When I reported the M65 world record 4×2 relay at Daegu, I referred to the U.S. squad as a “dream team.” In fact, I didn’t know much about one member — Charlie Powell. Now we do, thanks to his local paper in Casper, Wyoming. Turns out that Charlie, a “psychologist by trade,” is a former mayor and current councilman — a combination of long sprinter Larry Barnum and Carroll DeWeese. The story says: “Powell ran high school track and has participated in the Cowboy State Games but said he didn’t get involved in national competitions until he turned 40.” I looked up his results at ABQ and Daegu. He’s definitely a stud.

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Austrian walker Franz Kropik called Daegu “one of the best, maybe the best, championship I’ve ever seen!” Photographer Rob Jerome raved: “Everything ran on time. The officials and assistants were particularly skillful and helpful. Signs were in multiple languages, and even the transportation system was easy to use. Assistants were everywhere and eager to help.” The main arena was a space-age wonder, but “Stadium B” — the Daegu Life Sports Center — was something out of the Dark Ages. Or maybe the Ice Age. Former USATF Masters national chairman George Mathews called it “terribly cold.” He said big doors were left open “supposedly since it was an extension of the warmup straightaway that didn’t seem to be used on the outside portion.” The chill “definitely affected” his performance. (He took bronze in the M70 weight throw.) “Had to wear multiple layers of clothing, which constricted my movement. Wonder if it was heated at all. They had some electric heaters, which were for the officials. Also, it was up a very steep hill, which took away energy to get there. No shuttle up the hill” for the jumpers and throwers assigned there.

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Bob Lida of Wichita wasn’t in Kansas anymore. South Korea was about as far as you get from Dorothy and Toto Land. In fact, Bob was the Wizard of Daegu — setting M80 world records in the 200 and 400. And topping off the week, he was named USATF Athlete of the Week. “Lida surpassed his own M80 200m WR, clocking 29.15 to easily take down his 29.84 from the USATF Masters Indoor Championships in Albuquerque last month,” USATF said. “Lida then took down the listed M80 400m world record of 1:11.24 (Earl Fee, Canada, 2009), finishing in 1:10.20. In addition, Lida won gold in the 60m also helped secure top honors in the 4x200m relay. Lida’s world-class performances contributed to Team USATF’s 42 gold and 108 total medals. USA came in third overall, out of 74 nations and more than 4,600 athletes, behind Australia and Great Britain.”

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Jay Stone of Australia won two gold medals at Daegu. Nice! Congrats. But don’t expect his local paper to provide details. Like how old he is, or what his times were. Trivial stuff. But Jay is a great illustration of the all-comers-meet nature of worlds. It’s not his fault that his M35 group was weak. He won the 200 in 22.68 and the 400 in 50.25. But those marks would have gotten third and second in the M40 2 and 4, respectively. “For the experienced short-distance runner, he entered the event as a rookie, having never raced on an indoor track before,” the story says, and quoted Jay: “It was very different, I hadn’t done any indoor racing before, so it was something completely new for me. I did have the opportunity to sneak on to the track for a very light training session the day I arrived. And that was invaluable because I had my 200 metre heat the next day and otherwise I would have gone in completely blind.”

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Mark Cleary sends very sad news: “Sumi Onodera-Leonard passed away on Saturday, March 25, around 5:30pm. She was an active member of the SoCal Track Club since 2002. She set several age group American records (even world records as a W80) and won countless national titles as recently as 2016. Sumi was inducted into the Masters USA Track & Field Hall of Fame in 2006. Her memorial will be held on Sunday, April 9, at 5 p.m. at Nichiren Church, 2801 E. 4th St. Los Angeles, CA 90033.” She recovered from a nearly fatal auto 2003 accident in Arizona and specialized in the 4 and 8. Will add more later.

Wayne Bennett reports from Texas on the latest edition of the 200-meter age-graded handicap exhibition at the Bobby Lane Invitational at UT Arlington. Wayne, now 80, won last year. On Saturday, the victor was Dr. Kent Brown, 72, who ran 145.3 meters in 19.47. Second was Matt Pace, 62, 154.6 in 20.60, then Marcus Santi, 45, 178.7 in 21.47. Fourth was Lindy Raney, 58, 163.2 in 21.61. Fifth was Reggie Garner, 56, 165.4 in 22.33, with Wayne in sixth — 127.1 in 22.46. Seventh was Gary Tannehill, 59, 162.1 in 23.92. “We think this is a great opportunity to show college athletes and their parents what older athletes can do and maybe encourage someone to join us,” Wayne writes. “Last year’s race encouraged Gary Tannehill to start competing in masters track. We really enjoy this race.”

Folks are returning to their home countries after Daegu worids, and local media are cheering their achievements. Over the next few months, watch for many more. In Germany, the track federation celebrated M50 Roland Gröger and compatriots with records. “I did not enter the 60 meters to concentrate fully on the 400 meters,” said Gröger (M50, TopFit Berlin) after winning the final round of the second round on Sunday in Daegu. In this start-to-finish victory, he improved his own indoor world record from January 2017 from 51.92 seconds to 51.73 seconds,” said one report. We also learn: “At the end of the 7th World Championships for Senior Citizens, the Lord Mayor of Daegu thanked all athletes for their participation in the first World Championships for Senior Citizens in Asia. At the same time, thanks went to the many volunteers. For the many young volunteers there was as a small compensation for their work, and for the attending audience the concert a concert with the most famous and most famous singer and songwriter of South Korea, Hwang Chi Yeul. The President of the World Masters Athletic Association, Stan Perkins, thanked the world champions for their perfectly organized World Championship, which will leave a lasting impression on the more than 4,000 athletes.” Videos are popping up, too:

How do you do better than this for an M65 relay — Charles Allie, Charles Powell, Thad Wilson and Bill Collins? That dream team made four circuits of the Daegu track to set a 4×200 world record of 1:48.58 Saturday to slice the listed WR of 1:49.78 by a Guido Müller-anchored German team at 2004 Sindelfingen worlds. That’s an average of 27.15 per leg. Amazing. And three other Yank squads set American records on the final day of worlds — W55, M35 and M50. Masters media guru Bob Weiner did double duty at Daegu. He ran the M65 1500 (7:32.96), 3000 (DNF) and 8K cross country (48:49.00) all while overseeing publicity. Here’s his world meet wrap-up.

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Kathy Martin on Saturday ran 1500 meters in 5:25.29 at Daegu worlds to crush the listed W65 WR of 5:36.88 by Britain’s Angela Copson. This means she now has WRs for 800, 1500, mile and 3000 this season. Also notching his second WR of the meet is M80 Bob Lida, whose 400 in 1:10.20 destroys the listed WR of 1:11.24 by Canadian legend Earl Fee in 2009. Earlier, Bob bounced his own 200 WR, clocking 29.15 — way better than his 29.84 from the recent ABQ nationals. Also setting records were Germany’s Roland Gröger, whose 51.73 lowered his own season best 51.92 and M50 WR for 400. And Aussie Jeanette Flynn (1:10.34) and Brit Caroline Marler (1:11.72) both broke the listed W65 WR of 1:11.89 by American Carolyn Cappetta back in 2001. Holland’s Hans Smeets became the oldest M70 to go sub-5 in the indoor 1500 (his 4:59.62 nipping the listed WR of 5:00.43 by France’s Jean Claude Demarque). The listed outdoor WR is 4:52.95. Canada’s Christa Bortignon improved her own WRs in the long jump and triple jump, with marks of 3.17 (10-4 3/4) and 7.09 (23-3 1/4). Brit Jane Horder’s 9.90 took down the listed W60 WR in the 60 hurdles of countrywoman Carole Ann Filer’s 9.96. Ukraine’s Oleg Fedorko cleared a WR 1.74 (5-8 1/2) to beat the listed M60 WR of 1.73 (5-8) by Finland’s Asko Pesonen and had three misses at 1.77 (5-9 3/4). Not least was the W75 WR of 14.34 (47-0 3/4) in the weight throw by Germany’s Gudrun Mellmann. I may have missed some records. (Been busy scooping the world on an FBI investigation of M40 congressman Duncan Hunter.)

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Kathy Martin established herself Wednesday as a front-runner for WMA Female Athlete of the Year by lowering her W65 PR in the indoor 3000. Of course, that means another world record. This time, she clocked an incredible 11:35.98. That beats her previous W65 best of 11:37.19 at the Armory and the listed WR of 11:49.53 by Britain’s Angela Copson.) (The listed outdoor 3K WR is Angela’s 11:48.2.) WMA requires you compete in one of their international meets to be considered for “best athlete,” and she’ll likely be nominated. She also set 800 and mile records earlier. In winning her race, Kathy beat Britain’s great Rosalind “Ros” Tabor by 52 seconds — lapping her. Peter Taylor wrote in a Daegu preview: “Martin, a member of the USATF Masters Hall of Fame, will compete on the track in the 800, 1500, and 3000. Perhaps to ensure that she gets sufficient aerobic training on her trip, she will also run the 8000 cross-country race and the half-marathon.” So stay tuned for more fireworks!

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