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Rick Lee, 65, and his friend Kathy Huggins, 55, went 7,950 miles together to South Korea and got this picture. Each won gold medals in the 10k at the 2026 World Masters Athletic Championships. Rick also set a world record in the 2000 steeplechase.
By Ray Glier
If I have learned anything in the four years doing this newsletter it is that Geezer Jocks have a certain flexibility when they reach 65, 70, 75 years old. They set goals in competitions, but goals are not lines in the sand. To be upright and doing hurdles, or 10k road races, or biking 20k is what matters more than the glory.
So it is with Rick Lee, 65. His 13-day fun ride in Daegu, South Korea for the 2026 World Masters Athletics Championships started spectacularly with a world record in the 2000 Steeplechase and then another gold medal win in the 10k road race.
And then sizzle went to fizzle with a 5th in the 800 and a near-disaster and 7th-place finish in the 5000. Lee hoped to be on the podium for both.
And Rick said flatly, "I'm not disappointed at all."
I previewed Rick's quest last week.Four of his seven WMA races are in the book and he hit two targets. Still a win, he insisted.
By his measure, he did not fizzle. He competed and moved on. Believe me when I say I have encountered plenty of athletes in 50+years as a sportswriter who would have dwelled on the 800 and 5000 as serious setbacks.
As for his wins, Lee led the 2000 Steeplechase start to finish and won by 47 seconds over runnerup Chris Deighan of Canada. It was a world record 7:09.29.
The 10k was more dramatic. The race was run with mixed age groups where the 35-year olds and 40-year olds naturally break out to the front.
"I had no idea if anyone was ahead of me," Rick said.
He finally picked out his main competition, the Argentinian Fernando Marron. Lee passed Marron at the 8k mark and then held off China's Ziglang Jiang to win in 38.48, 21 seconds ahead of the Chinese star.
After advancing tthrough the qualifying round to the 800-meter final, Rick could chuckle at himself being out of his lane in such a short race. "The real middle distance runners showed up," said the guy who got into racing with ultramarathons and marathons. He was 5th in 2:24.03. Anthony Grendon of South Africa won in 2:14.94.
Two days later in the 5000, Lee face-planted with dehydration on the final lap, got up, and staggered to the finish line finishing seventh in 19:06.19. In a July race in New Jersey Rick ran 17:36 so clearly he was not at his best.
Rick has the Half Marathon, the 1500, and the 8k Cross Country left in the WMA. I expect him to do well. If he doesn't, I expect he will handle it with poise.
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When I first wrote about David Gibbon, a lawyer from Mississippi, he was running the 100 meters at the USATF Masters Outdoors Championships in 11.67 seconds. He was 57 and would have been the 100-meter champion in the 1896 Olympics in Athens, Greece. Thomas Burke of the U.S. ran the race in 12 seconds 130 years ago and won gold. He was 21 years old.
Gibbon is 60 now and competing in the World Masters Athletics championships. David still woulld have won an Olympic gold medal 130 years ago. Gibbon won the 100-meter dash at the 2026 WMA a week ago in 11.74 seconds.
More spectacular was Gibbon's anchor leg in 4x100 relay. After trouble with the baton handoff, he made up 10 meters and won with a lean at the finish. The gold medal team was Mike Bradecamp, Danny Richie, Francois Boda, and Gibbon. Here is the thrilling finish of 4x100.
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Kenton Brown, 80, also ran fast in South Korea. Brown doesn't look like your everyday sprinter, but he can pick them up and put them down. Ken set a world record in the 100 meters in 14.16 seconds for men 80+.
I wrote about Brown in June 25. Read about this pyschiatrist and his routine of “imaging” before every race.
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Scott Eriksson of the U.S. won gold medals in Daegu in the discus and shot put (M65). Scotthas now won eight World Masters Championships titles to go with 22 U.S. national titles.
The publisher of National Masters News, Scott holds American Masters records in discus and indoor shot put and set the M60–64 World Championships meet record in shot put. He was named USATF Masters Men’s Athlete of the Year (Men age 60–64) for three consecutive years from 2022 to 2024.
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