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By Tom Rewolinski
You’re all familiar with the Senior Games, and you may have heard of USA Track & Field. If you’re looking for competitive opportunities, USATF could be your new frontier. USATF is the national governing body for track and field, cross-country, road running and racewalking. It hosts multiple events locally and nationally. Of most interest to our club members would be USATF Masters Track & Field, which offers local, regional, and national competition opportunities in track & field and racewalking for athletes age 25 and older, and international competitions for athletes 35 and older. USATF also sponsors indoor track and field meets. More events, greater variety Besides the usual sprints and middle distances, a USATF meet offers the following events that you won’t find at the Senior Games: short and long hurdle races, 5,000m, 10,000m, steeplechase, 4x400M relay, 4x800M relay, hammer throw, weight throw, pentathlon, and 10,000M racewalk. However, USATF doesn’t hold a 50m dash, 1,500m racewalk, or power walk. Another difference between a USATF Masters meet and a Senior Games meet is how the host organization determines your age division. USATF uses your age on the first day of the meet, but the Senior Games uses your age on December 31 of the year of the meet. So let’s say you’re 69 years old when competing at a Senior Games meet in July, and you won’t turn 70 until December. The Senior Games requires you to compete in the 70-74 age group. This can create confusion over age division records, as USATF won’t recognize a 70-74 record if you were actually 69 when you competed. You must be a USATF member to enter one of its meets. Annual membership costs $55. There are no qualifying standards to enter a championship meet as there are with the State and National Senior Games. I have competed in many national indoor and outdoor USATF Masters meets. They were all well-run and held at excellent facilities. I made lots of friendships, since many guys would travel to all the meets and we got to know each other over the years. A large contingent of local athletes would be competing also. The only disappointment compared to a Senior Games was that the number of female participants was relatively small. If you’d like to see how you compare with other competitors in your age group, check USATF’s posts of national and world best performances: https://mastersrankings.com/rankings/ They also post All-American standards by age group: https://nationalmastersnews.com/all-american/track-and-field-standards/ Here are some upcoming meets: USATF Masters Indoor Track & Field Championships Louisville, KY March 10-12, 2023 USATF Masters Outdoor Track & Field Championships Greensboro, NC July 20-23, 2023
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 Barb Horvat doesn't let emotion or nerves ruin her 200m. Photo by Rick Riddle By Ray Glier, Geezer Jock News
Barb Horvat refuses to be tangled in a mental knot running races. She is 67 and finishes 2022 ranked No. 1 in the U.S. in the 200 meter dash (W65-69) because it is “just running,” and Barb makes sure it is nothing more mentally challenging than that. “If you're gonna come out here and tense up and grind and just want to beat everybody, you're going to use too much energy doing that instead of just running the race,” Horvat said. When she ran the 32:55 in the 200 last April 24 that stood briefly as No. 1 in the world outdoors, Barb said, “It was one of those rare days where it was being a kid again.” That is the crystallized intelligence that is the essence of Geezer Jock. You are able to reach back and throw off the shackles you put on yourself...and do more. Horvat certainly goes through the adult process of trying to get faster with workouts three times a week, but track does not make her a fanatical, besotted athlete. She is ranked 11th in the world by virtue of that 32:55 (www.mastersrankings.com), which she ran on her home track meet in The Villages, the senior community in central Florida. That’s good enough, for now. Barb sets her own standards It is not false modesty or fear of trying and failing that curbs Barb’s ambition. She proves it to you when she says simply, “I just don’t want to travel more than a day to do this.” Her son, a high school track coach in Wisconsin, has prodded Barb to step out on a national stage at USA Track & Field events, or the World Athletics Masters. But Horvat wouldn’t so much as drive 4½ hours to the National Senior Games in Ft. Lauderdale last spring because the prelims were too early in the morning for her age group and required she go the night before. So what’s the point of racing? Nothing, except to be fit and enjoy the moment breezing around a curve. Not everything has to be win-at-all-costs. Focus is important Make no mistake, Horvat does not do track casually, as if it is easy-come, easy-go. At The Florida Senior Games on Dec. 10, her coach, Rick Riddle, stopped an interview she was doing so Horvat “could do what she needed to do to get ready for the race.” The gun going off to start the 200 was still 30-40 minutes away, but Barb went to the track to stretch and be alone with her thoughts. She won the gold medal in 34:15, which was a slight disappointment to her. Barb won a bronze medal in the 50 (8.49) and a bronze in the 100 (16.26). “I think about what I have been trained to do and make sure I’m mentally prepared,” she said. “If I do it correctly, the rest takes care of itself.” “The rest” is what she has learned from Riddle at The Villages in the last nine years. Horvat calls it “the Part B of running.” “There is just this whole mental aspect to running that I have been enlightened to,” Horvat said. “There is a plan, whether it is straight 50, or 200.” The 200 suits her well The 200 is the stepchild of sprinting. The 100-meter folks get the “wows,” and the 400 folks get the respect for a long sprint at seemingly full speed. That Horvat gravitated to the less glamorous deuce suits her personality. Barb has put it all together in sprinting the last two years: the start and then to the “drive phase” where she can maintain that speed until the end of the race. Where Barb excels in a race is the last 20 meters. It had to be pointed out to her that her accelerator was kicking in late. “I think they were trying to make me run that speed sooner and it just really doesn't work for me,” Horvat said. “I'm afraid I'll be 20 meters from the finish and not be able to get there. So my personal philosophy is get to just past that comfort zone and hold a little in the tank, and then try and dig it out. “All the squats, stretches, and weights prepare your muscles. But there is a whole intellectual part of the race that you have to learn, and you will do much better.” Discovering track events For many years, Barb did 5Ks. A herniated disc in her back drove her to the sidelines. Horvat was working for a surgeon at the time, and he told her to give it six weeks because the body can reabsorb the damage. After that, she could consider surgery. Barb declined surgery and took a year off from running in her late 50s. When she returned, she couldn’t get her stamina back. That’s when Horvat joined The Villages track club. “I had spent enough time in the bleachers,” she said. “I just fell in love with it. It’s a good group of people. Everybody supports everybody else and they are cheering you on.” The move to sprints didn’t start well. Barb developed shin splits. After that, she said, Riddle and others helped her develop a plan. Horvat has had no other injuries. What is cool about Barb is that she does not fabricate an aura as the race approaches. There is nothing braggadocios, no hopping around, or a steely look at the competition. It’s just running, and that is an ingredient other Geezer Jocks can learn from. Copyright © 2022 Ray Glier Originally published in www.geezerjocknews.com Used with permission. |
your choiceIf you don't run, you rust. Leah rewolinskiThe Villages TLC Word Nerd & webmaster Archives
March 2025
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