Masters track to get started today if weather cooperates

HARPERSFIELD TOWNSHIP — Hundreds of athletes had to rearrange plans, look for new hotel rooms or head home after smoky air arrived in Northeastern Ohio Thursday and hung around Friday.

The USA Track & Field (USATF) Masters Outdoor Championships are going on at SPIRE Academy.

Robert Thomas, Chairman of the USATF Masters Track & Field Committee, has had a couple of challenging days.

Unhealthy air from uncontrolled wildfires arrived and provided potential health hazards for the more than 1,700 runners who had signed up for the event.

“We tried to go inside, but the smoke was too much,” Thomas said of the organization’s attempt to get rolling Thursday.

He said it was very difficult as the 1,716 competitors signed up was the largest amount ever.

Each competitor had a different challenge to face, as some had motel rooms for the whole weekend while others had planned to fly in for one event and leave.

Thomas said he was not sure how many plan to stay around for the start of competition today. He said the plan is to use the indoor and outdoor tracks for competition.

Thomas said the only events that have to occur outside are the javelin, hammer throw and the steeplechase. He said a revised schedule was posted on the organization’s website.

On Thursday, they tried to move inside but the smoke was drawn into the building and made it impossible.

The meet organizers will now potentially have to deal with rain and potential thunderstorms.

The 10,000-meter road race was scheduled to kick off the competition Saturday morning.

Steve Phillips, a competitor from Georgia, said it was difficult to factor in the challenges after training so hard.

“You train for months and get here [and the first two days are postponed],” he said.

Phillips 73, got a late start in the track and field world. He said he didn’t compete in track, but none of his friends could beat him running.

Phillips said he tried the 400 meters when he was 50 years old.

Every year, he tried to start training seriously, but every year something would come up at work.

After retiring, Phillips said he took it serious and earned a sixth- place finish a the World Masters Games in Sweden.

He said American team organizers approached him about running the 4×400-meter relay to conclude the meet because of his excellent performance.

Phillips said he had never taken a handoff. The coaches said he could practice and couple of times.

Phillips did and now owns a gold medal that he and his three teammates won on the biggest masters stage in the world of track and field.