Have speed...will travel

Jamaican Usian Bolt...okay, I'll say it, bolted out of the blocks in Berlin a couple of weeks ago and set a new record as the fastest human with a 100-meter clocking of 9.58.

So, we know the name of the fastest human, but how about the older athlete? Just how fast are the elite athletes over the age of 50 running these days.

Plenty fast, let me tell you.

According to Masterstrack.com, fifty-one year-old Michael Waller, currently the assistant track and field coach at Pacific Lutheran College, sped to a 11.31 clocking at a Masters race in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in July, while Amanda Scotti, 51, covered the 100 meters in 13.35 at a Masters meet in Pasadena, Calif. in June of this year. Scotti is a stay-at-home mom of two boys and lives and trains in Folsom, Calif. World-class sprinter Jim Hines became the first one to break the 10-second barrier at the 1968 Olympic Games. Since then, it has become commonplace for the Olympic gold medal winner to break the mark. And the women are edging closer to the mark as well. Florence Griffith Joyner holds the record at 10.49, set back in 1988.

Remarkable! I passed by my high school the other day. The old 400-yard track is still there, right where its always been. I think back to 1963 and I can recall how special we treated are prep track stars. Back then a 9.8 would probably win you a 5A state final. If you were lucky enough to have a student-athlete in school who could run with the wind, it was a sure bet everybody knew him. Of course, five years later they went to this meter thing and instantly made it harder for me do my calculations and comparisons,but it is amazing how the records keep falling.

Oh well, I guess I'll go out and run my 15-minute mile.