USA Indoor Track and Field Championships -- Albuquerque

The 2014 USATF indor championships were held in Albuquerque this past weekend. I bought a three day pass for the entire competition.The tickets actually cost less than the parking but I'd rather park close than afew blocksaway, There were several dozen...maybe a couple hundred...athletes in several different competitions over the three days. Many athletes competed in more than oneevent. I expected a larger crowd of spectators but it was respectable --- maybe five hundred. Sitting on a backless bleacher seat for three days was too much.  Next time I'll visit the last day for the finals but I enjoyed seeing how it all comes together.  I think this was the first "adult" track meet I've been to.  There were several competitions. I'll post a few pictures from each one.

Pole Vault -- Men and women. First day was pentathlon and heptathlon.  Men were up to 18' 2 ".

High Jump -- got into the 7+ foot range...about a foot and a half over my head.

Long Jump -- got way out to 26 feet or better.  I missed the triple jump.

Hurdles -- did 60 meters.

Track races -- up to 3000 meters.

Women's Masters

Race Walking -- I never saw Olympic quality race walkers.

Shot Put -- an excellant throw -- one of the best ever.  I missed the weight throw.

Pentathlon Winner

I sat next to a lady who holds the national 5K record for her age group -- she's 91 but looks like 70. I met John Carlos, 1968 Mexico City Olympic medalist and famous for the "Black Power" (Human Rights) salute.

Placitas -- Frozen Waterfall

I took a short walk with a new group this past week. They are very active but my schedule and location gets in the way of my participation. They are also more likely to do all day hikes while I'm still sort of a short hike person.


Anyway, the trip was a short one in the late afternoon up near Placitas, which is not too far from my house....so I decided to go along. The goal of the walk was to visit a frozen waterfall up on the slope of the Sandia foothills.  We had a dozen walkers and met at a local strip mall to work out the transportation carpools. When we finally got started one driver sped ahead and totally missed the turnoff and was lost for a half hour. I drove my pick-up and was in the rear so I managed to get to the starting spot OK. The road was rutted and very rough...a small car could not have made the trip.


We parked in a small lot at the trail head of a major trail up into the Sandias. Our route followed a dry arroyo  for only about a quarter mile. The waterfall was right there...more of a tumbling cascade than a true waterfall but it was impressive.


The waterfall is spring fed and in warm weather it isn't much more than a trickle but in sub freezing weather the trickle freezes and the spring keeps flowing so the amount of frozen water keeps adding to the accumulated ice.