Diane Shrerrer, a central New York running columnist, covered the Cornell races over the weekend and adds to the record. She shares a great story on John Hinton: “The Hartshorne elite races had the potential of producing up to five American or world age-group records — it would get two. But Hinton was never part of that equation because before the race, officials thought he was age 44, not 45. ‘It was better that way — no pressure,’ Hinton said. ‘I needed motivation. I walked into Barton Hall, looked at my bib number and saw the words Hartshorne Mile. I said to myself, ‘This may be the day.’ ” Back home in Colorado, M50 miler David Albo wrote an homage to Hartshorne on his blog.

Here’s Diane’s story, in case the link goes dead:

By Diane Sherrer
John Hinton pulled one more surprise out of his spike bag full of tricks at Saturday’s 41st annual Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile.
The 45-year-old elite miler from Chapel Hill, N.C., arrived at the Barton Hall oval on the Cornell University campus in Ithaca armed with a No. 1 seed, the title of defending champion and numerous national masters track gold and silver medals. So, flying under the radar screen and catching people off guard is no easy feat.
In the Hartshorne men’s elite race, Hinton won his second straight overall title, clocking 4 minutes, 20.18 seconds — the second-fastest time ever recorded in the event’s 41-year history.
Alain Boucher, 45, of Kanata, Ontario, was runner-up in 4:30.60, and 40-year-old Kent Lemme of Williamstown, Mass., was third in 4:31.33.
Jim Derick, 42, of Big Flats, was fifth in 4:40.36.
But Hinton saved the best trick for last. Once the victory was secure, he walked over to the race officials and informed them he had just set a pending American and world record by roughly one second for men ages 45 to 49.
The Hartshorne elite races had the potential of producing up to five American or world age-group records — it would get two. But Hinton was never part of that equation because before the race, officials thought he was age 44, not 45.
“It was better that way — no pressure,” Hinton said about his very first indoor record. “I needed motivation. I walked into Barton Hall, looked at my bib number and saw the words Hartshorne Mile. I said to myself, ‘This may be the day.'”
Hinton, Boucher and Lemme were tightly bunched for the first four laps, led through the 800-meter split in 2:10 by rabbit Scott Weeks of Cortland.
“I knew from last year, when I wanted the meet record, that I went out too fast at a 2:07 pace at 800 meters,” Hinton said. “This year, I tried a different strategy by going for a 2:10. I wanted to feel comfortable, then go from there. Once Scott dropped out of the race, I was feeling loose and good. I got a new life, and my mind started calculating that with two laps to go, if I run a 65-second quarter, I can get the American and world record!”
At 1,200 meters, it was goodbye Hinton.
“John is a machine,” said Boucher, fifth in the 1,500 meters at the 2007 World Masters Track Championships. “My strategy was to hang onto John as long as I could, but when you don’t have it on a given day, you don’t have it.”
The other record-setting performance of the day was achieved by Frank Condon of Chico, Calif., who clocked a pending American record of 5:22.02 for men ages 65 to 69.
The 65-year-old super senior, who owns the American records in the outdoor 800 and mile, was seeded in the section I race, for pacing purposes, with men 20 years his junior who could run times in the range of 5 minutes to 5:30.
“I felt great the first seven laps, then my wheels fell off,” said Condon, who was right on target until one lap to go. “I did want that record, so I had to stay focused. I turned the last corner, saw the clock and said, ‘Oh my God, it’s going to be tight!’ It was the most exciting indoor race I’ve been to.”
In the women’s elite race, defending champion Alisa Harvey, 42, of Manassas, Va., won her second Hartshorne title in 4:52.33. The 11-time All-American at Tennessee is the only woman to break the 5-minute barrier in the 28-year history of the women’s masters mile, and now she’s done it twice.
Zofia Wieciorkowska, 44, of Stratford, Conn., placed second in 5:08.95, while 41-year-old Kim Sheffield of Sarasota, Fla., was third in 5:10.74.
Harvey, the current world record holder among women ages 40 to 44 in the indoor mile and American record holder in the indoor 800 meters, was considered unbeatable.
Right before the race, Wieciorkowska approached Harvey and said, “I’ll have to eat a horse to beat you!”
Rabbit Hollie Rhodes of Elmira led Harvey through 35-second quarters, setting a blistering pace. Wieciorkowska, Sheffield, Canadian Patty Blanchard and former Ithaca College All-American Marisa Hanson were pushing each other and trading positions.
“The race was absolutely exactly as I wanted it to go,” said Harvey, who will attempt to qualify for the Olympic Trials in the open 800 meters this month. “It just flowed. Once Hollie dropped, I felt alone. I didn’t want to push too hard and have the women catch up to me. I then was thinking about the meet record, so on the bell lap, I gave it my all. But I couldn’t get it.”
The men’s elite veterans race was billed as the fastest assembly of 50- to 59-year-old track runners outside of the world championships.
Colin Corkery, 50, of Needham, Mass., won the overall title in an elite veterans meet record of 4:42.94. Corkery was presented the Charlie McMullen Memorial Award created in honor of the Hartshorne Masters Mile three-time champion from Rochester who died of cancer in 2003.
Nolan Shaheed, 57, of Pasadena, Calif., placed second in 4:45.59, and 52-year-old Jerry Kooymans of Markham, Ontario, was third in 4:47.24.
“I didn’t know any of these guys, and they didn’t know me,” said Corkery, who won the men’s 50 to 59 division at the 2007 Fifth Avenue Mile. “I didn’t want to stay on the rabbit (Eric Davis of Ithaca), because that would have been too fast. Instead, I ran one place back, where I could be comfortable for the first half and see what happened.”
The inaugural women’s elite veterans mile was won by Patty Blanchard, 50, of New Dieppe, New Brunswick, who posted a time of 5:22.20. Suzanne Myette, 50, of Binghamton, was second in 5:50.19, and 56-year-old Coreen Steinbach of Pompey, was third in 5:55.25.
Blanchard recently set a world record among women 50 to 54 in the 800 meters (2:25.02).
Additional Twin Tiers runners in the Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile: Russ Derick, Bath, 5:06.71; Scott Bickham, Corning, 5:09.74; Alton Derick, Avoca, 6:47.45; Katie (Danner) Aldridge, 5:18.91; Shirley Woodford, Burdett, 6:19.36.