Recollections of San Sebastian

(Photos at Bottom)

Warren Graff September 2005

Like many Masters competitors, I recall this as being a year of choices. This was a year with the USA Outdoor Nationals in Hawaii, the World Games in Edmonton, and the World Masters Track & Field Championships in San Sebastian Spain, all within two months. I decided on San Sebastian in March, and Hawaii in July.

Also like other Masters competitors, I spent months anticipating the WMA San Sebastian meet, planning the trip, filling out entry forms, ordering uniforms, and oh yes, training. A few of us made joint reservations in more affordable accommodations, as the hotels were very expensive. Roger Pierce, John Oleski, and I also arranged for the same flights over and back, since we were the few going from Massachusetts.

Except for a few brochures and Mapquest, we had only a vague idea of what to expect in San Sebastian. We all left for Spain August 22nd, three days prior to our first events. Our Air France flight from Boston left an hour late, and consequently arrived late in Paris, causing us to miss our connecting flight. A kind and very helpful agent arranged another flight for us later that day. We arrived in San Sebastian to find a beautiful city, a mixture of old world and new. The taxi driver used a high tech street finder device to locate our accommodations, but if we hadnt bumped into Larry Barnum by coincidence, we never would have known where to find our building; Larry (M60, Nevada) had arrived a few days earlier and was the one who reserved our rooms.

Our rooms were clean and adequate for the six of us (a group of M55s, M60s and an M70). We soon learned that few locals knew much English, and picking out what to order at restaurants was a real challenge. After a few days, it came down to I'll have what that guys having ; for some reason, they wanted to serve eggs with everything.

Life in the city seemed easy going, and was without the chain stores that we have in the U.S. Every block had restaurants, bakeries, fruit markets, fish markets, hardware stores, drug stores, all the mom and pop variety. We found this to be a refreshing throwback to our youth, before the onslaught of the malls, fast food, and Walmart.

The stadium and check-in center for the meet was a two mile bus ride. We passed one apartment building after another, without seeing one single family home. Approaching the stadium was quite a humbling experience - it was the largest facility we had seen for a World Masters competition, including Buffalo in 95. The smaller track was also quite substantial, and was where the trial heats were to take place. We received bus passes so we could travel free within the city our entire stay. We next went to the big stadium to declare for our first events, which also gave us a chance to see who our competition would be. Those declaring left their signatures next to their names.

Its hard to describe the environment at the stadium other than being pure exhilaration. Everywhere you look, you see athletes from different countries, all walking briskly to their next destination in their colorful uniforms. You also heard many foreign languages, which as Americans, we understood little, since we always expect others to know English, not vice versa. The WMA T-shift stand was selling like hot cakes.

Race day involved everyone getting up early, taking turns in the shower, then heading off to the check-in facility next to the stadiums. This was a six lane indoor track, with corrals at one end for checking in each heat by age group. Once checked in, the heat would be led out onto the track as is done at the Penn Relays. I can think of no other time in my life when I am as overwhelmed with the jitters (except when I know I have to run a hard 400!). Most races are set up as prelims, semi-finals, and finals, and usually start with anywhere from seven to nine heats in the prelims, or 50 to 70 entrants. Based on that, just making the final in a WMA meet is an honor; placing or medaling is priceless. Winning at a World Championship, however, and being the best in the world at something has to rank as one of the finest things that could happen to an athlete short of making the Hall of Fame.

We saw many familiar faces and old rivals, but there were also new faces. The M60 sprint group was very surprised when Glynn Sutton from the UK ran a 12.04 100 meters and 24.65 200 meters, which is what youd expect for an M55. The competition was intense, but the athletes were cordial despite the personal and national rivalry. As in previous WMA meets, teams from Germany, UK, and Australia were deep with talent.

Some athletes dominated their age group, like Charlie Allie (one of our roommates) and Steven Peters from the UK. I know I may be biased, but two of the most exciting races of the entire meet involved two more roommates, Larry Barnum winning the M60 800 meters, and Roger Pierce winning the M60 400 meters with Larry Barnum coming up strong to take 2nd over Peter Crombie of Australia. The crowd was on its feet chanting USA, USA, USA! The M60 400 meter final also saw more competitors on their knees & on their backs after the finish than any other race of the competition, except for Roger, who was strutting around like a peacock, deservedly so.

There were two days off from competition, which allowed athletes to rest, heal up, and see the sights. We were not far from San Sebastians famous crescent-shaped La Concha beach, so many of us spent time there or wandering the narrow cobblestone streets of Old Town looking for gifts to bring home.

At every WMA meet, the relays are on the last day of competition. For the USA, for most age groups, one must be one of the four fastest USA qualifiers in the 100 and 400 meters to be on the relay teams. It is also a more relaxed day than the others, when teamwork is the primary goal. I was fortunate to make both relay teams, and even more fortunate when both teams won over very strong competition from Germany and Australia. We were behind in both relays until the anchor legs brought us home the victories. In both races we were again encouraged by the chanting from the stadium, USA,USA!

Modeled after the Olympics, the WMA meets are unique in having medal ceremonies as they should be. It is a very special feeling to be up on that stand while listening to the audience applause and cheering, and seeing the camera flashes one after another, and hearing the inspirational music in the background.

The return flight took longer since we were going against the jet stream, but I didnt seem to mind since my two gold medals were safely stowed in my carry-on. Yes, the trip was expensive, but the experience far out-weighed the cost. I recommend going at least once, even if just as a spectator, as I did in Buffalo in 95. I was in such awe at seeing my track idols in person back then, and here I am running against them in 2005.

This is the winning M60, 4x400 Relay of (L-R) Sam Hall (S. Carolina),
Warren Graff (Mass.), Roger Pierce (Mass.), Larry Barnum (Nevada)


400 Meter M60 Medal Ceremony
Roger Pierce USA in the middle, first, 55.96, Larry Barnum USA left, 2nd,
56.42, Peter Crombie Australia right, 3rd, 56.93.
(This is also a fine testament that height has no advantage.)




M60, 100m Final. Roger Pierce (Lane 5) takes 4th


Roger Pierce kicking hard at the finish of the M60, 400m Final


Roger takes Gold!


'The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat'


The M60 400m finalists

The 4x400 Relay Medal Ceremony


Sam Hall [3] (So. Carolina) and Warren Graff [2] (Mass.) and
unidentified UK sprinter in of the M60 100 meter Semifinals

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