Only five days after winning the masters division at the Carlsbad 5000 in 14:57, new M40 Kevin Castille of Kentucky went after the kiddies at the Stanford Invitational on Friday night. He took 19th. But his real goal was a qualifying time for the Eugene Olympic Trials. Mission accomplished. He clocked 28:57.88 — only 36 seconds behind winner Dathan Ritzenhein, the Olympian. The listed American record is 30:04.43 by Paul Aufdemberge in 2005. The listed WR is 28:30.88 by Finnish Olympian Martti Vainio in 1991. At Carlsbad on Sunday, Kevin told an interviewer: “I just turned 40 on March 17 and wanted to start the Masters off right.” Castille said he hoped to qualify for the Trials in the 10,000 meters. Since the B “provisional” standard is 29:00, he’s almost assured of being in the field. The A standard is 28:15. Kevin ran the 10K at the 2004 Trials but didn’t finish.
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USATF has been posting daily summaries from Finland. Nice. But Jared Slinde, USATF communications manager, is too trusting of the results site. Not so nice. For example, he wrote: “Robert Lida recorded his second world record in as many days to win one of two gold medals for Team USA … Thursday. Lida (M75) grabbed the world record in the 200m with a time of 27.64 to follow up the world mark he set in the 60m Wednesday.” Wrong on both counts. Bob ran faster in both sprints three months ago, including a 27.03. If this happened at the Olympic Trials in Eugene, the media would hammer USATF for gross incompetence. I won’t say that. Just laziness. Ask the athlete if they set a record. They usually know.

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M45 thrower Steven Harrison hasn’t been in the West Virginia Legislature since 2006, but his story was news to me. Local paper reveals: “After Harrison opted not to run for reelection when his Senate term expired in 2006, he found he had a little extra time on his hands. While attending a conference in Huntington, he picked up a copy of Track & Field News at a bookstore, and read an article about the USA Masters Track & Field organization, which tabulates rankings for amateur athletes age 30 and up.” So this one’s for you, John Seto! Your rankings helped recruit a hot one!

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With top prizes of $200 and entry fees of $25 per event, this looks like a winner — as telegraphed a month ago. Long hurdles champion Tony Echeandia has launched a website for the Puerto Rico Masters Grand Prix meet, which reveals: “The prize money is coming from private sponsors like Tony’s own company and others he does business with both in NYC and PR. It will be awarded to the first 5 positions in each event, and the Grand Prix events will be determined by the response received from the various athletes [who] wish to compete. The event … will be international with an open invitation to any athlete that wishes to compete from Europe.”

Bill Collins just missed his own pending world record in the 60-meter dash on Day 2 of indoor worlds in Finland. Rob Jerome, who took the amazing shot below, writes of Bill’s 7.59-second mark (only his 7.58 from Bloomington is faster for M60): “Bill just keeps getting better and better despite his recent health problems,” Rob says. “As the second- and third-place winners bow their heads at the finish line, it looks like they are giving Bill the respect he deserves!” But he was a footnote to an incredible day of dashing: Vladimir Vybostok of the Slovak Republic twice lowered the listed M65 WR, first clocking 7.92 and then 7.81 in the final. Same for Germany’s Ingrid Meier, posting a WR 8.91 and then 8.80 in the W65 final. Tilly Jacobs of the Netherlands was credited with a WR 8.44 in the W55 final, Canada’s Christa Bortignon a WR 10.04 in the W75 final, Finland’s Matti Jarvinen a WR 13.02 in the M85 final and America’s Bob Lida an 8.56 in the M75 final (short of a pending WR 8.49 earlier this year). Whew!

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M65 sprint star Stan Whitley of SoCal had a cool experience Sunday — meeting some legends of our sport at the California Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Besides Tommie Smith, his generation’s top long sprinter, he had photos taken with the likes of Wyomia Tyus, John Carlos and Ron Freeman. He also met NBA star Rick Barry and NFL greats Rosie Grier and Eric Dickerson.

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On Day 1 of worlds, Phil Raschker added to her legend by setting another world record in the pentathlon — her second of the season. At Bloomington nationals, she scored 4,670 points. Today in Jyväskylä, she raised the bar to 4,713. Her marks and points: 10.62 / 1123 (60 hurdles), 4.18 / 1007 (long jump), 7.55 / 696 (shot put), 1.30 / 1119 (high jump) and 3:16.30 / 768 (800 meters). We also hear from Weia Reinboud: “Olga Kotelko just jumped 0.61 (2-0) in the pentathlon. She is 93 and the oldest women ever in the high jump! Phil did an attempt at 1.33 (4-4 1/4) but stopped after her first try. The indoor world record W65 is 1.31 (outdoor much higher).”

Below is a screen shot of the WMA website on Day 1 of indoor worlds. It barely hints that the meet is under way in Finland. In what other sport would a world championship not be trumpeted by its governing body? No photos? No highlights of the day? Go figure. In any case, results are being posted live now at the Jyväskylä site.

It took Kathy Martin 11:16.6 to set a W60 world indoor record in the 3000 this season. It took her 10 years to get the attention she deserves in The New York Times. Sunday’s edition carried a revealing profile by Pulitzer Prize winner Barry Bearak. Along with a must-see video, the 3,000-word piece, which quotes moi, talks about her recent knee injury — which led her to scratch at Bloomington. But this anecdote tells you all you need to know about Kathy and her frame of mind: It was not until she was in her late 40s that someone persuaded her to enter a track meet. She competed as a master in events like the mile and the 3,000 meters. She recalled: “I did a few events, and they said, ‘You know, you’re just a few seconds from the world record.’ “I said: ‘Really? There are records?’ ” Classic unassuming Kathy.

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I’ve changed my Sacramento 2011 message board to Jyväskylä 2012. Check it out. As I write in the latest post: “If you can’t attend indoor worlds (like me), you can still talk about it. And if you’re going, you can share your highs, lows and observations. Since memories fail over time (ask me about it!), it’s wise to record your experiences while fresh. Why not here?” Thanks to my Lahti 4×1 teammate Jim Broun for the idea!