March 6, 2026. Welcome to my blog! I report on Masters Elite LDR. In addition to this current story recapping the 2025 Masters Team Grand Prix contests, you can find previews and recaps of all USATF Masters LDR and Cross-Country Championships since Fall 2014. I also report on Masters Athletes in major Marathons including Olympic Trials. I cover distance events at some USATF Masters Indoor and Outdoor Championships. I reported on the one World Cross Country Championship that included Masters competition, Australia 2022. I regularly cover the Non-Stadia Road Race Events at World Masters Athletics Championships. I cover other road races from time to time. See the sidebar for easy navigation through the archives. [If you are using a mobile phone, please scroll to the bottom and choose 'View web version' to access the sidebar.] While there, please note the coffee cup logo. Clicking on that provides a way for you to express your appreciation for the work that goes into these articles. Shout out here to recent supporters, Matt B-C, John H, Lorilynn B, Bryan H,, Brendan, cush, Gary G, Jan F, Aaron T-L, Ken Y, Peter W, Dan K, Suzanne L B, Michael M, Ed B, Dana H, and John B. May you have good speed in 2026!
The 2025 USATF Masters National Grand Prix Team Championships are in the books. The season kicked off with the December 2024 Club Cross Country Championships in Tacoma WA, continuing through the 2025 championships, starting in January - USATF Cross Country Championships in Lubbock TX; February - 5 km Championships in Atlanta; April - 10 Km Championships in Dedham MA; June - 4 Mile Championships in Peoria IL & 1 Mile Championships in Indianapolis IN; October - 5 Km Championships in Atlanta GA; November - 5 Km Masters Cross Country Championships in San Francisco CA. Teams earned points based on their finishing position in each Championship (100 points for 1st, down to 60 points for fifth place. Sixth place earns 55 points and so on down to 10 points for 14th place. All finishes at 15th or below earn five points.) The best five scores are added up; the top score possible is 500 points. A team must compete in at least three events to qualify for an award.
TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS It is a challenge to put together a strong team of athletes who are willing and able to travel to different parts of the country to compete. For Men 40+ and 50+, you need five runners to score for Cross Country. In Men 60+ and above and all Women's divisions, Cross Country teams need at least three runners to score. For all Road Races, in all divisions, it requires three. The trick is that a team typically needs to travel outside its home area at least once, usually twice and sometimes more. There were only 7 events for teams this year; teams were less likely to find a championship close to home. There had been 9 team events in each of the last three years before this one. That was due to World Athletics pulling the World Road Racing Championships from San Diego. That was to have a team component. What some hoped would be a replacement was too far into December to be included in the final GP tally. It was a 2026 GP event instead. The new 4 Mile Championship helped but was not able to offset the additional loss of the 12Km and 10 Mile events. As a result, there were few divisions where at least three teams were serious contenders.MEN 40+ Champion: None. 35 Competitors; 0 Serious Contenders. This division exemplifies the difficulty of getting 40+ teams to travel outside their area. Four teams competed in two events, but none made it to the required three events. Not counting 'B' teams, there were 30 teams who competed in at least one event. For 23 of those, that event was Club Cross.
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| Boston Tracksmith Hares, Eric Blake #1702 and Brendan Prindiville #1705 Compete Against Club Northwest's David Simmons orange singlet and Power Miler TC's Richard Bouckaert #1487 as well as Indiana Elite's Chad Carver green singlet #1399 and Mark Guyer running in tandem at the 2024 Club Cross Championships in Tacoma WA Photo Credit: Michael Scott |
For the others it was a championship in their home area, an easy day's drive.
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| M40+ Indiana Elite's John Poray green singlet Competing Against West Valley's Peter Gilmore #1744 and Kevin Pool #1737 and a Host of Others at Club Cross 2024 in Tacoma Photo Credit: Michael Scott |
The four teams that competed in two events went to Club Cross and then a Championship located close to home.
50+ Champion: Atlanta Track Club 440 pts. 30 Competitors; 2 Serious Contenders. Atlanta and the Shore Athletic Club, of New Jersey, were in a dogfight from the start. Atlanta outpointed Shore by 5 points at the Club Cross Championships in December in Tacoma WA. The second time they met, at the 10 Km Road Championships in Dedham in April, Shore won and Atlanta finished second. Shore was up 5 points. At their next meeting in Peoria, Atlanta won with Shore third.
Christopher Harris L and Lester Dragstedt R Scored for Atlanta Track Club M50+ Team at 2025 USATF Masters 4 Mile Championships in Peoria IL Photo Complimentary from Steamboat Classic
Scott Siriano L and John Blaser R Scored for Shore AC M50+ Team at 2025 USATF Masters 4 Mile Championships in Peoria IL Photo Complimentary from Steamboat Classic
Atlanta was now up by 15 points. Shore finished third to Atlanta’s fourth at Indianapolis; Atlanta's lead was down to 5 points. Atlanta added 20 points to its lead on their home roads, taking first to Shore’s third place in the 5 Km Championships. Atlanta closed it off with a third-place finish in San Francisco, well ahead of Shore. Team Members: S Bell, A Black, K Blaich, T Brooks, C Cadiou, R Carter, G Darden, F Dolan, L Dragstedt, J Eison, D Glass, C Harris, B Slavens, M Strickland, B Sydow, P Taylor, F Weir, M Williams
2nd Shore AC 395 Pts. Team Members: S Anthony, J Blaser, J Conston, J Demetrick, R Falcone, K Ginsburg, M Hersey, B Hill, R Lee, S Linnell, P Nowicki, C Rinaldi, S Rossiter, R Shields, S Siriano
60+ Champion: Twin Cities Running Company 470. 32 Competitors; 4 Serious Contenders. TCRC enjoyed a solid GP win; they enjoyed a terrific start with a win at the always stacked Club Cross Championships.
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| From Left: Doug Baldwin Far Left and John Van Danacker L #1645 Led the Way for TCRC M60+ as They Battle Mark Zamek #1777, Tom Tayeri #1468, Nat Larson #1348, and Steve Schmidt #1011 of Shore AC, Peninsula Distance Club, Greater Springfield Harriers, and Ann Arbor Track Club in the Men 60+ Race at the 2024 Club Cross Championships in Tacoma WA Photo Credit: Michael Scott |
But they did not have a lot of breathing room as the Genesee Valley Harriers GVH finished second, with Atlanta third.
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| Team Running from GVH in the Early Going-Joe Mora L Eyeglasses; Alan Evans #1304 and Mike Nier partially obscured right behind Evans as They Battle Dan King of Athletics Boulder in the Men 60+ Race at the 2024 Club Cross Championships in Tacoma WA Photo Credit: Michael Scott |
By finishing second to the Greater Springfield Harriers Springfield at the 10 km championships in Dedham MA, they added to their lead over Atlanta and GVH who finished 4th and 6th respectively. TCRC was now forty points ahead of Atlanta and fifty ahead of GVH. But it raised the question of whether Springfield could compete for the GP win. But Springfield did not field a team at Peoria in the 4 Mile Championships. That limited them to a maximum of four scores; that would not be enough for a win. TCRC team members had committed to enough travel to field a team at five Championship events. Atlanta also failed to field a team. TCRC took the win at Peoria, rising to 290 points. GVH finished second; their GP total was 230 with Atlanta 150. Springfield, TCRC, GVH, and Atlanta all competed in the 1 Mile Championships in Indianapolis, finishing 1-2-3-4 in that order. As it turned out that was Springfield's last score in the GP. They finished with 200 points from two events so did not factor in the awards. It was also GVH's last event; they were in second place from their four events. If Atlanta failed to finish in first ro second on their home roads in Atlanta, the battle over second and third in the GP could come down to the final event, the 5 km XC in San Francisco. The next to last event on the 2025 GP circuit was the 5 Km Championships in Atlanta. TCRC fell four seconds short of the win which went to Atlanta. The 90 points that TCRC obtained for second place raised their total to 470. That gave then the win regardless of how the final event in San Francisco would turn out. Atlanta's win gave them 100 points, ten more than GVH enjoyed. Neither Atlanta nor GVH competed in San Francisco; Atlanta and GVH wound up in second and third. Ann Arbor Track Club competed in three events,, finishing fourth at 155. TCRC enjoyed the win with a margin of well over a hundred points! Team Members: D Baldwin, P Billig, R Economy, K Haas, D Keller, P Kessler, J Mirth, R Sayre, J Van Danacker, M Zamek
2nd Atlanta TC 320 Pts. Team members: R Becker, D Black, A Craven, L Dragstedt, J Glidewell, C Hannan, G Oshust, B Sullivan, K Youngers
3rd Genesee Valley Harriers NY 310 Pts. Team Members: J Brigden, A Evans, D Flanders, M Mertens, J Mora, M Nier, J Van Kerkhove
70+ Champion: Boulder Road Runners 490 pts. 16 Competitors; 4 Serious Contenders. Boulder has had tremendous consistency the last few years in the 70+ Grand Prix. In 2022, they won with 490 points. They won with a perfect 500 points in both 2023 and 2024. This year they were again within ten points of a perfect score. As usual, Boulder got points in the bag early so there was no uncertainty late in the season. They won at Tacoma and were the only 70+ team to make it to Lubbock. The weather was bad the day before in Texas and most flights into Dallas were cancelled. Atlanta tried very hard to make it to Lubbock but could not manage it. Shore AC did not make it either. As a result, Boulder was 140 points ahead of Shore and 165 points ahead of Atlanta. Shore got closer briefly by finishing first at Dedham, with Boulder second. But they were still 130 points behind. When Boulder won at Peoria that almost clinched it.
Jack Pottle Top Left, Doug Bell Top Right, and Gary Ostwald Lower Center Scored for Boulder Road Runners at the 2025 USATF Masters 4 Mile Championships in Peoria IL Photos Complimentary from Steamboat Classic
A win at Indianapolis in the 1 Mile did clinch it. They had 490 points with just two events left and neither of the other contenders could match that even if they won the final two events. But Shore and Atlanta were still fighting for 2nd and 3rd. After the first three events, Tacoma, Lubbock and Dedham, Shore led Atlanta 165 to 115. They added ten points to their lead at Peoria when Shore finished second, ahead of Atlanta in third. But Shore could only field a 60+ team at Indianapolis if two of their 70+ runners dropped down and ran on the 60 and over team. But that meant Shore could not field a 70+ team. Atlanta finished 2nd, moving up by 90 points to take over the lead for second in the GP, 285 to 250. Atlanta fielded teams at the final two events. Their two second place finishes left them with a 430 total and the GP second place. Shore went into Atlanta and won a hard-fought team win. But they were not able to get a team to San Francisco. Shore wound up 80 points behind Atlanta, third in the GP. Ann Arbor Track Club competed in three events, finishing fourth with 210 points. But Boulder Road Runners were the 70+ Champs again, their fourth straight GP win! Team Members: D Bell, D Chesnut, R Katz, G Ostwald, J Pottle,
2nd Atlanta TC 430 Pts. Team Members: R Becker, S Benedict, E Bligh, S Carlisle, N Feather, W Irvin, A Joyce, K Larson, J Learned, S Lucking, L Robinson, M Williams
3rd Shore AC 350 Pts. Team Members: R Cormier, H Leddy, J Linn, P Nowicki, R Stirrat,
80+ Champion: Shore AC 300 Pts. 5 Competitors; 1 Serious Contender. It is not easy to field a traveling team of octogenarians [80-year-olds]. In 2022 and 2023, Atlanta was the only team to qualify with three events. They fell one event short last year and just made one event this year. Shore AC got it done this year; they traveled to Dedham for the 10 Km Championships. That was their first win. They added wins at Indianapolis and Atlanta. Three trips, three championships and 300 points for the GP team win! Team Members: R Cormier, J Frame, P Nowicki
Przemek Nowicki at Club Cross Championships Upper Left & Roland Cormier at Masters 4 Mile Championships Upper Right & Jack Frame at Masters 5 km Championships in Tacoma, Peoria and Atlanta respectively-All Competing for Shore Athletic Club M80+ Photo Credits: Michael Scott, Steamboat Classic, and Pam Fales respectively.
WOMEN
40+ Champion: Atlanta Track Club 265 Pts. 27 Competitors; 2 Serious Contenders. Impala Racing, from the San Francisco Bay area, got off to a fast start in the 40+ Team GP, outpointing Atlanta 50 to 5 at Club Cross in Tacoma.
Ashley Carroll Top Photo & Celeste Prothro Lower Photo Competing for Impala Racing W40+ at the Club Cross Championships in Tacoma WA Photo Credit for both photos: Michael Scott
Impala added a win at Dedham, finishing ahead of three teams from New England. They were ahead of Atlanta, 150 to 5. But that margin did not last long. Atlanta claimed wins at Indianapolis and Atlanta. As Impala did not contest either one, Atlanta now enjoyed a 55-point lead.
That was just enough! Impala got the win on their home turf in San Francisco but Atlanta finished fifth. The forty point spread between 1st and 5th left Impala 15 points short of Atlanta. Getting that fifth place in San Francisco was a great effort that gave Atlanta the GP win! Team Members: J Braley, H Guarneri, C Harris, M Hebert, J Hodges-Hite, C Lucking, B Novak, L Scholz, R Tanner, K Wiegand
2nd Impala Racing 250 Pts. Team Members: M Beck, A Carroll, K Couch, J A M Dougery, K Famous, L Meadors, S Morfield, A Newman, C Peterson, C Prothro, J Smith
50+ Champion: Impala Racing 340 Pts. 21 Competitors; 1 Serious Contender. Impala finished 5th at Club Cross in Tacoma behind the winners, Central Park Track Club, from NYC. Impala added a win at Lubbock to bring their total to 160. But then CPTC got the win in Indianapolis where Impala finished third. That cut into Impala’s lead; it was now 240 to 200. If Central Park had gotten one more win, it could have been very close.
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| Samantha Forde left-blue cap #1382 & Jodi Buyyounouski background right-blue singlet Competing for Impala Racing W50+ at Club Cross in Tacoma Photo Credit: Michael Scott |
As it was, Impala added a win on their home turf in San Francisco. CPTC did not compete in a third event. After finishing second in the 2022 and 2023 W50+ Grand Prix contests, Impala moved u to first last year and presented us with a repeat performance in 2025! Team Members: M Bryan, J Buyyounouski, S Forde, E Gottlieb, M Holmes, M Kossar, C Lundy, A Newman, J A Rowland, P Shore, N Simmons
60+ Champion: Shore AC 440 Pts. This was the tightest battle! Shore AC outpointed Atlanta at Tacoma, finishing fourth to Atlanta’s seventh. Shore won in Dedham, with Atlanta third; Shore was then up by 40 points.
But Atlanta roared back with three straight wins, in Peoria, Indianapolis and Atlanta. But Shore ran some gritty races as well, finishing second each time and keeping the lead.
Shore won the 60+ GP by ten points in the end! What a competition! Team Members: M Allen, M Capdevielle, D Capko, N Cary, D Grocki, L Hinz, S La Burt, K Musante, L Nowicki, P Ricker, S Stirrat, L Vaughn
2nd Atlanta TC 430 Pts. Team Members: P Combs, K Huff, A Pate, M Silva, R Tanner, M Taylor, C Williams
70+ Champion: Atlanta TC 470 Pts. 4 Competitors; 1 Serious Contender. It is almost as difficult to field a traveling team of Septuagenarians [70-year-olds] on the Women’s side as it is to field a team of Octogenarians on the Men’s side. But Atlanta has managed to do so regularly. In 2022 and 2023 they finished second int he GP with 4 events in 2022 and 5 events in 2023. They won the 70+ GP last year with 390 points from 4 events. They won this year with 80 points more; they competed in five events.
Cindy Lucking Top Photo, Andrea McCarter Lower Left and Trenice Mullis Dubow Lower Right Competed for Atlanta W70+ at Club Cross in Tacoma; and at the 5 Km in Atlanta respectively Photo Credits: Michael Scott for Lucking and Pam Fales for McCarter & Dubow
They finished fourth in Tacoma for 70 points and then added 100 for each win, at Dedham, Peoria, Indianapolis and Atlanta. No other team competed at 3 events. That makes it two GP wins in a row for Atlanta! Team Members: K Allen, T M Dubow, J Hodges-Hite, N Hudnall, C Lucking, A McCarter, J McMullan, T Ozell, N Renzulli
Atlanta Track Club had the best Club Grand Prix year, with two wins in the Women’s divisions and one in the Men’s. Add to that three second place finishes. That gives Atlanta an impressive six Grand Prix Podium finishes across the eight divisions that awarded prizes this year. Shore AC achieved one Men’s win and one Women’s win, plus one second place and a third. Impala Racing enjoyed one Women’s GP win and a second place. Boulder Road Runners had one win, but it was their fourth consecutive win in the Men’s 70+ division. They match the uninterrupted string of four wins in the Men’s 50+ division achieved by the Greater Springfield Harriers from 2017-2021 (omitting the Covid year of 2020 when there was no National Grand Prix competition).
The 2026 Grand Prix competition began on December 7, 2025, in Portland OR, with the 2025/26 USATF Cross Country championships and continued with the 2025 Masters Half Marathon Championships in Spicewood TX a week later. 2025/26 Club Cross at Tallahassee FL in January was the third event. Next up in the 2026 Grand Prix is the Masters One Mile Championships in Des Moines IA on April 21st.
Next up on the blog should be a recap of Masters Indoor Champs Middle Distance events in Albuquerque.
Sources: USATF Events website and the Masters National Grand Prix webpage, my archives, Athlinks, Strava, Facebook, World Masters Athletics, and relevant race websites.
Thanks for the visit! Cheers to all!
To express your appreciation for this resource, please click on the coffee cup logo in the sidebar. If you are on a mobile device, please scroll down and click on 'View web version'. Shout out here to recent supporters: Matt B-C, John H, Lorilynn B, Bryan H, Brendan, cush, Gary G, Jan F, Aaron T-L, Ken Y, Peter W, Dan K, Suzanne L B, Michael M, Ed B, Dana H, and John B. May you have good speed in 2026!
