I love out-of-the-woodwork stories — when complete unknowns show up and set records. That happened over the weekend in Tumwater, Washington — south of Seattle — which hosted the state’s Senior Games. The athlete is Henry James, and his meet record was an impressive 54.83 in the 400. He’s 50. A week earlier, Henry ran 54.73 at the Seattle Masters Classic. Meg Wochnick wrote this for the local paper: “In just his fourth 400-meter race ever, Henry blew away the competition by more than eight seconds . . . while other athletes and spectators roared with cheers as he came down the homestretch. ‘About four years ago, I thought (the 400) would be something fun to try,” Henry said moments after crossing the finish line.” The 400 “fun”?

Yeah, this guy is warped.
Here’s the whole story:

Daily Olympian (Olympia, WA)
Published July 26, 2008
It’s never too late to start for Senior Games athletes
BY MEG WOCHNICK
TUMWATER — When starting a new sport, age doesn’t factor in for Albert Erickson.
Despite being the youthful age of 79, Erickson, from Monroe, recently started competing in the decathlon. He never competed in track and field in high school. And up until now, he mainly played baseball, softball and a few running events here and there.
But on Saturday, during the Washington State Senior Games track and field events at Tumwater District Stadium, Erickson won the majority of the events in which he competed.
It’s only the second time that he’s participated in track and field events at the annual Senior Games.
“I did a few runs earlier than that,” Erickson said between events. “Mainly, I wanted to do multi-events here.”
Even though he’s new to the decathlon, it didn’t seem to hinder him at last year’s USATF national master’s decathlon/heptathlon championship, either. He placed first in his 75- to 79-year-old age group.
“This year, I’m going to concentrate on multi-events,” said Erickson, who competed in the pole vault, long jump, high jump, discus and javelin on Saturday. “I try to practice a little bit during the year, but when you’re doing multi-events, it’s difficult to find enough time to get good training in. It’s the challenge of doing it, but it’s also a way to stay fit.”
Whether it was track or the field events, more than 1,000 athletes age 50 or older were running, jumping and throwing with an extra spring in their step.
Some shared stories from their days of competing in high school or college, while others made some bold predictions to each other before races and events.
“If I don’t pull a hamstring in this, it’s a good day,” one 100-meter dash participant said to another while getting set in the starting blocks.
Henry James, 50, made the most of his trip up Interstate 5 on Saturday for his first Senior Games.
James, who’s from Bellingham, drove to Tumwater from Portland, where his daughter’s soccer team was playing in a tournament this weekend, solely to compete in the 400-meter dash.
In just his fourth 400-meter race ever, Henry blew away the competition by more than eight seconds with a meet-record time of 54.83 seconds while other athletes and spectators roared with cheers as he came down the homestretch.
The previous record in the 50-54 age group was 57.03 seconds, set by David Ortman in 2006.
“About four years ago, I thought (the 400) would be something fun to try,” Henry said moments after crossing the finish line. “I used to be a distance runner, and I still try and do half-marathons and 10K’s when I can. But age is catching up with me.
“I like the strategy and speed of the 400,” Henry added. “It’s a hard race, but it’s great for the most part. It’s very challenging, and I like that.”
Lacey residents David and Lisbeth Naber have been competing in Senior Games events since 1990, although not always in Washington.
They moved to South Sound in the mid-’90s from Pennsylvania and used to go to other states’ Senior Games and try to qualify for nationals before Washington offered such opportunities.
Lisbeth, 80, won the shot put in the 80-84 age group at 13 feet, 5 inches, just shy of her 13-9 mark in last year’s event.
David, 78, won the 1,500-meter race walk in his age group, finishing with a time of 13:14.36.
“I’m 80 years old. I’ve done the shot put many times,” Lisbeth Naber said. “But I’m not very good at it. I usually play baseball, but I didn’t do it because I didn’t train for it.”
At the young age of 91, Lacey resident George Rowswell was the oldest competitor in the track and field events. And just like he did last year, he won the shot put and discus in his 90-94 age group with throws of 15-1 and 30-7, respectively.
Also held at Tumwater High School were the 3-on-3 half-court basketball games and free-throw and hot-shot shooting that took place inside the gymnasium, where dozens of athletes participated.
Senior Games events continue today and Monday at various sites around South Sound.

BTW, the 400 record that Henry beat — by Dave Ortman — was relatively soft. Dave ran his 57.03 at the age of 53. (And was only one of several events Dave entered that year.)
This year, now M55, Dave returned to the Washington Senior Games and accomplished this ironman feat:
In his first event, the 200, he clocked a meet age-group record of 25.70.
Then he took two long jumps off his non-jumping leg to save wear and tear on
the other one. Took second with a 16-3, about two feet short of his usual.
Then he ran the 100 in 12.55, another meet record, and then took some high jumps, winning at 5-2.
Next he tackled the 400, winning in 57.76, another meet record.
Then Dave did the triple jump, setting yet another meet record with only two tries: 33-5.
Dave writes: “So five firsts, one second, and four M55-59 meet records and no new injuries. When I first started attending the Senior Games, most folks looked older. Now some of them are starting to look YOUNGER. What’s up with that?”
Next up for Dave is Spokane nationals. He’s entered in these events:
Thursday – Pentathlon (LJ, DIS, 200m JAV, 1500m)
Friday – 100m (semi) and open LJ
Saturday – 100m, High Jump
Sunday – 400m Hurdles, Triple Jump
Now go get some rest, Dave.
You, too. Henry. (He’ll be in Spokane as well.)