Track & Field records could be broken at McKenzie meet

Blackmore and Godwin vying for top times in America

FINN ROCK: USA Track and Field Oregon has announced it will be holding Oregon championship races on the track at the 3,000m and 25,000m distances. The event is set to start at 9 a.m. on Sunday, September 10th, at McKenzie Community Track and Field in Finn Rock. The Oregon Track Club Masters is a major sponsor of the event.

Both races will serve as the USATF Oregon Championships for men and women for open athletes (up through age 29), as well as sub-masters (age 30-39) and masters athletes (ages 40 and up). All USATF members are welcome to enter, and runners without a membership may easily sign up during the entry process.

The 3,000m race will feature an American record attempt by Mike Blackmore in the 55-59 age group.

The existing record of 9:21.84 was set by Rich Burns in 2010. Blackmore had a near miss at the record, running 9:24.29 to win the Hayward Classic in April.

Blackmore has been a promin-ent local runner for many years. He was a scoring member of the University of Oregon’s 1984 NCAA Track and Field Championship team, earned All-American honors in both cross country and track, and was the 1987 World University Games silver medalist in the 5,000m.

He has lifetime bests of 3:57 in the mile and 13:37 for 5,000m. As a masters runner, he is a two-time national champion, and a WMA World Championships silver medalist. 25,000m is a somewhat unusual event for the track, with the most notable recent race being Moses Mosop setting a world record at 25,000m (and continuing on to 30,000m) at the 2011 Prefontaine Classic. The 25,000m race (15.54 miles) consists of 62.5 laps. Runners will be able to attempt a unique double by running the USATF Oregon Track 25,000m Championships on September 10th, and then the USATF Oregon Road 25K Championships in Central Point on January 27, 2018.

Craig Godwin of Eugene will be attempting to break three American records in one race in the 50-54 age group. He will be shooting for the 39 year old 15,000m track record of 52:52, and then continue on for another 25 laps to try to break the 20,000m and 25,000m American records as well. Godwin had a major heart attack in 2011, but came back to be the 2012 masters national champion at 10,000m. He is making another comeback after a series of foot surgeries in 2013, 2014, and 2015.

Event entry and additional race information can be found at http://www.OTCMasters.org />

McKenzie River Reflections