Handover of the WMA Flag, Lahti to Sacramento, at the 2009 World Masters Athletics Championships

(photo by Joy Upshaw Margerum)

By Bob Burns

Before heading off on their latest mission, Sacramento organizers already had a pretty good idea of what they’d be getting into with the 2011 World Masters Athletics (WMA) Championships.

But while the Sacramento Sports Commission has staged two U.S. Olympic Trials, one Junior Olympics and four NCAA Division I Championships, the WMA event presents a unique challenge. There will be 10 days of competition over a 12-day period from July 6-17, 2011, with a upwards of 5,000 competitors representing more than 80 countries.

“With all the age groups involved, it’s like putting on 26 track meets simultaneously,” said George Kleeman, the former Pacific Association president who will serve as the technical director in 2011. “You’ll have 18 to 24 field events going on every day.”

Sacramento Sports Commission Executive Director John McCasey accompanied Kleeman and several other members of the local organizing committee earlier this month in Lahti, Finland, site of the 2009 WMA Championships. The Sacramento group set up a booth in the main hall outside Lahti’s main stadium and handed out 4,000 promotional brochures to inquiring athletes.

In conjunction with the Finland trip, the local organizing committee also launched its Web site – www.wma2011.com – and collected hundreds of e-mail addresses from masters athletes around the world.

While it won’t be known until a few weeks before the event whether Sacramento organizers will attract the 5,000 entries it needs to make the event financially feasible, the reception in Lahti was encouraging.

“I’m really encouraged with the response we got,” McCasey said. “I think we made incredible headway with the Europeans, particularly the Germans and the British. I think our event will be very well attended.”

McCasey also made several presentations to regional delegations and provided a 15-minute update to the WMA executive council. Stan Perkins, an Australian who was named the new WMA president, defeating American Rex Harvey by a single vote, believes Sacramento is on the right track.

“Two years out, Sacramento is the best prepared championship we’ve had, no doubt,” Perkins said.

Lahti attracted 4,947 athletes from 85 countries. That number was considerably lower than the 8,900 athletes who participated in the 2007 WMA Championships in Riccione, Italy. The global economic downturn was probably a factor in the reduced number, as was Italy’s greater appeal as a tourist destination.

Both Riccione and Lahti benefited from the huge numbers of Italians and Finns who participated. Typically, the largest WMA contingents come from Germany, France, Italy and Great Britain. The United States had 250 athletes in Finland, but McCasey is hopeful that holding the event on U.S. soil for the first time since 1995 will attract much bigger numbers from the host country.

“Sacramento’s success will revolve entirely around the number of Americans who participate,” Perkins said.

Joy Upshaw Margerum, the silver medalist in the women’s 45-49 long jump in Riccione and a veteran of numerous WMA indoor and outdoor championships, predicts a big U.S. increase in Sacramento.

“Having it in California is such a bonus,” said Upshaw Margerum, a member of the 2011 local organizing committee who serves as chair of the Pacific Association’s masters board of directors. “I think the U.S. athletes will support the event more than ever before.”

To reach out to U.S. athletes and to give the local organizing a warm-up run for the big event the following year, Sacramento was awarded the 2010 USA Masters Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The national championships will be held July 22-25, 2010, and many of the visitors to the Sacramento booth in Finland – including \a number of Mexican and Canadian athletes – said they plan to attend both events.

The 2010 USA Masters Championships will be held at Sacramento State’s Hornet Stadium. The number of entries at a WMA event necessitates the use of three venues – Hornet Stadium, Hughes Stadium at Sacramento City College, and Beaver Stadium at American River College. Hornet Stadium will serve as the main competition site. Beaver Stadium will be used as a practice facility.

Granite Regional Park will be the site of the cross country competitions, and the marathon will be held along the American River Parkway. Race-walking events will be held on the Sac State campus.

For the WMA Championships, McCasey has already signed agreements with five hotel properties, each located within walking distance of light-rail stations. Competitors will be able to use light rail throughout the event.

“Transportation has always been a major issue with this group,” McCasey said. “We believe we have the right system in place to get people where they need to be.”

The WMA Council plans to visit Sacramento next March, immediately following the WMA Indoor Championships in Kamloops, B.C. Sacramento officials expect to post athlete entry information online shortly after the WMA visit.

With Kleeman in charge, McCasey has few concerns about the technical operation of the Sacramento effort. McCasey plans to bring Harvey aboard to assist Kleeman.

Kleeman, one of only three U.S. officials to receive International Technical Officer designation from the IAAF, has worked the last six WMA outdoor events as well as the Olympic Trials and NCAA meets in Sacramento.

“This event is like the Junior Olympics in that you have special rules and different implements that a lot of people don’t know,” Kleeman said. “The biggest thing will be making officials and volunteers knowledgeable about the event and the rules.”

Kleeman said he’ll need an officiating crew of about 190, approximately half of which will come from the Pacific Association.

Upshaw Margerum is impressed with the way McCasey has attended the last two WMA outdoor events as well as the 2008 world indoor championships in Clermont-Ferrand, France.

“It’s a huge undertaking, but I’m confident that the Sports Commission and the Pacific Association can put on a fabulous event,” Upshaw Margerum said.

Upshaw Margerum has another reason to feel good about the next WMA Championships. She’ll turn 50 in February 2011, giving her a new age group to conquer.