Career
As a hurdler for the University of California, Moore tied the world record in the 120 yard high hurdles (the Imperial distance equivalent to the 110 metre hurdles) at 14.2. Prior to running a Berkeley, he had run for Sacramento City College where he was coached by Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Weldon. Sports Illustrated shows a picture of him in Milan, Italy during the 1935 European season, helping carry injured sprinting prodigy Eulace Peacock off the track.
Toward the end of his running career in 1942, he was asked to help with a start up track and field event at Modesto Junior College.
Moore served as the starter for the first meet for all but one race. He had his running shorts on under his uniform and hastily changed to run.
He gained a reputation as a top track and field official Foreign most of its 67-year run in Modesto Moore"s name would go on to become synonymous with the event called the Modesto Relays.
Moore did almost everything else to make the meet what it became, from attracting top name talent to adjusting the lights toward the track (rather than just the football field).
Moore found sponsorship from South&West Foods that brought notoriety to the otherwise sleepy Central Valley town. When South&West dropped its sponsorship in 1994, Moore found a new sponsor in Coca Cola. At that first meet in 1942, "Dutch" Warmerdam set a world record in the pole vault with a bamboo pole.
He served as head of the United States Olympic Committee"s task force to select a bidding city for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
He was elected into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame as an Event Director in 1988. After his death in 2004, the Modesto Relays was renamed the "Tom Moore Modesto Relays.".
