The 400m Final and after

Haven't posted in a while because I've been busy touring and hanging out with friends.  I made it around the track in the World Championship M60 race without injury and watched John W. run the fastest M60 400m in at least a decade, and I think 4th fastest M60 400m ever:  an astonishing 54.92.  

It was absolutely the funnest World Final I've ever run, no pressure.  I snapped this selfie just as I was getting in the blocks in lane 8, seconds before the race.  I said to Michael and John, "come on now, I want to see 55s from you guys."  They were both deep in concentration, not smiling. 

 

I jogged around in about 66, waving to the crowd on the homestretch, about 5 seconds behind the next slowest person (photo below) .  I saw John's winning time flash on the board and was shocked.   I expected John to run 55, but 54.92?  Everyone was blown away, we were in awe.  He was on his knees in total exhaustion.  I kept saying "HO-LY-SHIT ... HO-LY-SHIT!" Everyone's eyes got real big when they saw the time.  We helped him up and everyone hugged and congratulated him... it was the fastest 400m in the world by an M60 guy in 13 years and possibly the fastest ever by a 63 yr old.  I think the 4th fastest M60 400m of all time.   Michael ran great too, 56.41.   So, since the pandemic... John has the fastest M60 400 by a lot, me second in 56.23, and Michael third fastest.  Shunji, who I beat in the prelims, took the bronze in 57.39.  

This meet was postponed from last year due to covid and if it were last year, I would have had a great shot at a medal.  Last year was my year.  If I were healthy, I would've challenged for a medal this year.  

    After the meet, I went to dinner with friends and then took a midnight walk along the water near my hotel where I snapped this photo.  Still daylight.  

Saturday, I watched the 4x100m relays from track level.  It was cool, except the USA didn't fair real well.   I think only 4 Gold out of 20 men and women's relay races.   After the competition, the US team then got in the stands for the team photo. 

Although the competition was super high, higher than in Spain in my events, the crowd was smaller.   Probably due to the war, location, and covid.  Several hundred people can look pretty small in a 20,000 seat stadium.   To put it in perspective, the M60 200m Gold winner in Spain would have finished 5th in this meet.  My Nationals winning time would have won Gold in Spain.  

Sat. evening, I drove to Helsinki... about 100 miles with Dr. Cheryl and visited the old town, a great restaurant, and various landmarks.  I'll put up a post on that later.

Right now, I'm in the Munich airport on a long layover, waiting for my 9 hr flight to DC.    

My injury is still sore and tight so I haven't decided on going to Nationals yet.  If I do, it will be just the 800m.   I have a boating / biking plan for Thursday evening with Bill up Raccoon Mtn., so I'll maybe go out to the track before then and see how it feels.  I'm sure I've gained a few pounds.  

It was great to see another part of the word and another great European city.   This was my 10th trip overseas.  Great to reunite with my track family, meet and chat with people I only know from FB.  It was a great time, but the first of 5 world meets I'm returning from without a medal.   If I had scratched the 400m final, and just ran the 4x400m relay, our team definitely would've earned a medal.   They missed Bronze by less than a second with some really slow members.  The team averaged just 66 sec per leg.  But, I felt it was too risky for me to participate in a relay.  If I got hurt in a relay, it would let the team down.  

Anyway, I made the World Final, something I missed out in last World meet in Spain.   Despite not having my A game this year, I think I will still finish about 7th ranked in the world in the 400m.  This season has been less about racing, more about the journey and lifestyle.  When I initially got hurt in Dec., I knew it could be a season threatening issue.  Fortunately, I was able to train enough to get one respectable race in, go to Hayward, and make the World Final.  Not too bad for a B-game.