The local newspaper in Canton, Ohio — The Repository — ran a nice slice-of-life piece today on two masters decathletes. One is M50 James Reinhard. The other is M80 Denver Smith. The article (reproduced below) tells how Denver inspired Jim to resume the deca game. The moral? You never know who you might meet at the track, so be nice. Change a life. (That assumes you train at a track that isn’t closed to the public. Washington Times columnist and masters runner Steve Nearman had trouble finding a facility last week.)

Here’s the article on the deca duo:
Latter-day Decathletes aim for youthful goals
By DIANA ROSSETTI
He has balanced the books and the budget for Canton City Schools the last 21 years. But who knew Treasurer James Reinhard, 52, could put down a pencil for a vaulting pole, or trade budget hurdles for the real thing?
Before 2004, Reinhard could have been called a fallen-away decathlete, having left the challenging two-day events behind when he graduated from Ohio State University. Twenty-nine years passed.
Reinhard, who will retire from the treasurer’s position Oct. 1, claims he “wasn’t that good” in college decathlons. But a pair of events that occurred the same fateful day in 2004 inspired him to begin training again.
“I was in a place of business and they said it was the boss’s birthday. I asked how old the boss was and they said 30. I thought they were joking. He looked much older,” recalled Reinhard. “That same evening, I was jogging at Malone (College) and there were some people out working on the decathlon. They were college kids and an older gentleman. He turned out to be 79 years old though he looked like he was in his 50s. It was like a religious experience. Do I want an important job and look as old as the 30-year-old boss or do I want to work out like the 79-year-old guy who looked so young?”
The guy who looked so young was retired Louisville teacher and coach Denver Smith.
“You can call it training, sure. I’ve always done the same things, stretch and run,” Smith explained. “I’m from the old school and I never changed my routine. I have a kind of a mini-gym at my home,” said the widower, now 81. “And then I worked out mostly at Malone College outdoors.”
Reinhard and Smith struck up a friendship and began focusing on the same goal, the United States Track and Field masters decathlon of 2005 in Cleveland.
They both competed and finished the 10-event decathlon.
Ever the coach, Smith intended to keep forging ahead and, according to Reinhard, “This past year, he’s pushed me even more.”
Smith was shooting for more points in this year’s event in Seattle, held in July.
“I don’t set too many goals,” he said. “But this year I wanted to break the existing (American and United States) record in my age group.”
The 10 events athletes must complete in what Smith dubs “a two-day grueling-type affair” include a 100-meter run, long jump, shot put, high jump and a 400-meter run the first day. “That separates the men from the boys,” Smith quipped.
The second-day events include hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw and a mile run.
“We ventured west and this time, out of the woodwork came a decathlete who has been sedentary and idle for many years. We hooked up and he came out on top, but we both broke the existing records,” said Smith.
Reinhard was gratified to improve his score over the first year.
Birmingham, Ala., is host for the 2007 event, and both men plan to be there. Both men credit the other for inspiration.
“I might say that it gets awful lonely out there,” Smith conceded. “You can’t get motivated by yourself. It takes someone or something to motivate you, and along comes a person like Jim Reinhard. I suppposed I was motivating to him and he surely motivated me. We were always there to help each other. It’s like a fraternity within itself out there. You go to win but you go to help fellow competitors, too.
“We’re upright creatures. If we could get down on all fours to take the strain off all the hinge-joint areas, it would be great. But we can’t, so it’s survival of the fittest.”