The Track Starter – “by” Kelly
Angela Murdock is nervous before every track meet. With a gun in her hand, she’d be more worried if she didn’t feel nervous.
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Transcript :
I own seven starter pistols. I guess it’s a feeling of power. My adrenaline gets going to start the race as much as the kids gets going to run the race.
So it’s on your marks, get set, and then the gun.
On your marks
Set
A lot of people don’t enjoy being starters: it’s a lot of pressure because you control the race. Your timing is crucial because if you take too long, you’ll hold somebody too long, they’ll jump and get a slow start.
Well I discovered track and field at the age of 4, and then from there it just continued to grow. and then I became an official b/c my girls were born and they started running.
Normal day to day job is I’m the VP of finance for wycoff heights medical center.
I no longer compete in track and field, so this is the next best thing. I guess it still gives me the authority of being able to maintain track and field. Some meets you earn nothing. Starter officials, you don’t really get a compensation. Some meets will pay a stipend for your services there and some meets you just add to your resume .
I work so hard for barely any money b/c its not really about the money that I’m doing this for. Its just for the love of the sport of track and field and for the sport of starting races and officiating the races.
A trackhead is someone who just evolves everything around track and field.
I own seven starter pistols. I guess it’s a feeling of power. My adrenaline gets going to start the race as much as the kids gets going to run the race.
So it’s on your marks, get set, and then the gun.
On your marks
Set
A lot of people don’t enjoy being starters: it’s a lot of pressure because you control the race. Your timing is crucial because if you take too long, you’ll hold somebody too long, they’ll jump and get a slow start.
Well I discovered track and field at the age of 4, and then from there it just continued to grow. and then I became an official b/c my girls were born and they started running.
Normal day to day job is I’m the VP of finance for wycoff heights medical center.
I no longer compete in track and field, so this is the next best thing. I guess it still gives me the authority of being able to maintain track and field. Some meets you earn nothing. Starter officials, you don’t really get a compensation. Some meets will pay a stipend for your services there and some meets you just add to your resume .
I work so hard for barely any money b/c its not really about the money that I’m doing this for. Its just for the love of the sport of track and field and for the sport of starting races and officiating the races.
A trackhead is someone who just evolves everything around track and field.
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Angela Murdock is a self-described “track head.” She lives and breathes track and field.
Murdock comes from a legacy of track and field runners: her mother ran track and field, her siblings ran track and field, and now her daughters run track and field. Now that she can no longer run herself, becoming a master’s official is the only way she can stay close to the sport. Murdock dedicates most weekends to officiating and starting races at track meets. Her compensation usually only around $100 for an entire day — sometimes she earns nothing at all.
Murdock has been working meets for 15 years and hopes to be a starter at the Olympic trials or even the Olympics one day. She even owns six of her own starter pistols.
On a day that Murdock works a track meet, she starts at around 5 a.m. She gets her kids ready for school, she heads to work at her full-time accounting job, rushes to get everything finished, heads out the door around 4 p.m., then goes straight to the track meet and often doesn’t get home until 11 p.m.. Then she still has house chores and cooking to do. The next day she gets up and does it all over again.
Murdock says it’s not about the recognition or prestige of being a track starter, it’s about the love of the sport.
Angela Murdock is a self-described “track head.” She lives and breathes track and field.
Murdock comes from a legacy of track and field runners: her mother ran track and field, her siblings ran track and field, and now her daughters run track and field. Now that she can no longer run herself, becoming a master’s official is the only way she can stay close to the sport. Murdock dedicates most weekends to officiating and starting races at track meets. Her compensation usually only around $100 for an entire day — sometimes she earns nothing at all.
Murdock has been working meets for 15 years and hopes to be a starter at the Olympic trials or even the Olympics one day. She even owns six of her own starter pistols.
On a day that Murdock works a track meet, she starts at around 5 a.m. She gets her kids ready for school, she heads to work at her full-time accounting job, rushes to get everything finished, heads out the door around 4 p.m., then goes straight to the track meet and often doesn’t get home until 11 p.m.. Then she still has house chores and cooking to do. The next day she gets up and does it all over again.
Murdock says it’s not about the recognition or prestige of being a track starter, it’s about the love of the sport.
