Marilyn Mitchell, the longtime masters official from New York, writes: “The travel organization for the WMA Jyvaskala organizers has just told me that they will be organizing two charter buses (morning and evening)  from the Helsinki Airport to Jyvaskala, if she has at least 30 people for each bus.  They have not yet determined the dates nor the times of the bus from the airport. It depends upon when the athletes will be arriving. The cost would be 46 euros one-way, instead of the 52 euros which the normally-scheduled bus will charge. If you think you will be interested in the chartered bus, please let me know and send me your arrival date and arrival time and I will forward it to the organizers.” This is indoor worlds, of course. For info, write Marilyn at mmitchell46@hotmail.com

Bob Lida’s M75 world indoor records for the 60 and 200 were amazing in themselves. Now we learn anuther stunner: How Bob did ’em — by correcting a decades-old flaw. Bob writes: “I mentioned I coached the sprinters at a local high school. In doing so, I am working alongside the former coach of Wichita State University — J.K. Kornelson. He is an outstanding technician. We were talking about stride length, and I realized I have been overstriding all of my life. All of my life!” Here’s a cell-phone video shot by Larry Staton, whom Bob calls an outstanding 60+ sprinter from Wichita. Larry had to scratch from the race due to hamstring problems.

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You can’t hear this enough: Masters tracksters can’t train like the kiddies. Latest reminder is in a savvy profile of M50 sprinter Craig Davis in Florida: “I want to do what it takes to compete when I’m 75,” Craig is quoted as saying. “I know you need more rest as an older athlete.” Adds his coach, Jeff Elliott: “The most successful Masters athletes are careful, and at the same time, lucky in preventing injuries.” I also like how Craig transitioned to track: “I did some 5K races over the years, then found out about the Sunshine State Games in 2005, which was when I started training with the Masters,” said Davis, who began competitive running in high school. “It’s a sport where you practice so much that when you’re competing you don’t think of anything because you’re already programmed.”

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According to this article in the Naples News: “Sonja Friend-Uhl of Brentwood, Tenn., … is going for the U.S. Masters record in the indoor mile Saturday at the Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile in Ithaca, N.Y.” Sonja is 40, so she’d be shooting for the listed American record of 4:47.26 by some jogger named Alisa Harvey. That’s the listed WR as well. Pretty gutsy to call her shot. Good luck, Sonja!

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Meb Keflezighi will NOT be in the running for masters honors this year. That’s guaranteed. But he’ll get over it, since he’s ticketed for the London Olympic marathon, when he’ll be 37. USA Today’s report: “Running his best marathon time ever, [Meb] beat Ryan Hall to take the win at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston on Saturday with an unofficial time of 2:09:07. Hall finished second to join Meb in the 2012 London Olympics. Abdi Abdirahman finished third. This is the first U.S. Trials in history in which three men finished under 2:10, and according to Runner’s World the first time since the 1983 Boston Marathon three men have gone under 2:10 in the same event.” Way to go, my fellow San Diegan! Go Meb!

M75 sprint superstar Bob Lida — my fellow Jayhawk— added to his legend Jan. 12 at Wichita State University, crushing world indoor records in the 60 and 200. He ran 8.49 and 27.03 at the Herm Wilson Invitational, where they have a 200-meter nonbanked Mondo track. (See results here.) He erased German Wolfgang Reuter’s listed WRs of 8.62 and 28.98. I’m assuming the meet was NCAA sanctioned, so it should be OK by USATF. In any case, Bob will have another shot at Bloomington nationals.

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KMVT Community Television — a nonprofit serving the Bay Area towns of Mountain View, Cupertino and Los Altos — says it broadcasts to more than 100,000 viewers. It also posts shows on YouTube, and one is an interview with local Senior Olympics superstar Don Pellmann, 96. If you can put up with the rudimentary questions, Don’s answers and personality are revelatory. He’s as sharp as he is fit. He says he’s been in 100-plus meets over the past quarter-century — winning all golds except five. He says his wife’s failing health and the expense of travel have cut down his competitions.

I’m reminded that the Run For The Dream Indoor Meet is back Jan. 20 at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California. It’s a high-class elite event with a half-dozen or so masters events on the track (plus the shot; my apologies for not mentioning this). Mainly sprints, hurdles and mile. Here are last year’s results. The schedule is posted here. Not sure what the entry deadline is, but since they had empty lanes last year, I’d recommend you jump on this anyway. Best of luck to all.

Don Isett reports he bettered the listed M70 world indoor vault record four times Jan. 7 at the Texas Pole Vault Roundup at Joshua High School, south of Fort Worth. After clearing 3.24 (10-7 1/2) to beat his good friend Terry Cannon’s 3.23 record, he went on to go 3.27 (10-8 3/4), 3.33 (10-11) and finally 3.35 meters (10-11 3/4), he reports. The meet was USATF-sanctioned and three certified judges were present.  “They are submitting the record request for an indoor world record,” Don writes. (Update: Results are now posted as a PDF here.) His 3.35 is equivalent to an open mark (age 20-30) of 6.21 (20-4 1/2). That’s Bubka-esque! Don’t know if Don is going to Finland for indoor worlds, but just FYI: Deadline for registering is Feb. 12, says the USATF site.

Meredith Melnick, a 29-year-old writer for Huffington Post, discovered the story of R. Laurence Macon, who at age 66 ran 113 marathons in 2011. Curious about what other old folks are doing, she contacted me. The result is this story about “7 Senior Fitness All-Stars Who Stay Competitive.” Meredith writes for the Healthy Living section of HuffPost, which has more online readers than The New York Times. So this is great. I suggested some names of people to include — Willie Gault, Phil Raschcker, Ed Whitlock and Don Pellman, for example. Meredith featured them in a slide show. She also linked to my site. Thanks, MM!