Mark Davis wins M55 400.

Track fans love the sport because the local high school star could be the Olympian of the future. In masters, that same kid could be a world champion in four decades. Meet Mark Davis. He’s my pick for Sacramento’s Coming Out of the Woodwork Award. Davis, a Caltech engineer from Pasadena, took 8th in the 100 (12.64), bronze in the 200 (25.25) and won gold in the 400 (55.85) and both relays. Never heard of him till worlds. So I wrote him for details on his career, and he graciously replied. “Now … I need to rest these 55-year-old legs (I ran 11 races) for a few weeks and begin to think about next year’s goals,” he said. Take your time, Mark. You’re entitled.

Here’s a mashup of the note Mark sent:

I was born on Oct. 14, 1955, and grew up in Erie, Pa (right on Lake Erie). I started running when one afternoon my father and I were driving by a local high school and there was a summer all-comers meet going on. We stopped to watch and he asked me whether I wanted to compete. I did and won an age-group race.

Following that, I started and ran in AAU Junior Olympics program in the summers. In 1969, I was second in the country for the 75-yard-dash for my age group. I made my high school track team as a freshman and that got me started in competing at the high school level.

At age 14 (when I was a freshman), I ran the fastest 440 yards in the country for that age: 50.2 (converts to a 49.9 400 meters). From that point on, I was focused on obtaining a track scholarship to run at the university level.

During high school, I ran well enough to compete on the national high school scene (for example, I took 4th place at the Mansfield Relays my senior year in the 440 yd dash — at that time, this meet was the “big” meet on the East Coast that covered the Eastern US and Eastern Canada).

I received full scholarship offers from numerous universities and went to the University of Kentucky. The SEC is a very strong track and field conference and I competed for UK for several years. During my prime, I was a mid-10 100 M, mid-21 200 M and mid-47 400 M sprinter.

By my junior year, my studies were so demanding (studying chemical engineering and doing pre-med simultaneously), that I had to stop running (DI track has a very rigorous schedule with a lot of travel). I received my BS, MS and PhD in chemical engineering and began teaching at Virginia Tech in 1980. I moved to Caltech in 1991 (I do live in Pasadena just three miles from Caltech near the Rose Bowl).

I did not run competitively again until my wife convinced me to jump into an all-comers meet at Caltech in 2006. I have been running in the masters program since then. My problem has been injuries. I have struggled each year with injuries and have not competed as often as I would like due to those injuries.

I do typically compete in the Pasadena Senior Games (I won both the 400 and 200 there this year — I also ran the Stanford Senior Games this year and won the 400 and 200 there as well).

I am 5-7 and weigh about 160. I am a professor at Caltech in chemical engineering, and my research involves the creation of new therapeutics for cancer. I have started two biotech companies in this area and our new therapeutics are in clinical trials throughout the world. My wife has an undergraduate degree in engineering and a MBA in finance and is working with a start-up company in the Pasadena area that is creating various software packages for lawyers.

We have three children: our daughter just completed her BS degree in biology and will now be going on to medical school, we have twin boys who just completed their freshman years at Univ. Colorado (Boulder) and Emerson College in Boston. The twins are interested in the film industry and are both in film studies.

Sacramento was an amazing experience for me. It was my first world championship and there were three things that stand out.

First, it is an incredible feeling to win an individual event. For me, winning the 400 (which has been my primary event ever since high school) was a great honor. Second, the relays experience. My goal was to try to make it onto the USA relay team (either one). I was fortunate to be on both relay teams. I really enjoyed being with my teammates (all great guys!) and winning both events.

Third, in addition to making many new friends from the USA team, it was special to meet and get to know a number of the competitors from other countries. For example, guys like Wally Franklyn and Eric Smart from the UK were names I knew but I got to meet them both. They are wonderful people and I hope to continue my friendships with them.

Overall, the total Sacramento experience was exceedingly positive for me. I must say, that not only Sacramento, but almost all masters meets that I go to, I come away positive as the people who are competing are so nice.