied the Canadian
record in the W50 shot put (11.25m).

Patty Szybunka had an outstanding meet, breaking 4 BC records in the W60 100m, 200m, long jump and
triple jump. Monica broke 3 BC records, adding the W60 shot put and javelin throw along with her high
jump record. Breaking 2 BC records were: Nicole Carlos in the W45 javelin and weight throws, Miriam
added the long jump along with her high jump record, and Myrtle Acton added the weight throw record
along with her shot put record. Breaking one BC record were: Nancy Smith in the W55 hammer, Danny
Daniels in the M90 long jump, Jeannette Van Den Bulk in the W40 sprint hurdles, Sunette Lessing in the
W50 sprint hurdles, Cory Holly in the M60 hammer throw (there is a better throw pending), Karl Mey in
the M80 200m hurdles and Kathy Brand in the W75 hammer throw. Both Karl and Kathy have a slightly
better record pending in their events.

Tom Dickson was honoured during the meet for his upcoming induction into the Canadian Masters
Athletics Hall of Fame for his “significant contributions to masters athletics in Canada”. Tom will be
formally inducted next month into the CMA HOF at the Canadian Masters Outdoor Championships in
Montreal. Tom has competed in 9 World Masters Athletics Championships and was a finalist every year
in the 60m (Indoor) or 100m (Outdoor), winning 7 medals. He has been selected as BC Athletics Masters Athlete-of-
the-Year ten times.

The Masters athletes are extremely grateful to the Langley Mustangs and to all of the officials and
volunteers for their hard work and dedication over three days of competition.

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BC MASTERS INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS – March 29-31, 2019

Tournament Capital Centre, Kamloops

The 2019 BC Masters Indoor Championships were held at the Tournament Capital Centre in Kamloops, in conjunction with the Van Ryswyk Invitational Meet from March 29-31. As usual Kamloops hosted a well-run meet and the officiating was excellent. But the poor turnout from the Masters and youngsters was disappointing, especially for the host Kamloops Club who put in so much work. Nevertheless, there were many excellent performances with the Masters athlete breaking three Canadian Indoor records, and breaking/setting 19 new BC Masters Indoor records and tying one more.

Monica Pomietlarz broke the Canadian Indoor record in the W60 high jump. Two more Canadian records were broken in the relays. The W65 team of Deborah Lee, Karen Shook, Sheila Allison and Urith Hayley broke the Canadian Indoor 4x200m record, while the M75 team of Arthur Gee, Don Currie, Karl Mey and  Surinder Shah broke the Canadian Indoor 4x400m record.

Arthur Gee broke the M75 Indoor long jump record and set three more new records in the M75 800m, 1500m and 3000m. Sunette Lessing broke three W50 Indoor records in the Pentathlon, long jump, and 60m hurdles and tied the BC Indoor record in the high jump. 

Individuals breaking one BC Indoor record were: Marvin Johnson in the M45 60m, home-town Karl Mey who broke the M80 800m by 13 seconds and just missed the 400m record by 0.11 second, Hardev Sandhu in the M70 long jump, Deborah Lee who broke her own BC Indoor triple jump record, Jim Dyer who also broke his own Indoor record in the M75 weight throw, Suzanne Sharp in the W65 1500m race walk and Renate Cheetham in the W80 3000m race walk.

Two BC Masters Indoor records were broken in the 4x200m relays. The team of Faraaz Taiyab, Randy Sheldon, Sam Walker and Marvin Johnson broke the M45 relay record, and the team of Jess Aujla, Steve Law, Mark Phillips and Rob Smith broke the M50 relay record.

The Masters athletes thank the Kamloops Track and Field Club and all of the officials and volunteers for their dedication and hard work.

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WMA CHAMPIONSHIPS – March 24-30, 2019

Torun, Poland

Five athletes from B.C. competed at the World Masters Indoor Championships, which attracted 4000 athletes age 35 and older, and which were held at Torun, Poland.

Eighty-two year old Christa Bortignon was the star of the Canadian team, winning 4 of Canada's 7 gold medals. Christa won gold in the W80-84 60m, 200m, triple jump and long jump. In the long jump Christa tied her world record of 3.28m which she set two years ago at the BC Masters Indoor Championships in Kamloops. Winning a bronze medal was Marek Glowacki in the M75 shot put, the only event he entered. Tom Dickson also contested only one event, the 60m sprint in the M65 age category. Tom won his heat and semi-final, but just missed a medal by less than a tenth of a second when he finished 4th in a very close finals race. Luke Wang competed in the M45 60m, 200m and 4x200m relay. Luke won his 60m heat and was 4th in his semi-final, and did not qualify for the finals.  In the 200m, Luke was 3rd in his heat and did not qualify for the semi-finals. Hans Aabye finished 13^th in the M40 10K run and 22nd in the Half marathon. Two other athletes from B.C. were entered but did not compete.

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Ian Hume Award Recipient - M60 Reidar Zapf-Gilje B.C. - Multi-Events

Reider Zapf-Gilje from Vancouver is the repeat winner of the Ian Hume Award.  In 2016, Reidar won gold medals in the four combined events in which he competed, often by several hundred points ahead of any competition.  These included wins in the M60 Decathlon and Throws Pentathlon in the Americas Masters Games, the Pentathlon at the Norwegian Masters Chamionships and the Pentathlon at the Canadian Masters Outdoor Championships in Toronto.

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Olga Kotelko Award Recipient - W60 Margaret Rhebergen B.C.

This award is named after the late Olga Kotelko, who set more age group World records than any other athlete, in all age groups from 80 to 95 years of age, and has been an inspiration to many people Worldwide, and a great ambassador for Masters Track & Field

Margaret Rhebergen from British Columbia is the winner of the Olga Kotelko Award.  Margaret set nine British Columbia masters records in 2016, including five in field events.  She set Indoor W60 records in the Triple Jump, Long Jump, High Jump, as well as outdoor records in the Triple Jump and Long Jump.  Her five best results for the year are Age-Graded at 96.3%

 

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Christa Bortignon - World Masters Record - W80 Triple Jump

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2017 BC Masters Indoor Championships

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2017 WMA Indoor Track & Field Championships

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2017 BC Masters Outdoor Track & Field Championships to be held June 16-18, 2017 in Langley, BC. More info: http://www.langleymustangs.com/ 

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BC Masters Indoor Championships To be Held March 31 - April 2, 2017 in Kamloops, BC. More info: http://kamtrack.ca/

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CMA OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS - HOSTING OPPORTUNITY

The Canadian Masters Athletics Association has put out a call for bids to host the 2018 CMA Outdoor Championships. BC Athletics, in consultation with the Master's Committee, is suggesting a Championship date of August 10-12, 2018. Any interested clubs are to contact the Technical Manager, Chris Winter (chris.winter@bcathletics.org) for more information. Letter of Intent due to BC Athletics March 10th, 2017.

CMA Outdoor Bid Requirements: Here

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Americas Masters Games Results

Track & Field:
/admin/js/elfinder/php/../files/Masters/16-08-30%20AMGs%20Results%20TF%20Aug%2027%2028%2029%2030.pdf

10K RaceWalk:
https://www.sportstats.ca/display-results.xhtml?raceid=40678

10K Road Race:

https://www.sportstats.ca/display-results.xhtml?raceid=40482

 

Half Marathon:
https://www.sportstats.ca/display-results.xhtml?raceid=40483

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Ultra Throw Club and Ocean Athletics Track & Field Club to Host "2016 Masters Throws Fest"

On Sunday, August 7th, 2016, Ultra Throw and Ocean Athletics will be collaborating to put on the 2016 Masters Throws Fest. Masters athletes will have the chance to compete in the weight pentathlon and super weight events.

For registration, visit: www.TrackieReg.com/2016MastersWtPent
As the entry deadline has passed, registration will now cost $40 for Wt Pent and $10 for Super Weight

For the schedule of events, please see the attached PDF: 2016 Masters Throws Fest

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Canadian Masters Athletics Announces the 2015 Athletes of the Year

Based on nominations received from members of the CMA and votes cast by the CMA Board, the 2015 Athletes of the Year have been named in four categories of athletics, each of which has been named after a masters athlete who was prominent in the appropriate discipline, and is either still active or was active in the past, as identified below.

The following are the recipients of the 2015 Canadian Masters Athletes of the Year Awards:

Individual Track Events – “Earl Fee Award”

W85 Lenore Montgomery BC

This award is named after Earl Fee, the great masters middle distance track athlete who, at age 87, is still active and still holds many Canadian and World records, and continues to inspire others.

Lenore Montgomery from North Vancouver is the winner of the Earl Fee Award. In 2015, Lenore set W85 Canadian records in the 400m, 800m, 1500m and 5000m track races. Of these, the 800m, at 4:33.86, and the 5000m, at 32:36.20, were also World records, and were age-graded at 96% and 98%.

Combined Events – “Ian Hume Award”

M60 Reidar Zapf-Gilje BC

This award is named after Ian Hume who, beginning with the first World Masters Championships in Toronto in 1975 and for a period of 25 years, won 29 World Championship medals and set 40 World records in 9 events, including the Pentathlon and the Decathlon.

Reidar Zapf-Gilje from Vancouver is the winner of the Ian Hume Award. In the Norwegian Multi-Event Championships in June, Reidar won the Gold Medal in the M60 Pentathlon, setting a new Canadian record of 3,575 points, 372 points above the previous record. Also during the year, he won Gold Medals in the M60 age group in the BC 55+ Games in the Pentathlon, with 3,369 points, and in the Throws Pentathlon, with 3,295 points.

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2016 CANADIAN MASTERS INDOOR T&F CHAMPIONSHIPS
Six BC Masters athletes travelled to Toronto this past weekend to compete in the Canadian Masters Indoor
Track and Field Championships at York University. It was only a small group of BC athletes but they did
extremely well. The meet attracted over 200 athletes, mostly from Ontario. The Greyhounds Masters T&F
Club women's team won 19 Gold medals and despite having only a 3-member team, won the Women's
Team Title with 149 points. The University of Toronto TC finished second among the 31 women teams,
with 127 points.

Christa Bortignon and Deborah Lee won all of their events. Christa, who is 79, won 6 Gold medals and if
she duplicates her performances next year, her 60m, long jump and triple jump results will be new world
records in the W80 age group. Deborah won 7 Gold medals and set a new Canadian record in the W65
50m hurdles. Six of her 7 results were new meet records. Rachel Fouladi won 6 Gold and 2 Silver medals
and set a new Canadian record in the W45 50m hurdles.

Three BC men competed in this meet. David Dickey, another Greyhounds Masters member, won 4 Silver
and 2 Bronze medals. Adding David's points, the 4-member Greyhounds Masters Club finished 3rd overall
among the 54 clubs that competed. Mark Pinkard, a Kajaks member, won 3 Gold and 1 Bronze medals in
the M55 age group. Competing unattached, Dmitry Babenko won the M40 1500m Race Walk with a time
which was less than 1 second of his Canadian record.

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2016 BC MASTERS INDOOR T&F CHAMPIONSHIPS
KAMLOOPS – February 12-14

The 2016 BC Masters Indoor Championships were held from February 12-14, at the Tournament Capital Centre in Kamloops. With the mild winter and good winter road conditions, including the Coquihala Highway, it was hoped that more Masters athletes would attend the Championships. Although the field
was small, the athletes that competed did extremely well, setting many records and establishing personal bests. As usual the Kamloops Track and Field club and the local officials and volunteers did an excellent job of putting on a great meet. A few BC Athletics officials travelled from out-of-town to help out.

The star of the meet has to be W85 Lenore Montgomery who set 4 World Records. Lenore broke the listed world record in the 400m (2:11.47), 800m (4:52.80) and 3000m (19:59.56). She set a new standard in the 1500m (9:31.42) race. However, apparently there is another W85 woman who recently ran the
1500m and 3000m races faster than Lenore.

Outstanding race walker Dmitry Babenko broke 2 of his own Canadian records in the M40 1500m (6:15.75) and 3000m (13:06.63) Race Walks. Cheryl Closkey broke the Canadian W65 Weight throw record (10.93m) and Gabriella Moro broke the Canadian W65 Shot put record (8.66m). Miriam Cavani broke the Canadian W55 High jump record (1.35m). The relay team of Tom Ukonmaanaho, Sewa Birring, Harold Morioka and Mark Stewart broke the Canadian M70 4x200m relay record (2:09.98). The relay team of Jorge Woods, Steve Briggeman, David Dickey and Cal Warren set a new Canadian standard
in the M55 4x400m relay (4:48.55).

Deborah Lee had an incredible meet with 6 individual BC records plus 2 relay records. Her individual records were in the W65 60m, 200m, 60m Hurdles, High jump, Long jump and Triple jump. Mark Stewart broke his own M70 BC records in the 800m, 1500m and 3000m. Mark was also on the M70 relay team that broke the Canadian record in the 4x200m. Margaret Rhebergen broke three BC jumps
records in the W60 High jump, Long jump and Triple jump. Margaret added two more BC records in the 60m and 60m Hurdles and was also on a record-breaking relay team. Speedster Cindy O'Brien Hugh broke 2 sprint records in the W55 60m and 200m. She was also on a record-breaking relay team. Jim Dyer broke 2 Race walk records in the M70 1500m and 3000m race walks. Renate Cheetham had 2 BC records in the W75 1500m and 3000m runs and she was on a relay team that set a BC record. Tom Ukonmaanaho broke 2 BC records in the M70 200m and High jump and he was also on the M70 4x200m relay team that broke the Canadian record.

Also establishing new BC records were: Karl Jones (M45 60m), Valerie Scott (W60 400m and both W55 4x200m and W60 4x400m relays), Lynette Baldock (W65 3000m and W60 4x400m relay), Lynn Thompson (M75 triple jump), John Hawkins (M65 high jump), Dave McDonald (M60 weight throw), Harnek Toor (M65 weight throw) and John Storms (M55 1500m race walk).

Winning no individual gold medal but winning the inspirational award from many, was Sewa Birring.  Sewa is a double cancer surviver who is overcoming the odds. Sewa bravely started the 400m but was unable to complete the race. The next day he ran the 200m twice, first in the individual 200m race and then again in the relay, helping his M70 4x200m relay team break the Canadian record.

The meet was extremely well run and very enjoyable for the athletes. The Masters athletes wish to thank the Kamloops T&F Club and all of the officials and volunteers for their time and effort

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2015 55+ BC Games - North Vancouver, August 26-29

The 28th annual 55+ BC Games (formerly called the BC Seniors Games) were hosted by North Vancouver from August 26-29. The 2015 Games included 25 sports which were held mostly in venues in the City and Municipality of North Vancouver. However Ice Curling was held in Vancouver and Dragon Boat and Athletics were held in Burnaby.  Track and Field was hosted by the Norwesters Track and Field Club and held at Swangard Stadium. About 220 athletes over the age of 55 registered to compete in track and field.

The weather was excellent for the first two days but it rained on Friday morning, forcing the cancellation of the long hurdles and the women's pentathlon which included the hurdles. The rain also made it difficult for the high jumpers and throwers. With the forecast for heavy rains and high winds for Saturday morning, the meet organizers decided to cancel the 10K Road Run and 10K Road Power Walk which were to be held at the Seymour Demonstration Forest in North Vancouver.

Overall the meet was very well run. The track events were right on time as were the jumping events. The throwing events with their large number of participants got slightly behind schedule but there were no major problems. The large number of very competent BC Athletics officials and the many volunteers kept everything running smoothly.

The athletes established many records: 45 Games records (plus 1 tied), 23 BC Masters records (but there are 4 better records pending), 10 Canadian records (there are 2 better records pending) and 1 WORLD RECORD.

Lenore Montgomery broke the World Record in the W85 5000m (32:36.20). Lenore would have even broken the world record by another 47 seconds but she was on the opposite side of the track when the gun sounded for the start of the 5000m race. Lenore had to rush over to the starting line and when she started, the clock was already at 47 seconds. Lenore also broke the listed World Record in the 800m (4:33.86), but there is a better time pending by a woman who ran this race in the WMA Championships in Lyon, France. Lenore added 2 more Canadian records in the 400m (2:11.85) and 1500m (9:06.76)

Maurice Tarrant broke the Canadian record in the M85 5000m (30:12.55) and added 2 more Games records in the 800m and 1500m. Had Maurice gone to Lyon, his times would have been good enough to win 2 Silver medals and a Bronze medal. Myrtle Acton broke the Canadian record twice in the W80 Hammer throw, once in the Throws pentathlon (22.46m) and once in the individual event. Other Canadian records were broken by Norm Lesage M85 100m (but he has a better pending CR of 18.00), William Falconer M95 100m, Doug Monds M85 Pole vault, and Marilyn Benz W65 Javelin (Marilyn has a better CR throw pending).

Herb Phillips broke 3 BC M75 records in the 800m, 1500m and 5000m, but none of these were Canadian records only because he is following in the footsteps of the great Ed Whitlock. Herb's time in the 5000m (20:51.35) would have won the GOLD medal at last month's WMA Championships in Lyon, France. Norm Lesage added a second BC record in the M85 200m while Elaine Whidden bettered 2 listed BC records in the W60 100m and 200m (30.46) with

times that would have placed her just outside the medals in Lyon (she does have slightly better times pending). John Hawkins broke the BC M65 record in the Pole vault (Gerard Dumas has a better height pending) and tied the High jump record (1.50m). Other BC records were broken by Sandra Bissessur W65 400m, Lynn Thompson M75 Sprint hurdles, Deborah Lee W65 Triple jump, Reidar Zapf-Gilje M60 Triple jump, Rainer Sillantaus M85 Shot put and Scot Henney M90 Javelin.

The Zone 3 relay team of Urith Hayley, Cindy O'Brien Hugh, Marie Johnson and Elaine Whidden broke the W55+ BC 4x100m relay record (1:01.43).

Breaking at least 2 Games records were Cindy O'Brien Hugh W55 200m and 400m, Mark Stewart M70 400m and 800m, Susan Gordon W55 800m and 1500m, and Rose Hare W65 Discus and Throws pentathlon. Reidar added a 2^nd Games record in the M60 Sprint hurdles while Rainer added a 2nd Games record in the M85 Javelin.

The athletes would like to thank Dawn Copping (meet director), the officials and many volunteers for their hard work and for making these Games a huge success.

Next year the 55+ BC Games will be hosted by Coquitlam from September 20-24.

Harold Morioka

Zone 3 coordinator

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BC Athletes Excel at World Masters Track & Field Championships 

Lyon, France - Of the almost 150 Canadians who participated in the World Masters Athletics Championships for athletes from the age of 35-95, 15 were from British Columbia. There were over 8000 athletes from 114 countries registered for this meet which took place in Lyon, France, from August 4-16, 2015. 

Christa Bortignon W78 won the most medals for Canada. Competing in the W75 age group, Christa won 2 gold medals in the 80m hurdles and 200m hurdles. She also won 2 silver medals in the 100m and 200m, and 2 bronze medals in the long jump and triple jump. 

Nardene Hammond W43 won a bronze medal while competing on the Canadian W35 10K Road Walk relay team. Nardene's best individual result was 7th in the 20K Road Walk. Nardene also set two BC records in the W40 10kK and 20K Road Walks. 

Other BC athletes who were in the top 10 were: Gerard Dumas tied the BC Masters M80 record in the pole vault while finishing 5th, Tom Dickson finished 7th in the M60 100m and Nancy Craig who turns 50 later this year, finished 6th in the W45 pole vault. 

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New Canadian W60 4x100m Record!

Four Masters women from the Greyhounds Masters Track and Field Club set a new Canadian standard in the W60 4x100m relay (all members of the relay team must be over the age of 60).   Competing on April 26^th, at the University of Oregon's famed Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, the team of Deborah Lee (W64), Christa Bortignon (W78), Urith Hayley (W64) and Elaine Whidden (W60), ran the 400 metre relay in a time of 1:03.74. This breaks the Canadian Masters W60 record of 1:04.60 which was set by Team Canada at the 2011 World Masters Athletics Championships, in Sacramento, California.  Having four women from the same club break a National record which was set by four women representing Canada, is a huge accomplishment. 

CANADIAN MASTERS INDOOR T&F CHAMPIONSHIPS
Toronto, ON – March 14-15, 2015

Ten BC Masters athletes competed in the Canadian Masters Indoor Track and Field Championships this past weekend in Toronto. Christa Bortignon and Deborah Lee won gold in all 7 of their events. Hardev Sandhu won 6 medals including gold in the 60M and Weight throw.

Christa broke 2 Canadian Indoor records in the W75 50M and 50M hurdles. Deborah established 4 BC Indoor records in the W60 50M, 50M Hurdles, High jump and Triple jump. Deborah just missed another BC record by only 1/100th of a second in the 60M Hurdles. Al Percival broke the Canadian Indoor record in the M60 50M sprint. Natasha Bacchus set a new BC Indoor record in the W35 50M and broke her own pending BC record in the 60M, which she established a month earlier in the BC Masters Indoor Championships in Kamloops. Juliette Christie broke 2 of her own pending BC Indoor records in the W50 1500M and 3000M. Hardev set a new BC Indoor record in the M65 50M while Mark Pinckard
broke his own BC Indoor record in the M50 800M.

 

2015 BC Masters Indoor Track & Field Championships

Results

The second annual BC Masters Indoor Track and Field Championship was held on February 13-15, at
the Tournament Capital Centre in Kamloops. This meet was held in conjunction with the Van Ryswyk
Indoor Invitational Meet. The number of Masters athletes competing was a little higher than last year,
and hopefully this championship meet will continue to grow in the future.
The Masters athletes that competed did extremely well. They set/broke 40 BC Indoor records and 9
Canadian Indoor records. Another BC record was tied.
Norm Lesage broke two Canadian records in the M85 60m (but he has a pending record from a week
earlier at the Harry Jerome meet) and 200m. Don Currie also broke two Canadian records in the M80
1500m and 3000m Race walks. Margaret Rhebergen broke her own Canadian W55 high jump record
and Harry Thompson set a new Canadian standard in the M90 1500m Race walk.
The M70 relay team of: Surinder Shah, Mark Stewart, Bill McNamara and Tom Ukonmaanaho, broke
the Canadian record in the 4x400m relay and set a new Canadian standard in the 4x200m relay. The
relay team of: Lynette Baldock, Gabriella Moro, Winni MacKay-Smith and Christa Bortignon, set a new
Canadian record in the W65 4x200m relay.
Four athletes broke/set three individual BC Masters Indoor records. Norm added the M85 400m record
to his 60m and 200m records. Mark Stewart set three new M70 standards in the 800m, 1500m and
3000m. Arthur Gee set three new standards in the M70 triple jump, 1500m Race walk and 3000m Race
walk. Rachel Fouladi broke the BC W45 triple jump record and set new standards in the 1500m and
3000m Race walks.
Five athletes added two new BC Indoor records to their names. Lynette Baldock broke her own W65
800m and 1500m records. Margaret Rhebergen broke her own W55 60m record as well as the high
jump. Juliette Christie set two new BC standards in the W50 1500m and 3000m runs. Harry Thompson
added the M90 triple jump to his Race walk record. Tom Ukonmaanaho broke the BC M70 200m
record and tied the high jump record.
Adding one new BC record to their names were: Natasha Bacchus W35 60m, Sam Walker M40 400m,
Surinder Shah M70 long jump, Deborah Lee W60 long jump, Heinz Peter M65 high jump, Gabriella
Moro W65 shot put, Jody Cranston M45 weight throw, Harnek Toor M65 weight throw and Lori
Graham W55 1500m Race walk.
Two relay teams set new BC records. The W45 4x400m relay team of: Cindy O'Brien Hugh, Kathy
Friesen, Winni MacKay-Smith and Nicola Everton, and the M45 4x400m relay team of: Mark Phillips,
Gordon Flett, Harjinder Kang and Steve Briggeman.
The schedule was slightly altered from last year so that the meet could be completed by noon on
Sunday. With the support of many fans, Dylan Armstrong was finally presented with the Olympic
bronze medal that he was denied at the Beijing Olympics, six and a half years ago. Armstrong finished
fourth in the shot put competition (by only a centimetre) but was moved up to third when the athlete
from Belarus was disqualified for doping.
The Masters athletes give huge thanks to the meet organizers, officials and volunteers for their hard
work and dedication over the three days.
The Kamloops Track and Field Club invites all Masters athletes to the third annual BC Masters Indoor
Championships which will be in the Tournament Capital Centre again in February, 2016.

2014 BC Senior Games

Report on the 2014 BC Senior Games Langley, Sept 10-13

2014 BC Senior Games Results

2013 BC Seniors Games

Report on 2013 BC Seniors Games Kamloops, Aug 21-24

2013 BC Masters Track & Field Championships Results

Results of 2013 BC Masters Track & Field Championships Langley, Jun 14-16

WORLD MASTERS INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS

The 6th WMA Indoor track and field championships were held in Budapest, Hungary, from March 25-
30, 2014. Over 3900 athletes over the age of 35, from more than 70 countries, were entered in the
championships. The SYMA facility was excellent with two tracks, and more, under the same roof.
Hungary did an excellent job of hosting the “queen of sports” as they call athletics in their country.
Olga Kotelko, who turned 95 only 23 days prior to the first day of competition, was one of the stars of
the WMA Indoor Championships. Olga competed in the W95-99 age group and was one of the fifty
Canadian Masters athletes entered, eleven were from BC.
Olga won 10 Gold medals and established 9 new World records. She set new world indoor W95
standards in the 60m, 200m, High jump, Long jump and Triple jump. She also broke the world indoor
records in the W95 Shot put and Weight throw. At this Indoor championships, there were also a few
Outdoor Road races and three Outdoor throwing events. Olga broke the Outdoor world records in the
W95 Hammer throw and Javelin. The only event that Olga did not establish a new world record was
in the outdoor Discus throw.
Other BC athletes winning medals were: Christa Bortignon (Gold in the W75 60m hurdles), Tom
Dickson (Silver in the M60 60m sprint) and Marek Glowacki (Silver in the M70 Shot put). Tom tied
the Canadian Indoor record in the M60 60 m (7.80 seconds during the semi-finals) and broke the
Canadian Indoor M60 200m record (25.98 seconds). Marek broke his own Canadian M70 Shot put
record (13.74m).
Normally the WMA Indoor Championships are held every two years but for the next two years the
WMA will have Outdoor Championships. The next WMA Indoor Championships will be in three
years (2017) in Daegu, South Korea.

 

BC MASTERS INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Kamloops, February 14-16, 2014
The first-ever BC Masters Indoor track and field championships were held on February 14-16. The meet was
hosted by Kamloops in their Tournament Capital Centre on the campus of Thompson Rivers University.
Unfortunately the turnout was very low, probably partly because of the dangerous weather conditions on the
Coquihalla Highway. Despite the small turnout, there were a few outstanding results. As usual, the Kamloops
Track and Field Club and their volunteers, hosted an excellent meet.
No world records were broken this year but look out next year because Olga Kotelko turns 95 on March 2nd.
Actually she will undoubtedly break/set a few world records next month at the WMA Indoor Championships in
Budapest, Hungary.
The small group of Masters athletes broke 7 Canadian records and tied another. Breaking Canadian records
were Dmitry Babenko in the M40 1500M Racewalk (6:27.23) and 3000M Racewalk (13:45.23). Donald Currie
broke the identical Canadian records in the M80 group. He turned 80 on February 13, only one day before the
start of the meet. Also setting a Canadian record was 91-year-old Harry Thompson in the M90 3000M and
Cheryl Closkey broke the W65 Weight throw record (10.46m).
The relay team of Hardev Sandhu, Fred Pawluk, Harold Morioka and Sewa Birring broke the M65 4x400m
Canadian record (4:46.66).
Margaret Rhebergen tied her own Canadian record in the W55 High jump (1.30m). Actually Margaret might
have broken her Canadian record because the bar was set higher than 1.30m. When the bar was measured after
her record breaking jump, the bar read 1.32m. However the official ruled that since the recorder had listed the
height as 1.30m, that this was the official height and that measuring after the height was only to confirm that the
height of the bar was at least this height.
There were 28 new BC Indoor records and two more were tied. In addition to the records above, the following
BC records were broken.
Breaking two BC records were: Fred Pawluk M65 800m and 1500m, Bakhshish Dhillon M75 Shot put and
Weight throw, Nardene Hammond W40 1500M Racewalk and 3000M Racewalk, Lori Graham W55 1500M
Racewalk and 3000M Racewalk and Denise Clements W50 Shot put and Weight throw (But Carolyn Boomer
gets the new BC W50 Shot put record with a better record-breaking put than Denise).
Also breaking BC records were: Tom Ukonmaanaho M65 200m, Sam Walker M40 400m, Verena Stroda W40
Shot put, Kathy Brand W70 Weight throw, Dan Krause and Hardev Sandhu in the M65 Weight throw (but Dan
gets the new BC record with a better record-breaking put), Harold Morioka in the M70 High jump and Sean
Steele in the M50 Weight throw. Along with their Canadian records, Margaret Rhebergen added a BC record in
the W55 60m Hurdles, Cheryl Closkey added a BC record in the W65 Shot put and Donald Currie added a BC
record in the M80 800m.
The relay team of Andy Bienefeld, Eric Torin, Sam Walker and Luke Wang set a new BC record in the M35
4x200m relay.
Nancy Cochrane was attempting to better her BC W60 High jump record which she set only two weeks earlier.
Unfortunately she partially tore her achilles tendon and a calf muscle during an early jump.
Diane Matus tied the BC record in the W65 60m sprint.