Paul Aufdemberge, pictured here at the 2005 5/3 River Bank Run, set the American masters record for 10,000 meters on the track.
Friday nights at Hillsdale's Gina Relays are renowned for their perfect weather and magic moments. This year's racing ran true to form.

Hillsdale College alum Paul Aufdemberge, 40, came into the 10,000- meter run April 29 off a bad week's training. In fact, Tuesday's session "was maybe my worst of the year," he said.

Aufdemberge trains often with University of Detroit-Mercy track and cross-country coach Guy Murray. They fill their miles talking about "baseball, track and field, letsrun.com banter," Murray said. "Paul is a big baseball fan and knows his stuff."

"I knew Paul could run a U.S. 10K masters record at Hillsdale," Murray continued.

"He's as fit, if not fitter, than he was in the past two years when he ran sub-30's.

"I was a little worried, as Paul was banged up from prior races. When we ran our normal loop Thursday, he didn't cut it short. "I knew Paul would get the record, but I didn't want him to be injured any more."

Aufdemberge drove from his Redford home to his alma matter with another frequent training partner, Dave Peterson. "It seemed like a good night for running. We were all looking for something special," Peterson said.

Anticipation was high, but no one wanted to say much to Paul prior to the race. For us, he was like a pitcher in the middle of a no-hitter. No one "jinx" him or cause undue pressure. There had been talk about rain all day, but the weather was cool, dry and perfect before the race. The film "Friday Night Lights," about Texas football, hints at the excitement on the Hillsdale track. The 10,000 meters soon would be underway!

Announcer Scott Hubbard knew all about Paul's chances. He said he'd looked forward to this night for a couple years, and not only knew about the USA Track & Field masters record of 30:37.94 set by Craig Young in 1998, but the unofficial record of 30:18.16 set by Steve Spence in 2004, which had never been submitted for ratification.

The cut-off entry time for the fast heat of the 10,000 was 30:40, and there were 30 runners in this heat. With such a large group, I was glad I was getting the splits on the tallest guy in the race -- Paul is easy to pick out in most running crowds.

There's a reason masters runners are called masters: They know how to handle big races and big paces. Paul was dead-last after running the first lap in 1:14. He was feeling out the competition, running nice and smooth. Just like he'd been running here for decades. Ya think?

There were few if any runners within 15 years of Paul's age. Former Eastern Michigan University All-Americans Gavin Thompson and Jordan Desilits, both 24, led the race.

After a couple miles at about a 4:45 pace, "I saw the lead pack not far ahead," Paul remembered. "I picked it up to catch them, but never quite got there."

He ended up hitting the first 5K in 14:49. "I ran aggressively the first half, but may have overextended myself," he said. "Still, sometimes you have to press it and see what you can do."

Paul's first two laps, in 1:14 and 1:12, were his slowest. Most of the rest were near 1:11. "I felt pretty good running at a 71-second pace, but haven't done it enough in practice," he said later.

"I divided my time as announcer monitoring the top five in their breakaway and Paul as he raced along, clicking off sub-3:00 kilometers," said Hubbard.

"It was neat to see Paul try to hang with the leaders, not giving anything away to age for as long as he could," Scott added. "I waited until he'd reached around 7,000 meters before drawing the crowd's attention to his pace and the possibility of a record. By then he was well along, not losing time to record pace, and ready to focus on the distance and time remaining.

"It was also a good time to alert the crowd, so they could support Paul over the final minutes. Everybody cheered for him during the last 800 meters, when he dug down and picked up his pace.

"Paul has few peers for quality and longevity," Hubbard said.

Only a handful of U.S. masters can run a 15:15 for 5,000 meters, let alone on top of a 14:49. Paul finished in a new record time of 30:04.43.

Paul's collegiate best, 29:24, is just 40 seconds faster. His best 10K ever was at the 1992 Penn Relays, when he ran a 28:28 and qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials.

"Paul is one of those guys who does things the right way," said Peterson.

"He works hard, runs hard, and it's neat that this record would go to a guy like that."

"Paul is an amazing competitor and never takes a race off," added Murray.

"He's a great example for everyone in the sport; he just keeps putting in the miles and working hard. If more people were like Paul, the sport would be in better shape." MR