Senior tracksters display the art of graceful aging

SACRAMENTO—They can’t run as fast and jump as far any longer. But 4,800 entrants—aged 35 to 101—from 93 countries are here to show younger athletes what competitive fire is all about.

This army of senior zoomers, marathoners, jumpers, heavers, hurlers and others are also out to strut, rather display, the art of aging gracefully while drinking from their fountain of youth—the 19th World Masters Athletic Championships.

At least a dozen Filipino competitors are listed for the event hosted by California’s capital for a fortnight and staged by the United States for the first time in 16 years. Among the more familiar Pinoy names are ex-track stars Elma Muros Posadas, Erlinda Lavandia and Mona Sulaiman—once Asia’s fastest woman and now a senior shot putter.

The entrants are spread in 24 housing sites, mostly hotels around town, making it a challenge to find out if Posadas and company are here physically until they show up for their events in the coming days, explained event organizer Bob Burns.

The last time we heard of Ms. Posadas, the defending Masters long jump champion in the women’s 40-44 age group, she was mulling to reapply for a visa. This after an uninformed consul at the American Embassy in Manila denied her entry to the US. Elma’s hard luck sparked our colleague, Recah Trinidad to write a column calling the attention of Ambassador Harry Thomas— a public relations-savvy chap who is yet to meet a Filipino news media person he did not like.

Anyhow, the championships started Wednesday with the cross-country race featuring South African track and field legend Zola Budd, the barefoot runner best remembered for Mary Decker’s fall at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

Now 45, married, a mother of three and no longer running shoeless, Zola Budd Pieterse was content finishing second to Spain’s Soledad Castro Solino by 29 seconds in the 35-54 age group 8-kilometer race.

The former record holder in the 2,000 meter run was herself sticking to the Masters mantra—telling the media how athletics can prolong life by being a part of life and a tool to improve it.

Also in town to compete in a not-so high strung games are Willie Banks, the former world record holder in the men’s triple jump; and Willie Gault, a 1980 Olympian and member of the Chicago Bears team that won the Super Bowl in 1985. Gault is world record for the men’s 50-54 age group in the 100-meter dash.

But majority of those competing here are former tracksters and accidental athletes who left the sports scene after injury, to pursue an education, raise a family and what not. Many are like Rip Van Winkle, waking up and taking up athletics again after 20 years or longer mainly to have fun.

And to prove that sports and exercise help stave off the ravages of time.

You have to be at least 35 to compete in the Masters and are able to cough up the costs of travel and lodging since sponsorships are hard to come by.

The championships continue in multiple venues until July 17th.