Meet Management

BOSTON PREPS FOR 2004 INDOOR NATIONALS

Preparations are well underway for the eighth consecutive USATF National Masters Indoor Championships to be held in Boston, Mass. The meet will open on Friday March 26th at 9:00 am with the men's and women's pentathlon and conclude on Sunday, March 28, with the 4 x 400m relay. The Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center, which has produced nearly 200 masters world and US indoor records in the past years, is expected to see a continued alteration of the record book in 2004 as over 800 competitors are expected for the event. The meet will be hosted and managed by the New England Association of USATF.

M-F Athletics, sponsor of the throwing events since 1998, is again on board for the 2004 meet.

EVENT HISTORY

The year 2004 presents the 10th time that the Championships are held in New England, the first time being the inaugural meet at Tufts University in Medford, MA in 1976. The second running in the area, at M.I.T. in Cambridge in 1981, had approximately 200 participants. Those numbers have now crested 800 as the meet has been a regular visitor at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center. Meet management in 1997, 1999, and 2001 was by TRACS, Inc. The 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2003 meets were directed by USA Track & Field - New England, who will also steer the meet through 2004.

DEMOGRAPHICS and COMPETITION

More than 800 master athletes from all over the United States are expected to participate at the 2004 meet, which will be the largest indoor track and field competition for masters in the USA. Master athletes range in age from 30 to 100 plus years (2002 was the first year with a 100 year old competitor) and compete in 5-year age groups. A full complement of track and field events, with a total of 17 events and the pentathlon, contested by both men and women.

Several surveys conducted among masters will-be competitors, showed that more than 80% of these athletes are college graduates, with nearly 50% having obtained an advanced degree. Participants through the years in Boston have represented all 50 states, Bermuda, Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, and Israel, among other countries.

HOST ORGANIZATION

USA Track & Field - New England (USATF-NE) is a non-profit organization, dedicated to the promotion, development, and improvement of athletic and fitness programs in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Vermont. USATF-NE is the local association of USA Track and Field, the governing body for the sports of amateur athletics, i.e., track & field, distance running, race walking, cross country, and mountain, ultra, & trail running in the USA. As one of 57 local associations in the country, it ranks in the top five in number of individual members, member clubs, and sanctioned events.

Other major events hosted by USATF-NE or organized within the New England Association recently include:

• National Cross Country Championships in 1984, 1991, 1995, and 2000, organized by the Association in conjunction with Boston's Parks & Recreation Department, as well as a variety of USA masters cross country championships.
• World Cross Country Championships and World Masters Invitational in 1992, organized by Boston's Parks & Recreation Department in conjunction with the Association
• National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships in 1993, organized by the Thunderbolt Track Club (a USATF-NE Club) in conjunction with the New England Association
• National One and Two Hour Race Walking Championships, organized by the New England Walkers (a USATF-NE Club) in conjunction with the New England Association for 13 years.
• USA National Women's Long Distance Running 10 Km Championships, organized by Conventures, Inc.

MEET MANAGEMENT

OFFICIALS

Regional and national level certified officials will officiate at the meet. Several officials have officiated at the 1996 Olympic Games, and most have officiated at other Masters National Championships or other major national events.

VOLUNTEERS

Volunteer services will be provided by members of many of the Association's clubs and by individual USATF-NE members.