Truth is stranger than fiction. This is a a real story. USATF adds age 25-29 group to 'masters' category

And all these years I swore that masters started at 40. I guess I was the one living under a rock.

So, what category is 55 and above? Methuselah category? Great grand masters?

I am all for it. "Masters" is different in every sport. In swimming masters is 25 and has been for a while. I assume this was because before 1992 when the Olympics did not allow professionals so there were virtually no post-collegiate swimmers.

What is the harm? Someone posited to extending resources to supporting developing runners. Well, I am also thinking of the rest of USATF membership 99% (okay I have not actually calculated that) and how to meet its needs.

sbeefyk2 wrote:

Sounds like an extension of the “everyone gets a medal” mentality. Now the runner who are too slow for real races can take part in a masters events and win some medals and feel better about themselves.

And this harms you how? They are competing for those medals. PS this happens on the roads too, right?

It does seem a bit contrived. If I win the 50-54 age group, I can pretty reliably say that I am the fastest 50-54 YO in the country in my event. If I win the 25-29 age group, it absolutely does NOT mean that I'm the fastest 25-29 YO in the country.

It's not really an age group so much as a JV classification for open runners.

bad nights with you wrote:

I think the masters category can give someone a renewed passion for the competitive side of the sport. They do not feel pressured to compare themselves to their PRs as a college athlete, which is more important than it seems for many runners.

This extension of the masters category is for the weakest among us.

Anyone who has run at a high enough level [for us to care about them] sees through this charade and would not be incentivized by a "masters national title" at age 27 - we know it would be a joke, they know it would be a joke.

If you're "renewing someone's passion for running" by letting them beat up on a bunch of middle-aged dudes, I question your morality and your ability to lead an organization like the USATF.

By the accounts of every runner I've spoken to that has kept training and racing into their later years, they all say that 40 is when they felt things weren't exactly like they use to be. The distinction for masters runners shall remain 40yo.

Like the transgender issue, the people who are going to get hurt are the true masters runners (40+) that are going to get smoke by some 28yo middle-packer with enough time and money on their hands to travel to this meet.

-Krispy

This is dumb. And I’ve never felt so old, lol.

USATF plans to age groups 25-29 and 30-35 to the USATF Masters Championships calling them age groups “pre-masters.”

“Another of the changes to the Operating Procedures added a new age group for our national championships – 25-29, which we are calling “pre-masters.” This was a move championed by our late chair Rex Harvey who argued that we are losing athletes in their 20s from our sport and they never return. Rex’s hope was that this new age group, over time, would provide a new “on-ramp” to younger adults into the formal masters program, which begins at age 35 (we have long had “sub-masters” as 30-34, but internationally masters begins at age 35).

Read more:

https://usatfmasters.org/wp/mtf-update-3-by-jerry-bookin-weiner/

https://www.facebook.com/1228761723824335/posts/3423003721066780/?d=n

USATF Masters has to add as much as they can to develop new TV meets for upcoming Broadband TV expansion. Great.

I agree with this. I didn't run in college and got back into running a couple years ago. But my favorite part of running has always been track races. Since I'm slow, I'm not going to be running any indoor or outdoor collegiate meets. I'm lucky my city has an all comers meet every week in the summer (before goddamn corona at least). But I know this isn't remotely common place and, like others pointed out, track racing post college is extremely sparse for the non pro. So while the name is stupid as hell, if it has snowball effect that translates into more places having summer track meets, I'm all for it

Jerry Bookin Weiner.

Makes sense. Masters needs to develop their own TV Shows for upcoming Broadband TV expansion.

People that come up with ideas like this should not be in positions of leadership.

Rojo, you're right, this is asinine. USATF could be doing a LOT more for sub-elite competitors in the sport, though nothing would be as cheap and lazy as this. I'd rather see the sport go the way of amateur competitive cycling and have categorical levels you qualify for, not merely age into.

Insane. The liberalization of US distance running happening right in front of our eyes.

Liberals are ruining this country.

I'm no Trump supporter, but this is exactly the type of thing that will get him reelected in November.

MAGAKAG

You gentlemen do realize that this is not about distance runners, who have plenty of opportunities to race. It is about the jumpers, the throwers, the hurdles and the sprinters. At first I thought it was a joke, but the more I thought about it the more I liked it

psychology professor wrote:

Isn't this what Club Track and Field Championships was for? How about just bring this back.

Clearly USATF is desperate to increase participant numbers at Master's champs and (for many reasons USATF could have remedied) Club Champs was cancelled for declining participation and difficulty fielding competitive bids for both meets. Should have just combined the two meets long ago rather than stall and stall and then come to this silly end.

Yeah, I like this. It seems silly at first blush, but in reality nobody thinks that winning the 25-29 championship would make you the fastest of that age group - of course not. Its more about extending the opportunity of athletes who are out of college and want to keep competing.

Its like cycling - for a lot of the national championships they have 30-34 y/o age group and a 35-39 y/o age group. Nobody thinks that if you win "baby masters" you are the fastest, because there are still pros of those ages tearing it up in the Elite race. But it provides an opportunity for serious amateurs to race in a championship setting, is a lot of fun, and makes USAC $$. Win-win.

It kinda points out a weirdness to the post collegiate competitive scene in the US. There are plenty of sub-elites who go to nationals most every year or are a tier below that out of college who aren’t good enough to be on the IAAF circuit or something like that. The bulk of their competitions outside of this come through college meets. That’s strange. You’d think the USATF would be eager to have a more active track scene in the states like some other sports.

Michael Johnson set his world record in the 400 at 31. Justin Gatlin can easily run sub 10 in his 30's. Kim Collins also. 25-29 is ridiculous, I read that the prime age for a man is suppose to be 25-27 years of age.