USATF Master Track Champs - One Event Will Cost $105!

Ducks2 wrote:

Agree. It's an excessive prize to pay. I also don't agree with why they make us sign up so far ahead of time.

Because the schedule is so variable, they want to try and nail it down as much as possible in advance. But from the athletes' standpoint that is very inconvenient, I know...

Allcomers meet in my area are $7 per event and you don't even have to be a track club member, let alone pay-off the USATF. You can pay a half hour before you race. There usually will be someone in at least one heat of each race distance running as fast or faster than any masters AG WR.

From reading running sites events like this are pretty much all over the country, at least in big cities. USTAF is affiliated with ours somehow but you don't have to pay them anything or be involved.

Free2Choose wrote:

Allcomers meet in my area are $7 per event and you don't even have to be a track club member, let alone pay-off the USATF. You can pay a half hour before you race. There usually will be someone in at least one heat of each race distance running as fast or faster than any masters AG WR.

From reading running sites events like this are pretty much all over the country, at least in big cities. USTAF is affiliated with ours somehow but you don't have to pay them anything or be involved.

Yes, but do these meets offer FAT?

In SoCal, we have Championship-level meets 5 weeks in a row for people seeking OT qualifiers or fast enough to compete with them. These are at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Cerritos College (where Ameer Webb ran 9.90w/19.91 in the Mt Sac Relays this year), or the track in San Diego where Jahvid Best ran 10.16 this year. These are world class facilities with wind gauges, online results, and reporting to USATF/IAAF if the marks merit reporting. The prices for these meets range from $5 to $29, and in 3 of the 5 weeks, you don't even have to be USATF members.

Masters track is for people not good enough to compete open and their "championships" (really glorified all comers meets) are for people with EGO issues. Why else would someone pay so much to compete against a bunch of old losers not fast enough to compete open?

When are these meets and where? Sounds like a great opportunity to compete at a higher level without the expense or hassle of USATF.

coach d wrote:

In SoCal, we have Championship-level meets 5 weeks in a row for people seeking OT qualifiers or fast enough to compete with them. These are at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Cerritos College (where Ameer Webb ran 9.90w/19.91 in the Mt Sac Relays this year), or the track in San Diego where Jahvid Best ran 10.16 this year. These are world class facilities with wind gauges, online results, and reporting to USATF/IAAF if the marks merit reporting. The prices for these meets range from $5 to $29, and in 3 of the 5 weeks, you don't even have to be USATF members.

Masters track is for people not good enough to compete open and their "championships" (really glorified all comers meets) are for people with EGO issues. Why else would someone pay so much to compete against a bunch of old losers not fast enough to compete open?

Maybe I don't follow you , coach d, but are you expecting 60 year olds to compete open, or else they have ego issues? What I see more is that masters beyond regional gets really expensive and time consuming and requires willingness to dump money on it and take time away from other people and other things to do. I might wish at times to do that , but in the end probably wouldn't unless I was close to the top in the world in an event , which I won't be.

People can love that kind of thing and not be great at any event , to each his own. All through running from grade school up people who aren't really competitive run in events specifically organized for them , why say the old ones have ego problems?

Richnot wrote:

Is USATF still charging $10,000-$30,000 non-refundable to submit an application to host Masters competitions? After the fees, the host school won't make much if any money and why would any place pay this money not doing if they will get the meet? The officials get a dorm room and dorm cafeteria meals.

You don't seem to understand how this works. USATF's job is to monetize the sport. That's job #1. Job #2 is capturing media rights.

On top of that, no matter what they do to piss people off, a bunch of you still show up.

This weekend (5/28-29) and 6/18-19 Chula Vista Olympic Training Center (Runnercard.com, but the OTC is a speed/power/jumper/thrower place--no distance events)

6/4 Jim Bush Meet (USATF SoCal Association champs at Cerritos College)

6/11 and 6/22 Mesa College (mondo) San Diego

All of these meets are open to masters as well as open athletes. These are not NCAA meets or at NCAA institutions, so the NCAA policies against high school athletes competing don't apply.

Free2Choose wrote:

Maybe I don't follow you , coach d, but are you expecting 60 year olds to compete open, or else they have ego issues? What I see more is that masters beyond regional gets really expensive and time consuming and requires willingness to dump money on it and take time away from other people and other things to do. I might wish at times to do that , but in the end probably wouldn't unless I was close to the top in the world in an event , which I won't be.

People can love that kind of thing and not be great at any event , to each his own. All through running from grade school up people who aren't really competitive run in events specifically organized for them , why say the old ones have ego problems?

You just need to know that the 'd' in 'coach d' stands for dick.

coach d wrote:

Masters track is for people not good enough to compete open and their "championships" (really glorified all comers meets) are for people with EGO issues. Why else would someone pay so much to compete against a bunch of old losers not fast enough to compete open?

And you are how old? Let's revisit this topic when you're, say, 60.

Job #3 is sending board members on all-expenses-paid junkets around the world.

pop_pop!_v2.2.1 wrote:

You don't seem to understand how this works. USATF's job is to monetize the sport. That's job #1. Job #2 is capturing media rights.

On top of that, no matter what they do to piss people off, a bunch of you still show up.