Even the school next to my house is looking forward to the World Masters Championships.

This week, Kamloops will be the host of the 2010 World Masters Indoor Athletics Championships.  Kamloops is often the host of sporting events and is even known as the Tournament Capital of Canada.  With thousands of athletes coming from across the globe, this will be one the largest events the city has ever hosted.  The whole town is behind the event and it should be a great success.

Like many in this sport, I am forever in debt to masters athletes.  Specifically, I am in debt to Ken Weinbel of the Seattle Masters Track Club.  His efforts built the only hammer cage in Seattle and he also let me borrow equipment and provided feedback when I first started out in the event.  I still enjoy training there when I’m in town, and always get motivated when 97-year-old Leon Joslin shows up to take some throws. Leon played high school football with Gerald Ford and ran track with Jesse Owens at Ohio State.  Rather than playing bridge, he throws the discus for fun and I get to throw alongside him.

If you are coming to town for the competition, let me know.  I will be volunteering for a few of the events, but I still must throw twice a day and won’t have time to catch everything.  You’re always welcome to come watch us train. I am also free almost every evening and love catching up with throwers over some good food or a beer.  If nothing else, I can point you to some good places to eat.  For example, try Duffy’s Pub for some quality beers and great food or the Swiss-owned Peter’s Pasta (pronounced PASS-ta up here) downtown for Italian.  I could go on, but now I’m getting hungry. Hopefully, I’ll see you soon.