Welcome to my blog! I report on Masters Elite LDR. In addition to this current story previewing the middle and long distance races at the 2026 WMA Championships in Daegu, South Korea, I preview and recap most USATF Masters LDR Championships. I report on middle distance events at 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 recap Masters performances in major marathons and other iconic 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 (2), 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, John B, Bill A (2), John & Amy M, Jay L, Tim L, Mike M, Donna M & Victor V, Vanessa L, Ken Y. May you have good speed in 2026! and beyond!
September 7, 2026. The 2026 World Masters Athletics WMA Championships ran from Friday, August 21 through September 3rd.
Athletes From the Competing Nations at WMA Outdoor Championships-Daegu were Welcomed at the Opening Ceremonies Photo Credit: Doug 'Shaggy' Smith, shaggysphotos.com
Distance events were held as both Stadia events (on the track) and Non Stadia events (Roads & Cross Country). It was very warm and humid, not ideal by any means for distance events. Typically, temperatures started in the mid-70's and rose into the 90's. The dewpoint was typically in the mid to upper 70's. For the most part, athletes focused on the competition and medals and rarely worried about records. Many athletes competed in multiple distance events. There were many outstanding performances. Arguably the best was Rick Lee's 2000M Steeplechase World Record. It was the only WR set in the distance events by a member of Team USA. Lee's 7:09:29 came in just under the existing WR of 7:10.25. Only a truly exceptional athlete could break a steeplechase record in those kind of conditions. It was a tribute to his hard and smart training on hot, humid days in New Jersey. Lee, of course, also broke the Championships record of 7:29.51 and becomes the new American Record holder! For more details on his distance events Lee, see the section below, 'M60 through M65' for Non-Stadia and the event names for Stadia-M65.
NON STADIA EVENTS
10K Road Race, Half Marathon and Cross Country [organized by the age division cutoffs used by WMA for the cross country events]
WOMEN
W40 through W50 April Lund competed in all three of the events. With no team competition for the 10K, Lund ran as an individual. She was the class of the W40 field, winning by over a minute and a half in 38:22. She was followed across the line by a Korean athlete at 40:10 and a British athlete at 41:51. No other US runners were scored. There were no W45 entries in the 10K, but three American Runners finished in the top ten in W50. Rebekah Kennedy was able to claim gold at 40:35, one second ahead of Sarah Trigg, also of the USA. Trigg was 1:05 ahead of Mexico's bronze medalist. Hortencia Aliaga was two minutes further back, finishing seventh in 43:46. Two other Americans, Larissa Harrison and Donna Alexander finished 67th and 68th. The Half Marathon had both Individual and Team competition. If a country had three or more runners in a given division, those runners made up a natural team. The first three across the finish line had their times recorded and summed. The country with the lowest three-runner total won. If a country has one or two runners in a given age division, it is permissible for the Country's Team Manager, Mary Rosado, in the case of USA. to create a team for that division by moving athletes down from older divisions. In the Individual Half Marathon race for W40, Lund came up just short of Gold. A Thai runner won Gold at 1:26:57. A half minute later, Lund claimed World Silver in 1:27:27, outlasting the second Thai athlete who took third, just four seconds behind Lund! In W45, Gia Canali claimed Silver in her only Non-Stadia event with her 1:27:24. A Kenyan athlete claimed first in 1:23:06. Canali finished over 6 minutes ahead of the Moroccan who earned the bronze. W50 again had great representation from the USA. Trigg earned her second Silver, finishing 5 minutes behind the 1:22:33 time oof the winning Japanese athlete. Trigg's 1:27:46 gave her a comfortable two-minute margin over the Mexican athlete who finished third in 1:29:44. Kennedy was 45 seconds out of the medals, in 1:30:29. Tram Pozzi finished 20th in 1:52:48. Alicia Martinez finished 49th. In the Cross Country 8 Km Course event, Lund medaled again. Kenya and Great Britain took gold and silver in 29:00 and 30:46. Lund's 31:08 earned her the bronze medal; she was well over a minute ahead of the fourth place runner from Thailand. W50 again had a robust USA turnout. After Belgium and Kenya took W50 1-2 in 29:44 and 31:08, Trigg earned bronze with her 32:08. After a Dutch runner crossed the line in 4th, Kennedy took 5th in 32:45. Larissa Harrison finished 24th in 1:05:53.
Team USA earned eight Individual Medals in these three events, across the W35, W40, W45 and W50 age divisions: 2 Gold, 4 Silver, and 2 Bronze. They also won W40 Team Gold and W50 Team Bronze in the Half Marathon. Cross Country saw USA take Team Silver in W50. Because of the drop-down provision, Canali, from W45, and Kennedy, from W50, were dropped down to join Lund for the W40 Team Half marathon competition. Despite Thailand having two of the top three runners in W40, Team USA prevailed. Their combined time of 4:25:00 gave them Team Gold with a minute and a half cushion. Thailand took team silver in 4:26:36, with South Korea in third. As it turned out, even with losing Kennedy to W40, Trigg, Pozzi and Martinez had a good enough time to earn Team Bronze. Cross Country also provided a team medal. Trigg, Kennedy, and Harrison totaled 2:10:50, finishing 17 minutes behind Team Thailand to take W50 Team Silver.
The final contribution of these divisions in these three non stadia events was nine medals: two Gold, Five Silver, and two Bronze!
W55 through W65 8 Km Course In the 10K, Katherine Huggins led the way for the USA in W55, claiming the gold medal in 43:46! She held off a Chinese athlete who was just nine seconds back! Elizabeth Guerrini earned bronze with her 45:24. Three minutes later, Rita Vigil finished 8th in 48:27. The USA had two competitors in W60. Tina Klein finished 8th at 47:41 and Leslie Nowicki finished 16th at 55:32. In the Half Marathon, Jennifer Rodriguez, W50 winner of the 2024 and 2025 USATF Masters Half Marathon Championships, took the gold with her 1:33:24! Huggins added a silver individual medal to the gold she won in the 10K. Huggins crossed the line at 1:37:13, holding a Korean athlete at bay, four minutes back in third. Tiffany Huynh finished 23rd but provided the third runner for a 'natural' W55 team. With her support behind Rodriguez and Huggins, Team USA grabbed the Half Marathon Team Gold in 5:22:25, a good three minutes ahead of South Korea and six minutes ahead of Thailand's bronze medal team. Huggins earned her third individual distance medal in the XC 8 Km Course! Huggins was not able to keep pace with the French winner's 34:00. Huggins finished 23 seconds behind the Spanish silver medalist. Her 35:18 earned the bronze medal; Huggins finished more than a minute ahead of the fourth-place finisher. Ani Go finished 9th in 39:13 but was able to join Huggins on USA's W55 team. Tina Klein was dropped down from W60 to give them the third runner they needed for a team. Klein finished 6th in the Half Marathon, clocking 1:48:34. The 8 KM XC was her best showing; Klein finished 5th in 37:04, but was less than a half minute behind the bronze medalist from Thailand. In addition, Klein teamed up with Huggins and Go to bring Team USA the W55 Team Gold. Their 1:51:35 total time brought them in just 42 seconds ahead of New Zealand, giving Team USA another Gold Medal! W55, with help from Klein, provided two individual gold medals, one silver, two bronzes and two Team gold medals. There were no USA entrants for the W65 distance events.
W70 and Above 6 Km Course Normally, in this division we would be talking about the medals Jeannie Rice won and how many records she broke. But the holder of so many age division records, at distances from the Mile to the Marathon, had arthroscopic knee surgery in May. After a period of recovery, Rice was training well in July but, of course, not at her normal level, either in terms of volume or speed. Rice did not break records at WMA Outdoor championships this year. But she still won a pile of medals. In the 10K Rice earned a silver medal. A British runner won, with Rice second in 57:25. Rice was six minutes ahead of the South Korean runner who finished third.
Jeannie Rice center, USA singlet On her Way to a Silver medal in the 10 Km Road race at the 2026 WMA Outdoor Championships in Daegu, Korea Photo Credit: Posted by J Rice on Strava
Even though she was well off her best, Rice is so strong at the Half Marathon, that she won the gold medal with room to spare. Rice's winning time was 1:57:17. The silver medalist from South Korea clocked 2:57:00. Rice's time was over 16 minutes slower than Rice's W75 American Record. The comparative lack of training time made a difference in her performance. But Rice was still the best by far! Cross country is not something Rice has ever focused her t1raining on. But she still wins cross country races. This one, for a World Championship, over 6 Km, was no different. Rice defeated her closest rival, a Hong Kong athlete, by over six minutes, winning the W75 Cross Country 6 Km Course Championship in 31:12. Irene Herman almost snagged a medal as well, finishing fourth in 41:41. There were no other US competitors from these age divisions in the 10K or Half Marathon. But Mary Lowe Mayhugh finished 4th in the W70 Cross Country 6 Km Course race in 32:40. Rice and Herman were dropped down from W75 to join Mayhugh in the W70 Team Competition. Despite two of their members being from an older age division, USA earned the silver medal. Their total time was 1:45:33, less than 5 minutes behind the Australian gold medal winners, and over 15 minutes ahead of the third-place team from Thailand. These age divisions produced Non Stadia medals for Team USA: two individual gold medals, an individual silver medal and a team silver medal.
MEN
M35 through M45 No US entries in M35 10K Road Race. Edwin Pagan was the main runner for the USA in the M40 division of the 10K Road Race. The Overall and M40 Champion of the 2025 USATF Masters Half Marathon. Pagan put up a strong fight, but Kenya, Tunis, and Italy went 1-2-3. Pagan finished fifth in 34:29, a minute and a half behind the bronze medal finisher. Timothy Gorski finished 17th in 39:06. In M45, Dickson Mercer battled his recalcitrant hamstring as best he could, finishing 8th in 37:55. Mercer's training in the Washington DC area helped prepare for the heat and humidity in Daegu but he noted that Daegu had DC beat on those categories. In the Half Marathon, Hailon Wong finished 15th in 1:23:39. Wong was joined in the division race by Stanley Peyton, who finished 53rd in 1:36:35. Luckily for those two, they were joined by a 'drop down' from the M40 division so they could compete in the Team Division.
The Morning of the Half Marathon at the 2026 WMA Championships-Daegu, Korea Photo Credit: Edwin Pagan-Strava
The M40 Half Marathon division was loaded with talent. A Kenyan athlete won in 1:06:43. Pagan again competed gamely, running 1:14:18 to finish 8th. No US entries in M45 Half Marathon Road Race. In the 8 Km Cross Country, Stanley Peyton competed for the US, finishing sixth in 29:43, a minute and change behind the Italian bronze medalist. In M45 Chris Brown finished 24th in 36:54. No US entries in M40 Cross Country. Except for the M35 Half Marathon, the US had no teams at these distances. In the Half Marathon, Pagan joined Wong and Peyton to make up a team that just missed the medal stand, finishing fourth behind Portugal, Korea, and Thailand.
M50 through M55 No US entries in M50 at any of these three distances. No US entries in M55 for the Half Marathon or Cross Country.. There were two entries in the M55 10K Road Race. Roger Dix finished 11th in 42:19. Larry Shaw Salazar was 9 minutes behind Dix in 36th. No US entries in M55 Half Marathon..
M60 through M65 The only M60 competitor in the distance events was Martin Beene. He finished 22nd in the 10K at 49:03. Beene's 1:48:54 earned a 31st place finish in the M60 Half Marathon. Beene moved up a bit in the 8 Km Cross Country, finishing 18th in 39:06. M65 was a different story. With Rick Lee leading the charge and a world beater in Dan King, although not fully recovered from a hamstring injury, M65 enjoyed a substantial medal haul. Lee got things started with a 38:48 M65 win in the 10K Road Race. Lee ran conservatively for the first 8K, allowing a trio of runners, from Argentina, China and Korea, to set the pace. Lee's surge took him to the front, and he elevated the pace again as he sprinted to the win. He had over 80 meters on his rivals when he crossed the line. John Hale finished 11th in 46:32. The Half Marathon was a different story. Normally it would be a stronger event for Lee than the 10K. But Lee had entered a lot of events, both Stadia and Non Stadia. By the time he ran the HM, Lee had already broken the World Record in the 2000M Steeplechase, ran in the 800M qualifier and the final, and competed in the 5000 Meter Run. Despite having run a 1:20:04 Half Marathon last December, Lee was not able to stay with the leaders and finished five minutes outside the medal performances in 1:27:44. James Murphy finished ninth in 1:33:23. William 'Hugh' Enicks ran 1:43:21 for 14th. Even though neither of those three were able to snag an individual medal, the three, Lee, Murphy, and Enicks teamed up to earn Team Silver in 4:44:18, behind Korea, but eight minutes faster than Thailand. The final non stadia event was the 8 Km Cross Country, where Lee's athleticism worked for him. He was able to edge an athlete from Argentina for the win by two seconds. Lee's 30:48 led a strong US/ effort. King ran well, finishing fourth in 31:47. Enicks provided the all-important third finisher, at 35:34 in eighth place! Lee, King and Enicks claimed Team Gold, finishing nine minutes faster than Thailand, with Korea another seven minutes back. Overall, this group earned two Individual Gold Medals, a Team Gold and a Team Silver
M70+ There was active participation for M70 and M80 but there were no Non-Stadia competitors from M75 or M85 and up. Jack Pottle got things going with a fine M70 silver medal effort in the 10K Road Race. A Korean athlete, more used to the hot, humid conditions, set the pace. Despite his best efforts, Pottle, who trains in the dry air of Colorado, could not match him. Pottle's 44:19 kept an Australian runner a half minute behind in third. In M80 Gary Ostwald led three USA runners across the finish line. A Japanese athlete was able to pull away for the win at 47:46. Ostwald was second at 48:24. Gary Patton, focused more on the track events, and with no team points on the line, finished fourth in 58:05. Przemyslaw Nowicki finished eighth in 1:03:48. There were no M70 nor M80 competitors in the Half Marathon. USA was back in the 6 Km Cross Country, though. Pottle again led the way with a fourth place finish, a half minute behind the Bulgarian bronze medalist. His 25:55 was the anchor of the Team Bronze won by Pottle, John Hirschberger, and Leo Murillo. Hirschberger's 31:50 was good for 13th, while Murillo's 34:07 netted him an individual 15th place. Combined, those three won Team Bronze in 1:31:52, behind Thailand and Australia. In the M80 Cross Country, Ostwald and Patton took care of business. Ostwald nipped a Japanese athlete for the win at the finish line! Both were awarded the same time, 27:34, but Ostwald got the gold medal! Patton pulled away from a Finnish athlete to take third in 34:22. All told, the M70 and M80 groups won a Gold medal, two Silvers and two Bronze.
STADIA EVENTS
STEEPLECHASE The Steeplechase in Masters Athletics is 2000 Meters for Women and Men 60 and up. It is 3000 Meters for Men under 60.
MEN As noted in the introductory paragraph above, Rick Lee won the M65 gold medal, while setting a new World and Championsh8ip Record in 7:09.29. That was the outstanding result for the men. But there were several other medals won. In M80, Kamaljit Paul earned the silver medal, missing the win by just eight seconds. Paul's 13:14.34 left the bronze medalist five minutes back! In M45, Brian Sulllivan also claimed a silver medal, running 10:36.52. Nineteen seconds out of first, Sullivan left the Irish bronze medalist almost a minute behind. Other US competitors included: M70 Leo Murillo fifth 11:30.70; M65 Brent Cushenberry 11th 10:51.15; M60 Timothy Vigil sixth 8:34/.63; M50 Clint Santoro.
WOMEN Mary Lowe Mayhugh won the W70 gold medal at 12:26.38, finishing almost a minute ahead of a Chinese rival. Melissa Chiti did almost as well in W60. But, in the end, a South African athlete had a six second advantage at the tape! Chiti's 9:03.67 allowed her to win Silver with seven seconds to spare. In the same division, Tina Klein finished a half minute out of the medals, fourth in 9:43:28. Jennifer McGee missed the W50 steeplechase medals by a minute, finishing fourth in 9:58.61.
800 METERS
WOMEN Tracey Bernett had the top result, winning W70 Gold, ahead of an Uruguayan and a Canadian athlete in 3:08.75. In the same division, Mayhugh, the W70 steeplechase winner, finished eighteen seconds out of the medals, fifth in 3:39.75. Jeannie Rice, gold medalist in the Half Marathon and Cross Country events, added a silver medal in the 800 Meters, to go with her silver in the 10K Road Race. Rice could not match the British athlete who won. Rice's 3:34.77 gained the W75 Silver Medal! Rice enjoyed a margin of over 15 seconds on the Hong Kong athlete who finished third. Betty Anderson was forty seconds out of the medals in fifth at 4:30.82. In W40, Julia Siegel Breton lost out by less than two seconds int he final race to the tape, finishing 5th in 2:20.44. Other US competitors included: W55 Elizabeth Guerrini 12th 2:59.59; W50 Antonia Georgieva 11th 2:44.20 and Jennifer Mcgee 12th 2:46.75.
MEN Gary Patton won the sole 800M gold medal for the Men. His 2:56.48 gave him a three-second margin over the Japanese athlete who finished second in M80. Gary Ostwald, the M80 gold medalist in the Half Marathon and Cross Country, added a bronze to his collection with his 3:04.78. In M90, Colben Sime earned a bronze medal with his 6:12.00 time. The top four athletes in M50 finished just 1.5 seconds apart. In the final shakeup it was Estonia, France, and Japan with the medals. Mark Williams finished fourth in 2:04.16.
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| Mark Williams Center, USA On His Way to Qualifying for the M50 800M Final at at the 2026 WMA Outdoor Championships in Daegu, Korea Photo Credit: Doug 'Shaggy' Smith, shaggysphotos.com |
Three US athletes survived the qualifying heats to make the final in M65 Lee was four seconds out of the medals, fifth in 2:24.03, with Raymond Knerr sixth at 2:24.66, and King ninth at 2:2:29.09.
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| Rick Lee USA, 5th from right and Ray Knerr USA, Far Left Competing in the M65 800M Final at the 2026 WMA Outdoor Championships in Daegu, Korea Photo Credit: Doug 'Shaggy' Smith, shaggysphotos.com |
Other US competitors included: M60 Timothy Vigil 10th 2:29.88; M40 Brett Anderson eighth 2:00.64.
5000 METERS
MEN M80 had the only 5000M gold medal performance for the US. Ostwald gained his fourth gold medal, winning in 23:41.17, thirteen seconds ahead of his Japanese rival who took the silver medal. Gary Patton was a minute and some out of the medals, fifth in 25:50.49. Przemyslaw Nowicki was eighth in 28:02.70. In M70, Pottle, the 10K Road Race silver medalist, added a bronze in the 5000M. Unable to stay with the Korean and Belgian who went 1-2, Pottle had nearly a minute on the 4th place finisher from Bulgaria. Murillo finished 14th in the same division in 29:56.79. In M45, Brian Sullivan's kick did not allow him to catch the Japanese silver medalist, but it allowed him to pass a Chinese athlete and claim the bronze medal. Sullivan's 16:45.78 landed him in third with a cushion of 1.27 seconds. In M65, Lee was sick in the morning, perhaps dehydrated. In any case, Lee ran with the leaders until his body gave out. After stumbling a few times, and, with just a hundred meters to go, he fell. Lee got up and walked the rest of the race, finishing seventh in 19:06.19. Lee inspired many with that grit! King passed Lee in the final stretch to finish fourth, sixteen seconds out of bronze, in 18:50.10. Knerr finished 10th in 19:57.51. In M55, Emmet Hogan finished 39 seconds out of the medals, sixth in 17:16.77. In the same division, Roger Dix was 15th in 20:54.59. Other US competitors included: M60 Martin Beene 18th 23:10.22; M50 Bryan Lee McGloughlin 14th in 18:54.10 3rd in unseeded heat; M35 Hailong Wong 17:46.55.
WOMEN In the W70 5000M, Mayhugh returned to the gold medal stand she mounted for the steeplechase. Her 28:01.02 gave Mayhugh an 18-second edge over the second-place Canadian athlete. Lund, who already won gold, silver and bronze in the 10K, Half Marathon and Cross Country races, added a silver in the W40 5000M. In W50, Kennedy and Trigg claimed silver and bronze. A Belgian athlete took gold in 19:05.72. Kennedy was 27 seconds back, second in 19:32.76, with Trigg just behind her in 19:37.08. The fourth-place finisher was over forty seconds back. Aliaga finished fifth in 20:40.63. Donna Alexander finished 13th inn the same division in 35:00.69. Huggins medaled in the W55 10K, Half Marathon and Cross Country, with gold, silver and bronze respectively. Her 21:29.67 left Huggins a minute and a half out of the 5000M medals, in fifth. R Vigil finished seventh in the 5000M with 22:40.21. Guerrini's 23:48.20 earned a ninth-place finish. Su Maw finished 15th in 31:22.78. Klein finished seventh in W60 at 22:37.70. L Nowicki finished 15th in the same division in 26:37.38.
1500 METERS
WOMEN Judith Stobbe grabbed the gold medal in the W60 1500M! In a tight battle with athletes from Portugal and New Zealand, Stobbe prevailed in 5:26.59, winning by two seconds.
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| Judith Stobbe Pulling Away from Athletes from New Zealand and Portugal to win the W60 1500M Final at the 2026 WMA Outdoor Championships in Daegu, Korea Photo Credit: Doug 'Shaggy' Smith, shaggysphotos.com |
Melissa Chiti finished sixth in the division, at 5:51.90.
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Melissa Chiti On Her Way to 6th Place in the W60 1500M Final at the
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Lund and Bernett had the top results, both earning Silver. Lund could not keep pace with an Irish runner in W40 but had the answer for everyone else, claiming the Silver Medal in 5:08.74 with a dozen seconds to spare.
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| April Lund Right USA #7317 Leading the W40 Pack in the 1500M Final at the 2026 WMA Outdoor Championships in Daegu, Korea Photo Credit: Doug 'Shaggy' Smith, shaggysphotos.com |
Bernett lost a W70 duel with an Aussie by just over a second, claiming Silver in 6:58.53.
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| Tracey Bernett Right, USA #7160 Leading the Pack in the W70 1500M Final at the 2026 WMA Outdoor Championships in Daegu, Korea Photo Credit: Doug 'Shaggy' Smith, shaggysphotos.com |
Dana Hayden was the other 1500M medalist among American women. Three seconds away from the Silver medal, Hayden earned bronze in 4:59.45. She enjoyed a three second edge over the fourth-place finisher.
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| Dana Hayden 4th from right In the W45 Lead Pack Before Moving Up to claim the Bronze Medal In the 1500M at the 2026 WMA Outdoor Championships in Daegu, Korea Photo Credit: Doug 'Shaggy' Smith, shaggysphotos.com |
In W50, Aliaga finished sixth in 5:24.51.
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| Hortencia Aliaga Left, USA #7135 Keeps Pace with two Aussies and a Swede In the W50 1500M Final at the 2026 WMA Outdoor Championships in Daegu, Korea Photo Credit: Doug 'Shaggy' Smith, shaggysphotos.com |
MEN Gary Ostwald and Gary Patton went 2-3 in the M80 1500M. Ostwald was just a fraction of a second behind the winner from Japan. Ostwald clocked 6:08.37, edging Patton who finished third in 6:09.51. Ostwald was the only silver medalist among American men.
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| Gary Ostwald Right, USA #7364 Leading the Eventual Winner from Japan and Teammate, Gary Patton Left, USA On the Way to a 2-3 Finish in the M80 1500M at the 2026 WMA Outdoor Championships in Daegu, Korea Photo Credit: Doug 'Shaggy' Smith, shaggysphotos.com |
Patton was joined as a bronze medal winner by Rick Lee, Jack Pottle, and Colben Sime. Lee finished a second behind the British silver medalist in 4:47.47.
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| Rick Lee 4th from right, red & white cap and Dan King Left, USA hip#7 Striving in the lead pack as Ray Knerr Far Left, USA Leads the Chase Pack in the M65 1500M Final at the 2026 WMA Outdoor Championships in Daegu, Korea Photo Credit: Doug 'Shaggy' Smith, shaggysphotos.com |
Dan King finished sixth in the same division in 4:53.23. Ray Knerr's 4:58.55 netted him a ninth-place finish. Pottle claimed third in M70 with a 5:25.64 that gave him a four second edge on the fourth-place finisher.
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| Jack Pottle Left Dueling a Bulgarian Athlete. Pottle Finished third, ahead of this Rival in the M70 1500M Final at the 2026 WMA Outdoor Championships in Daegu, Korea Photo Credit: Doug 'Shaggy' Smith, shaggysphotos.com |
Sime, the oldest American competitor, finished third in M90 at 13:06.32.
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| Colben Sime On His Way to the M90 Bronze medal in the 1500M at the 2026 WMA Outdoor Championships in Daegu, Korea Photo Credit: Doug 'Shaggy' Smith, shaggysphotos.com |
Brian Sullivan finished sixth in M45 at 4:15.63.
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| Brian Sullivan USA singlet #7424 Battling with British and French athletes who went 1-2 in the M45 1500M Final at the 2026 WMA Outdoor Championships in Daegu, Korea Photo Credit: Doug 'Shaggy' Smith, shaggysphotos.com |
In M50, Mark Williams lost out in the final sprint to the finish. His 4:22.06 left him less than two seconds out of a medal position, in fifth.
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| Mark Williams USA #7455 In the Lead Pack of the M50 1500M Final at the 2026 WMA Outdoor Championships in Daegu Korea Photo Credit: Doug 'Shaggy' Smith, shaggysphotos.com |
Timothy Vigil finished seventh in M55 with 5:02.99. Other US competitors included: M35 Stanley Peyton 13th 4:27.67; M40 Kenneth Rankin 13th 4:32.66. Chris Brown M45 5:31.08 and Clint Santoro M50 4:58.25 competed in the qualifiers but did not make the final.
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That concludes my recap of the Distance events at the 2026 World Masters Athletics Outdoor Championships
Special thanks to Doug 'Shaggy' Smith who not only takes excellent photos at these championships but makes them freely available to athletes and others.
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!
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