Wysocki Sets Mark at Bastille 8K

Ruth Wysocki could see the clock well before she spotted the finish line. The world record in the women’s elite masters division appeared within reach, and the 40-year-old Olympian from Canyon Lake was in good position to break it.

When Wysocki completed Saturday’s 13th annual Bastille Day 8K masters event in 26:19 on the fairly flat course in Newport Beach, she had bettered Priscilla Welch’s eight-year-old record by seven seconds.

“I was kind of hoping for a world record,” Wysocki said. “I knew I could get the American one, but I thought the world one might be a little quick.”

Wysocki, a 1984 Olympian, and a finalist in the 1988, 1992 and 1996 Olympic trials, was in front throughout the race. She finished 10th among men and women in the Indy Light Series main event.

“I thought I was in trouble at the mile mark because I went out too fast,” Wysocki said. “But when I hit right at three miles I knew I wasn’t feeling too bad and I had enough of a cushion to make it.”

When she reached the turn for home, however, she wasn’t so sure.

“At first I came around the curve and I saw the clock tick and I couldn’t quite see the finish and I thought, ‘Oh man, this is going to be close,’ ” Wysocki said. “Then, when I got closer I thought, ‘Oh, I got it easy, Whew.’ It would have been real discouraging to just miss it.”

On the men’s side, Craig Young of Colorado Springs, Colo., continued his surprising dominance by winning in 24:05. Young, who is tops in the masters division rankings, beat Miguel Tibaduiza of Reno (24;57), Lloyd Stephenson of San Francisco (25:03) and John Koningh of Newport Beach (25;15).

Young and Koningh, both 40, dueled for the first mile, before Young pulled away to win his third event of the year.

“Right at the mile turnaround, Craig zoomed around the cone and took off,” Koningh said.

In an earlier open 8K race, Danny Reed, 36, of Riverside, passed Rancho Santa Margarita’s Danny Gonzalez near the four-mile mark to win the men’s division in 24;14, six seconds ahead of Gonzalez, 32.

Kelly Flathers, 26, of Huntington Beach, who won a 5K race in her hometown July 4, made it two in a row, finishing first in the women’s division in 28:15.

Kristin Farmer, 28, of Costa Mesa, won the women’s 5K event in 18:04. Apple Valley’s Keith Witthauer, 41, won the men’s race in 15:47.