Addressing
this issue only:
Please don't discount events because they are "only Masters".
Masters racers train as hard, spend as much money (actually more), and sacrifice as much time from family and careers to participate as do elites. I've trained alongside elites and have been coached by coaches of elites and, while the volume and intensity of the training may be different, the commitment is the same. The pain is the same. The fatigue is the same. The cramps are the same. The self-doubt is the same.
Note that many top masters also give elites a run for their money. Several masters here on BF also compete at the elite national level. I was coached by a "master" who won the elite Kilo back to back in 2007. He shared the podium with Taylor Phinney in 2008...in his 40s.
Here are the US Elite Sprint and Kilo podiums from 2008. Phinney and Watkins are Olympians. Rockmore was an up and coming elite sprinter (not sure what happened to him). Hill was 42 year old Master.
If I have my story right, Hill was an elite racer when younger, left the sport for career, came back as a master, then got elite fast again.
It's my understanding that
Cari Higgins actually started as a masters racer and got pro fast and represented the US in international elite competition taking home lots of hardware from Pan Ams and World Cups.
I could cite several more examples.
Further...
I'll be damned if I train for a full year only to be beaten by someone who breaks the rules in the biggest event of the year (how many US Masters have been busted for doping?).
All sports is relative. A masters racer lining up for Masters Nationals or Worlds has the same jitters as the elite. And I imagine winning and losing feel equally as sweet and bitter.
Anywho...masters is kind of a big deal at the faster end of it.