An article from Peter Marshall:
Has Anyone seen My Leg Springs?
I recently went to the State Athletic Centre to watch some High School Athletics. It was great to watch the kids perform and be reminded of my own school sporting activities, now more than thirty years in the past.
In particular I found the sprint hurdle events to be most enjoyable and indeed very instructive. It was amazing to watch the fifteen to seventeen year old boys three stride between the hurdles, most of them with little technical ability. The power in the incredible leg springs that these boys possess made me consider the difference in my legs now, compared to when I was seventeen. Back then; although I never had the opportunity to hurdle (can't even remember seeing one) I was long jumping over six metres and triple jumping in excess of twelve. However my main event was the 1500 metres in which I was successful in making the State Championships. Most of us running around at that time must have had some pretty reasonable sort of springs in our legs; regardless of what event we chose to compete in.
Now, well now I rarely contest the Triple, and can't even make the magic five in long jump anymore. Just over ten years ago when I joined QMA my long jumps never measured below five. Wow how things have changed, despite being an active sportsperson all my life. When it comes to jumping for height I now find a pole is necessary in order to achieve any decent vertical lift. How I'd love to get those high school leg springs back again. Now doubt many of you reading this know exactly what I'm talking about. However this little story is more than a trip down memory lane.
Watching the kids perform was indeed very instructive and prompted me yet again to consider the worth of adult sport and Athletics, and what we expect of ourselves when we compete. It was Oh So Obvious that the hurdle heights and spacings for nearly all athletes presented an appropriate and achievable challenge. What could some of these kids do if they were actually taught to hurdle? My son Andrew ran the sprint hurdles, but at only twelve years, does not yet have the leg springs to propel him like the older boys. Maybe he never will; only the future will tell. What he did do was put his developed hurdling technique to good use and outran his faster though less proficient competitors.
Now you may be aware that the Master's hurdle specs require men of forty-nine years to run exactly the same race as the seventeen-year-old boys. Why we do this when our leg springs are long gone is somewhat of a mystery. Why don't we have hurdle races that use barrier heights and spacings that are more appropriate to our physical characteristics, and that give us a chance of three striding over the barriers?
Now of course it is not only forty-nine year old men that experience this predicament. The Hurdles sub-committee has been promoting a set of Hurdle Specifications, known as the Recommended Specs, for the last two years. Our hope was that these specifications would be adopted by the AMA and given a good trial for at least two years. Unfortunately, though the AMA has given some support to the concept, a
rigorous and fair trial of the specs has not proceeded. The decision taken by the AMA at the recent AGM was to stick with the current official specs. The hurdles subcommittee however still exists, and we intend to continue promoting the Recommended Specs, because we all feel that one day we will all accept the fact that our leg springs are not what they once were and appropriate changes will be implemented to reflect this.
I trust this little story has given you some food for thought and prompted you to ponder how our sport is organised and structured. Are there changes, whether to do with hurdles or other events and issues that you think should be explored. We have good communication tools (Athletic Challenge, Website, access to other State Masters organisations) whereby views can be shared and developed.
My intention this season is to ask every Australian Master's athlete, who has an opinion on the Hurdles issue to express that opinion. This will be done formally through our established channels, and results collated for presentation to the AMA.
However, in the meantime, if you would like to comment on the hurdles issue please do so.
Oh and one more thing, if you happen to find my old leg springs (circa 1973) please return them to me at the track. A substantial reward will be offered; my enduring gratitude of course!!
Regards
Peter Marshall

Leg Springs Revisited
You may recall the article in an earlier edition of this newsletter about the sprint hurdle events at a Brisbane high school meet, and the changes in leg power that athletes experience as they age. Central to that article was the premise that the specifications for the high school athletes were appropriate in most cases, in that they provided a significant but achievable challenge for the majority of hurdlers. The article also pointed out that the Masters Sprint hurdle specifications, while being appropriate for some age/gender groups, were certainly not appropriate in all groups.
We have just experienced another Masters event, the Pan Pacific games, which provided more evidence in support of change to the Masters specifications. While it was great to see the athletes in action over the barriers regardless of their individual performance levels, the following features of the sprint hurdle events were most noticeable:
• A small minority of performers adhered to a three stride pattern throughout their respective race, most did not three stride at all
• In the men’s event from age thirty through to forty nine there were seven competitors in all; only one three-strided. This athlete was in his early thirties.
• In only one race did more than one athlete successfully three-stride. This was the women’s 40 – 44 event, where the winner gave a fine display of hurdle technique, and second place getter, also technically very competent, just failed to hold the three stride pattern on the last hurdle
• There was only one competitor in the men’s 45 – 49 event
• One woman over the age of fifty demonstrated that the three stride pattern was well within her ability level.
• One woman in the 30 – 39 group showed that the specifications were a very significant challenge for her individually, and though not three striding the entire race, gave this observer to believe that she will do so in the future. No other lady in this group three-strided.
Now there were other aspects worthy of mention, but in terms of what the Pan Pac games said to us all about Masters Sprint hurdling, the above six were the ones that stood out to me. A few comments on some of these points will prove useful.
We might wonder why the women’s 40 – 44 group seemed to do a little better than the rest of the field in achieving the model technique for sprint hurdling, namely adherence to the three stride pattern which is essential to good hurdling. As noted above the first two placegetters in this race were good hurdlers and the winner in particular, was anatomically very well suited to hurdling. The real lesson however comes when we look at the specifications for the race. With eight hurdles set eight metres apart and a quite low barrier height of 76cm, this event provides athletes with a significant but achievable challenge.
Comparing and contrasting the women’s 40 – 44 specifications with those of other age/gender groups is very illuminating. First consider that when a lady hits forty the difficulty of the sprint hurdles event is lessened in every aspect. The race is shorter, there are two less hurdles to clear, the hurdles are closer together, and the height is 8cm lower than the previous age group. This is in fact a very good thing because it gives hurdlers a realistic chance of performing the three stride pattern. We know these specs are not ridiculously easy; if they were there would be many more three striders in this age group. When viewed in context of all the women’s sprint hurdle specifications the 40 – 44 age group could be further improved by changing the race to a 90 metre event. The essentials of hurdle height and distance between hurdles would remain the same. This is one of the recommended changes that the AMA Hurdle sub-committee produced some two years ago.
Look now at the men’s 45 – 49 age group. There is absolutely no change from the previous age group specifications for these athletes. In fact the men’s specs are the same from age thirty right up to forty-nine. And when you consider that the open specs are so much more demanding for men than women, it is incredible to think that forty-nine year old men run a race that is identical to the open men save one aspect; the height is one notch down. Incredible but true. Little wonder there was only one athlete in this age group at the Pan Pacs.
I believe there is one positive and correct way to view this situation. Firstly, it must be noted that 40 – 44 year old women were not always so well catered for. At some point in history the cause of female Master’s hurdling was championed by some knowledgeable and committed athletes. The result was a much improved set of specifications for female hurdlers, and we owe the people responsible for that result a debt of gratitude. Indeed there have also been improvements for the men. However there are further improvements to be made and it does seem that the 45 – 49 men in particular have been forgotten.
One can imagine ladies in their mid to late thirties looking forward to the challenge of the hurdle specs on their 40th birthday. Not so for the men; most of them face another decade before entertaining the prospect of three striding. And by then of course all interest in hurdling may be long gone.
In summary then, because the ladies sprint hurdle specs are eased considerably at the age of forty, the flow on effect means the ladies are fairly well catered for.
However further improvements are possible. The men’s sprint hurdle specs are not sufficiently eased at any point during the forties. This situation has been addressed by the AMA Hurdles sub-committee and resulted in production of the Recommended Hurdle Specifications. Though this article has highlighted the sprint hurdles via the Pan Pac games, the Recommended Specifications cover both long and sprint hurdles. The specifications are available on the QMA website and have been previously published in various Masters athletics newsletters.
If you have an opinion on the Recommended Hurdle Specifications please email me at peterpmarshall@powerup.com.au. Alternatively, write to me at 19 Shepherdson Street Capalaba Q 4157. All responses will be collated for submission to the AMA.
Best wishes to all athletes
Peter Marshall

Hi Editors

I have just read the second article written by Peter Marshall on hurdling. This is a good article and Peter's observations at Pan Pacific were spot on. I would like to add that the hurdling entries at this competition were much better than we usually get at our Nationals and thus provided Peter with excellent numbers to observe.

Well done Peter, and please keep these informative articles coming. We really do need to have hurdle specifications that are challenging BUT allow more ageing athletes to maintain a three stride pattern. The hurdle specifications that were recommended by the sub committee in last year's handbook would certainly provide this.

For those non hurdlers reading this article, let me give you this perspective. I am 55 years and in my long hurdles event I still have to go over the same hurdle height as Jana Pitman who is 40% of my age, takes two strides to cover what I do in three and I won't even bother mentioning her speed advantage or the hours she has available to put into training.

Yes, we need the new hurdle specifications.
Wilma Perkins

A committee was set up by Australian masters Athletics to look into the specifications for hurdles. This was brought about by the lack of enthusiasm shown by the majority of masters athletes to compete in the hurdles events.What we have set out here are the recommendations of the committee to be discussed/ disagreed / accepted by the masters community at large.