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MASTERS ATHLETICS SUMMER 2014.
5000 rooms in University Halls of Residence will be made profit of £198. Having to write-off the On-Line Entry System
available, there are a further 2.000 similar rooms available in however resulted in a loss for the year of over £6k.
the Bay area as well as the numerous hotels, B&B etc.
Cross-Country Secretary, Mel James, reported on an
Accommodation will not be a problem. The bonus however increase in entries in both the Championships and the Cross-
came when the University grabbed the opportunity to apply Country Relays, the outstanding performances in all age
for a grant to upgrade their track to 6-lanes. They got it, categories and the continued success of the International
subject to Cardiff winning the Bid! Cross-County.
This opens up the availability of the Indoor arena for training There was applause also for the absent Road Running
etc. in inclement weather. Two tracks in Cardiff, Barry plus Secretary, Walter Hill, as details were outlined the various
the £50m redevelopment currently taking place in Aberdare; road races, increased entries, the 2015 calendar and the
the Station is close to the new track, should entries exceed introduction of Masters Trail Running.
expectations.
Track & Field man Maurice Doogan reported that apart from
Transport should not be an issue as the Not-for-Profit the Indoor, overall entries were down. He attributed this to
Community buses based in Swansea, will be drafted in. the economic recession; athletes peaking and an increase in
A 2-carriage shuttle train runs every ten minutes between the entry fees etc. At International level, we were ahead of the
City centre and Barry, as a backup. Other Bidding cities in USA in Budapest. There was a Vote of Confidence from the
Lyon next August are Barcelona, Gothenburg and Toronto. floor for Maurice’s work.
Start lobbying for the Principality and the Green Valleys.
However the most passionate address was from Ian
Annual General Meeting Richards on the current state and future prospect of Race
The 40th AGM was held on Saturday 9 August on the first Walking. Paying tribute to the ongoing help offered by two
day of the Track & Field Championships. former Secretaries, Eric Horwill and John Hall, it left him free
to concentrate on Research, Policy and other issues. He
The Chairman said he was very pleased to see how well noted that there are only two entries here in the Under 50
British Athletes did this year, not only in Porto Alegre and categories and warned that unless some action is taken, this
Budapest, but domestically. Winston Thomas was re-elected once popular discipline of the sport will not exist within a
Secretary of WMA and Maurice Doogan is seeking election decade. It is the unintended results of an IAAF “Bent Knee”
as Technical Officer for EVAA in Izmir. Vice-Chair, Kevin Rule followed rigidly by the Masters. Winston Thomas
Dillon a Lawyer, reported on a number of approaches for reported that WMA are currently discussing this problem.
advice from fellow Officers and direct from our members,
adding that he is always happy to help. Masters Athletics costs have returned to black, but three
issues per year will remain for the moment. Questions were
OUR SECRETARY BRIDGET CUSHEN, made an asked if too much space was devoted to non-stadia
appearance on BBC Breakfast recently competition.
representing the values of Masters Athletics.
(seen in this picture with presenters Louise Peter Kennedy was on hand to answer any questions on the
Machin and Bill Turnbull) new web site, putting the magazine on-line is possible but
the majority of our members still prefer a hard copy as they
The Hon. Secretary eluded to the good working relations with keep them. This is to be reviewed.
other interested Bodies and the encouraging increase in the
young age categories. The retirement of Chris Jager who Peter Duhig reported on dealing with the overseas entries.
had built and maintained our original web site, the new web Winston Thomas reported that the Early Entry Discount Fee
site has been taken on by another equally professional IT for Lyon has already attracted 1,000 entries.
man, VAC member Peter Kennedy. We welcome Peter and
thank Chris for his dedicated work. It was a vintage year for All outgoing Officers were re-elected for another year. Long
media exposure as the BMAF is included in the BBC’s “Get serving Hon. Treasurer Danny Herman was unanimously
Inspired” series; there was also an interview on Breakfast TV elected a Life Vice President. He admitted that he harboured
and a brief Documentary. During the Commonwealth Games a secret! As a 7-year old in Cheshire he won his first sprint
an exhibition of Alex Rotas’ photos featuring some of our race and received a sixpenny Savings Stamp as a reward.
members was displayed at strategic points in Glasgow. He should of course have been banned from all Amateur
Treasurer, Danny Herman, gave a comprehensive athletics for life!
breakdown of the figures with Affiliation fees up but Sales
Commission suffered a large drop. Net Championships World Masters Athletics gold medallist murdered.
losses were down from £5,340 last year to record a small April Jace, the lead-off runner in the USA’s W35 gold medal
winning 4 x 100m squad at the World Masters in Sacramento
in 2011, was shot dead in her home in Los Angles in front of
her two young children in May. Her husband, the actor
Michael Jace who had apparently filed for bankruptcy, is
currently on remand.
EAMA
Irene Nicholls and the England Cross-
Country Team Managers Harry & Kim
Matthews are retiring.
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