There are a host of entities that offer opportunities for masters athletes to compete.

• USATF – The main organization for all things T & F in the United States. Most local associations will have an indoor and outdoor championship specific to open & masters or even an all ages championship. There is also a USATF Regional Championship and National Championship for masters. Your local association’s website should have all of these listed in the events or upcoming events section

• State Senior Olympics & National Senior Games (NSG) – For athletes 50+, each state offers a Senior Games/Senior Olympics. When you compete in an even numbered year at the state level and achieve a top 4 finish in an event, it qualifies you for the National Senior Games in the following year in that event. The state level is still contested in the odd numbered years, but there can be less participants in a “non qualifying year”. Most states allow out of state participants, so whether trying to qualify or just for fun, you can compete in more than your ‘home’ state. Links to the state games can be found here

• World Masters Athletics (WMA) – The WMA offers a World Championship for Indoor & Outdoor T & F. This is generally for the most serious of competitors, not just for the level of competition, but also the fact that significant travel is often involved. It is a very exciting time right now in the United States as Gainesville, Florida has won the bid for the World Indoor Championships in 2025. The website for this meet can be found here

• IMGA Pan-American Masters Games – An Olympic style multi-sport event that occurs every four years. It is in Cleveland, Ohio in 2024 with registration open now here

• Huntsman World Senior Games – A multi-sport competition held annually since 1987 in St. George, Utah. A unique ‘stand alone’ entity so grand, and well respected, that it needed to be listed

• DirectAthletics.com – Often overlooked, sites like this are a nice ‘catch all’ for various meets that allow open entries. You will not competing as a masters athlete, you are simply competing as an individual open athlete. These meets are more popular with athletes 49 and under as you aren’t requesting a different hurdle height or having them understand your implement won’t weigh as the other athletes. Sometimes those accommodations are not willing to be made. It also is a good idea to check the meet history results to see if you remain in the competitive range of the meet. To find meets, make a free account and on the home page click “I am an athlete entering an event” -> Show filters -> Enter the date range and state, then check the boxes for Open and Future, Track & Field, Public/Individual -> click on the green button that says “Apply Filters”

• Random/Other – Whether a track club, senior focused entity, a corporation/business there are numerous other meets available. Due to the volume, it would be impossible to capture all of them here. A few examples of these type meets would be the Cleveland Track Classic hosted by the Ohio Masters Elite Track Club (formerly known as the Over the Hill Track Club) every summer in Independence, Ohio and is open to anyone or the Meijer State Games of Michigan, which the author hears is an incredible event, but only for residents of the state. Finding these type meets can be challenging with the best recommendation being to monitor Masters Track and Field and Masters/Seniors T/F Meets Facebook Groups