Jim Sorensen was my pick to win the Portland masters mile last Saturday. But Jim wasn’t as sure. Having run only once in January and once in April, Jim said he had butterflies before the evening race at Lewis & Clark College. But the video of his last lap, which I timed in 57.8, showed he was plenty fit. Jim graciously responded to my quickie Q&A (basically the same interrogation I did of Tony Young). He still has plenty in the tank this year, which will include Oshkosh nationals in July. Best of luck to both mile superstars.

Here’s my Q&A with Jim:

Masterstrack.com: I suspected Tony would go out hard and Jim storm back. What were your race plans, and did the mile go as expected?

Jim Sorensen: That’s basically what happened. Tony wanted an honest pace and was probably thinking sub-4:16 to break his M45-49 mile world record. I didn’t know what to expect since I have raced once in January and April. I thought I was in decent shape, but not sure of where I was at. I decided to be conservative and then see what I had at the end. No surprise, because that’s how I often race.

You’ve both been pointing for this race after running great early spring times. Can you peak again later in the summer?

I think I can. I really haven’t had a chance to show my fitness or to sharpen myself for a peak performance. That requires a few races and some faster intervals. I have had many setbacks this year, but nothing devastating to my overall fitness.

Any chance you’ll race each other again this year?

Who knows? I think we will both plan out our races independently and if we happen to toe the line, then we will. I would imagine if some other masters race such as the Fountain of Youth Mile were to be held, then we may see one another again.

Did your prize money cover your expenses for the Portland trip? Where’d you stay in Portland?

I stayed at Dave Clingan’s place in Portland. He was a great host and made my trip easy. I won $200, but my flight was a bit more than that. But I had a good time attending this event, so any money spent (and it wasn’t much) was worth it.

How was the after-race party? What did you do, and where did you go? How did you get along with the other milers?

Well, since the race was at 8:20 p.m., and then there was a long warm-down, some chit-chat at the track, and the drive back into Portland, it got late fairly quickly. I had a burger and beer with Dave C, Kevin Paulk and a few other non-runners. Nothing major, I think others went elsewhere, not sure. Kevin didn’t run, just a spectator this year. Sometimes us “old” guys need to eat, go home, shower, and go to sleep. Afterall, I wanted to do a 12-miler the next morning.

Did either if you have any aches, pains or other physical issues to deal with Saturday?

We both felt a bit sluggish in the warm-ups. I felt so slow warming up, but my strides were good. I had no aches and pains. My hamstrings have been a little tight recently, but I was fine.

You’ve both been to Olympic Trials (either as open or masters entrants). How did your butterflies then compare with Saturday’s?

My butterflies were for an entirely different reason. You can imagine why I was nervous at the Trials, but Saturday I was nervous just because I haven’t been racing but still wanted to show well at a masters race.

For Jim: What are your chances of beating Tony’s M45 mile WR in three years?

I like to take one year at a time because predicting the future is impossible. Last year I didn’t run at all because of an Achilles injury, two years ago, I set world records. So you never know.

All I know is that Tony continues to make things a bit harder for me. When I first started eyeballing the 1500m 40+ record in my late thirties, the American mark was 3:52. Then John Hinton (3:48) and Tony (3:46-though not ratified) made things harder.