Track & Field

USA Track & Field National 
Masters Championships

July 22 - 23, 2015
University of North Florida at Jacksonville, Florida, USA

Is this Amazing or Not ???

87 year old Edward Cox 

(Syracuse Chargers Track Club) 

won the 100 Yard Dash

with a time of 16.87 seconds.

98 year old Champion Goldy, Sr 

(Potomac Valley Track Club)

won the 100 Yard Dash

in 31.83 seconds.

Athletes, from 30 to 99 years old, must qualify for the Masters Track and Field Championships by accumulating points derived from showings in prior sanctioned races held around the country. Qualified athletes compete in four-year age-brackets, starting with ages 30-34, 35-39, etcetera until 78-99 culminates in the last grouping. 

Few people attended this National event.

 

     I got the motivation to go to the meet because my friend, Lucas Faron, ran in the 

35-39 year old bracket of the 800 meter championship race. 

Unfortunately, I failed to get a field pass 

and had to view events from the stands. 

Early Morning Race Time

  Female runners of all ages begin to assemble on the track.

A lot of talking and milling about as runners try to loosen up and shake their pre-race tensions. 

The men enter the track more rigidly, as if under control of pre-race emotions.

              

Officialdom

I assume the officials were Track and Field Athletes at some time during their lives. 

The Runners!

Female 30-35 bracket - Rounding the first turn

First lap for older gents.

Nearing the finish line.

Plenty of Time.

Good for Second Place.

A winner.

An aspirant.

 A battle 

More than winning: Good Sportsmanship and Caring 

Endurance testing. 

 A good run

Going for Gold

------------Some POST RACE VIEWS-----------

Exhaustion

When daddy is a winner.

Who would have believed it?

Second Place
800 Meter
Ribbon winners

Lucas Faron and David Cooke
who

met in high school

meet again at the track.

XXX

I am beginning to wonder how fast 

I can run the 100.

Hummm, could I possibly take a medal in the 75-99 year bracket????

XXX

Lucas and Lisa Faron

proud mother and son

Denis Paints Masks

My friend Denis lives along the margins of Phillippi Creek, here in Sarasota. 

Phillippi Creek drains the wet interior of Southwest Florida, bringing swampy inland waters directly into Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. The creek provides a natural migration corridor for wild creatures like snakes, gators, otters, raccoons, fox and wading birds. 

I have heard people swear that these natural water corridors also bring malevolent forces from the wilderness, like the "invisible forces" that rampage through urban neighborhoods causing chaos in the form of overturned garbage cans, as well as, missing pet cats, dogs, and hamsters. 

Denis has calmed his back yard by lining his fences with a host of painted palm frond masks. The masks, he agrees, may contain voodoo powers, like Polynesian Tiki figures, in that they are able to repel backyard invaders from both the animal and the spirit world.  

 I love viewing his masks, these backyard artworks. Their “terror provoking” gazes and vibrant colors bring me a joyful, child-like lightness while being around them. I own a few of palm frond masks myself. A painted palm frond graces the Hundred Year Oak tree in my front yard; I call it my Hurricane Hex. Since I nailed it to the tree a few years ago, SW Florida has experienced no major tropical storms or hurricanes.  One of Denis' masks also  graces my front door entry warning visitors to be nice.

Here are some more of his colorful masks.

 Like people themselves, each palm frond mask portrays an individual spirit; some have eyes that glow in the dark and no two spirit masks are exactly the same. This week I am revisiting Denis' artwork looking for another Mask, one that will grace my back yard and pool area.  

I know Denis. He is a hard worker and a devoted artist. After he finishes an arduous day's work, cleaning roofs around the Sarasota area, you can find him hunkered down in his backyard studio creating more inspired Palm Frond Masks. I visited him recently to view the products of this all-consuming art form.