If I were a Kamloops athlete over age 35, I might want to have a word with the local organizers of the World Masters Indoor Championships.

Local residents were encouraged to compete in a world-class event “right in their own back yard.” You didn't even have to qualify. A registration fee, although it wasn't cheap, was all it took.

To be fair, the organizers didn't exactly say the competition wouldn't be steep, but it seemed implied. Perhaps, they were being encouraging or maybe the idea of a few more registrants was appealing or maybe it was just my imagination. But somehow I had the idea a person might win a bronze just for showing up.

Big mistake. The World Masters is not one of those recreational tourneys where people come just to have a good time. They may have a good time, but only after they compete.

These athletes are serious and they are good. So good, in fact, if you can, you should get up to the Tournament Capital Centre or Hillside Stadium to watch the final events today and tomorrow.

Some of them may have a tummy roll or a bit of sag under the upper arm that comes with aging, but they pull in times on the track that would stun the average athlete.

In November, I wrote about my husband's dream to revisit his track star days by competing at the World Masters. I admit I had some fun at his expense and I was severely chastised by a writer who told me I was a mean wife for not being supportive.

As it turned out, he injured himself in the two-month training period he had allotted for this event. Today, I suspect he is thankful he had an excuse not to put on his running shoes.

For one thing, he would have been the only person in his event in running shoes. Everyone else sports spiked track shoes.

People who compete in Masters tournaments, whether it's golf, tennis or track and field, are rarely newcomers to the sport. They are the people who were at the top of their game when they were younger. They carry their talents into their advancing years.

One would think that as people get older they might want to give their bodies a rest from brutal training regimes, but it seems to get in their blood and they can't give it up.

A few years ago, a recreational running coach told me he had seen the error of his ways and was leaving competitive running behind for good. Nothing was better than running for fun, he said, especially since the injuries disappeared.
He lasted one season and he was back on the racing circuit where he regularly places first or second in his age category. He's registered in the Masters this week.

On the weekend, a number of local runners are participating in the half-marathon. A few will be in the front of the pack. The rest are participating and that's great. The run is outside and spectators are accustomed to distance runners coming in at all different times.

It would not have been impressive to see runners on the indoor track coming in two, three or four minutes behind their competitors. Call me mean, if you like, but Masters tournaments are not about Participaction. They are hotly contested competitions.

Masters athletes deserve respect because they have earned it through intensive training. Anyone who may have thought how cute it was that a bunch of old guys were coming to Kamloops to compete seriously misjudged the level of talent heading this way.

It's a credit to the city and its facilities that the World Masters Championships came here in the first place. The athletes appear to be almost as surprised by and impressed with the Tournament Capital Centre and the friendliness of the locals as we are with them.

When next we meet we will all be sure to put away preconceived and erroneous notions.

Susan Duncan is city editor of The Daily News. Her column appears Fridays. Email her at sduncan@kamloopsnews.ca.