Victorian Masters Athletics Inc. www.vicmastersaths.org.au February 2012 The passing of two V.M.A. greats - Peter Colthup and Keith Routley V.M.A. is on Facebook 2 EDITORIAL Looking ahead to the 2012 A.M.A. Champion- ships, I have set up a V.M.A. facebook page so that our Committee and Members can share information more quickly and express We are very sad to learn of the passing of opinions. For those of you who are not famil- two of our most influential and long standing life iar with Facebook, you can access it from a members Peter Colthup and Keith Routley over computer or a smart phone. You just set up the New Year period. Both of these stalwarts were an identity and go to the Victorian Masters involved with Veterans/Masters athletics from the Athletics page, become a “friend” and you very begining. We have tributes to both men in this will see messages that have been posted each issue of Footprints. time you go to Facebook. As we approach the 2012 A.M.A. Champi- onships we are calling for volunteers to help the team of qualified officials from Athletics Victoria and V.M.A. It doesn’t matter if you have no experi- ence in officiating, you will be given things to do that are very manageable and I think you will find it is quite an enjoyable experience. As you may have heard we are giving all volunteers at the A.M.A. Championships a free polo shirt and with that in mind we need to know as early as possi- ble what size shirts to order. Please complete the amended form on Page 27, which is also available at your venue, and indicate your shirt size. Then Athletes moving get it to Tony Bradford as soon as possible. into a We are also seeking volunteers for the State New Age Group Championships which will be held at Doncaster Venue on 24th & 25th March. It would be of great assistance if competitors helped out between their events. JIMMY THOMSON into M85 We have some great news regarding the DAVID MATHER into M80 Awards Night, which is held at every A.M.A. Cham- WIM VAN WEENAN into M80 pionship. We are fortunate to be able to announce ROSS KENT into M70 that the Awards night at the 2012 A.M.A. Cham- NATALIE KING into W70 pionships will be hosted by Greg Champion. Greg RICHARD TREMBATH into M70 is a V.M.A. member and a wonderful entertainer, PETRINA TROWBRIDGE into W65 well known around Australia for his brilliant mu- JONATHAN HOLMES into M60 sic and his work with the Coodabeen Champions. JOHN HERBSTREIT into M60 The venue has a capacity of 200 and you can book IAN WINNEN into M60 tickets when you enter the Championships, either JULIE HERTZ into W55 online at the A.M.A. website or by the paper ROBERT MAYSTON into M55 entry form in this newsletter. At $55.00 per head it PAUL OLSSON into M55 will be excellent value. GRANT STEWART into M55 The A.G.M. will be held on on 22nd April at Dun- HELEN VAN DER NAGEL into W55 can McKinnon and will be preceded by our 3000m STEPHEN WRIGHT into M55 Championship and a Barbeque. MARGARET ARMSTRONG into W50 PETER SIMPSON into M50 SHANE HARRIS into M40 ALIASQAR HASHEMIAN into M35 Russ Dickenson 3 Masterpieces The dates for the 2013 W.M.A. Championships in Porto Alegre, Brazil have been finalised and moved back from “late July - early August” to 15th - 27 October. Club Captain Barry Murley advises that in regard to the query by Stacey Van Dueren ( mentioned in Decem- ber Footprints ) and a subsequent enquiry by Greg Moore of the same nature, there were 16 V.M.A. athletes who didn’t register at the V.M.A. table at the half marathon and were not included in the results. At events such as these where you may be competing for your A.V. club, you must also register with V.M.A. if you want to be included in our results. Good news from Lavinia Petrie that the Knox track will have been fully operational for Knox’s Wednesday night meetings from 25th. January. The work being done there has prevented the Venue from having regular meetings since April 2011. Meanwhile, East Burwood is still conducting their Thursday night meetings at Doncaster and needless to say, members from other Venues are very welcome. The track at East Burwood is needing some pretty extensive foundation work on the back straight to prevent further subsidence and is unlikely to be ready before April. Our Club Secretary, Phil Urquhart had a fall whilst running recently breaking 3 ribs and puncturing his lung. He was rushed to Hospital and is recovering well. He told me, however, that he averages 2 falls a year while running. Training wheels I think, Phil. What’s On 2012 February 8 A.M.A. 4 x 800 Walk Relays - George Knott Reserve, Clifton Hill - Mel. 30 F12 February 5-12 Oceania Masters - Tauranga New Zealand - see www.nzmastersathletics.org.nz/ February 20 The Landy Trophy - Doncaster Venue - Rieschiecks Reserve, Doncaster March 4 V.M.A. T & F Pentathlon - Duncan McKinnon Reserve - Melway 68 K9 March 13 Harry Preston Memorial 1,500m Handicap - Altona Venue - Peter Buissink mobile 0419 357705 or 93607513, Michael Orelli 9369 5243 or Lorraine Wood- man 9398 1884 for details. March 18 V.M.A. Throws Pentathlon. Duncan McKinnon Reserve - Melway 68 K9 March 18 V.M.A. 5000m Walk Championship - Dolamore Reserve, Mentone - Melway 87 B6 March 22 V.M.A. 3000m Championship - Duncan McKinnon Reserve - 11.30 followed by BBQ then the A.G.M. March 24 & 25 VMA Champs - Doncaster Venue - Rieschiecks Reserve, Doncaster April 3-8 W.M.A. Indoor Champs - Jyvaskyla - Finland - see www.wma2012.jyvaskyla.fi/ April 5-9 Australian Masters T&F Championships, Melbourne September 29 - Oct 1 AMA Winter Throws 2012 A.C.T. November 3-12 Pan Pac Masters Games - Gold Coast - Entry form available in 2012 2013 October 15 - 27 World Masters Athletics Championships - Porto Alegre, Brazil 4 Masterpieces This is a photo of Lakeside Stadium taken from the top of Eureka Tower. If Albert Park is a good place for a Formula One race it’s a great place for an athletics carnival. Now there’s a good thing for our interstate visitors to do at Easter - visit Eureka Tower. In the Australia Day Honours - Thomas Victor ROBERTS O.A.M., Ballarat, Victoria. For service to the community of Ballarat, particularly through the Royal Australian Air Force Association, and to medicine. Tom was a terrific open-age and Masters athlete and still holds one of the longest standing World Masters Records, the M50 1500m at 4:05.02. That record was set in 1984 ! I had a chat to Tom, who practised as an obstetrician and gynaecologist in Ballarat from 1966 until 1997, and has a wonderful list of achievements and service given to his community. Tom told me he was in the race at Olympic Park in 1954 when John Landy became the first man to break the 4 minute mile on Aus- tralian soil and competed at the first World Veterans Championships in Toronto in 1975 finishing second to 1956 Olympian Albie Thomas in the 1500m. He missed Gothenburg in 1977, but went to Hanover in 1979 where he lost the 800m by 2/100 of a second and was pipped by the legendary Ed Whitlock in the 1500m. Tom mentioned it was at Hanover that the Australian team presented the main driving force behind the formation of Vets in Australia, Wal Sheppard, with a “willie warmer”.Tom continued to attend World Vet- erans Championships and it was in Rome in 1985 that he finally won Gold in the 800m - 1500m double. In Melbourne 1987 he got a second and a third and in Eugene again got the double gold. Tom continued to compete, his last World’s being Gateshead in 1999. Then arthritis and atrial fibrillation saw him finish running. Here is Tom winning the M55 1500m by “a street” at the Eugene, Oregon World Veterans Championships in 1989 where he also set a World Record in the 800m, and at right, chasing down the Kiwi legend Bill Baillie 5 RESULTS - ANDY SALTER RELAY – 2012 Wednesday 1st February 2012 saw the 29th running of the Andy Salter relay at the Springvale/Noble Park venue. As the longest running inter venue event, it continues to be popular and this year saw 94 runners and walkers take part, with representatives from 7 venues attending. The weather gods were kind to us and provided a most pleasant evening for the event. The Challenge division was contested by 8 teams and for the 6th year in a row Knox was far too good winning by just over 3 minutes from their No. 2 side. Results were: 1st – Knox No 1 – 43.22 – Paul Wilson, Noel Eastwood, Paul Connor, Susi Wilson 2nd – Knox No 2 - 46.33 – Graeme Leticq, Julie Norney, John Graham, Russell Speight 3rd – Croydon – 48.21 – Andrew Egginton, Pam Tindal, Ray Merida, Colin Page Fastest times were: Female – Julie Norney (Knox) – 11.25 Male – Paul Wilson (Knox) – 9.53 In the Fun Run division 11 teams (plus unplaced Challenge teams) competed for the nearest estimated time trophy. The winners, spot on their nominated time, was a team from Springvale comprising Allison Devine, Marc Vellin, Steven Barker and Dean Copland. It was a close battle in this event as there were 7 teams that were less than 10 seconds out.