Story I wrote that was published in the Ithaca Journal.

Sometimes a role reversal is what it takes to come away victorious, a gamble when it appears you might just be bluffing.

But for Charlie Kern, 41, of Elhurst, Ill., it was a change in technique and a gamble that ultimately paid off for him in winning the elite masters men’s 40s race in 4 minutes, 21 seconds Saturday at the 44th annual Hartshorne Masters Mile at Cornell University’s Barton Hall.

Kern beat out Nicholas Berra, 41, of Enola, Pa. on the final lap, as he was able to get ahead on the final stretch and pull away. Berra finished second with a time of 4:23.0, followed by Lance Elliott, 40, of Edina, Minn. with a time of 4:31.

Kern said his approach was unorthodox.

“I have been in a number of races where I have led from the start and I didn’t want to do that (Saturday),” he said. “I wanted to be in an attack position as opposed to a hunted position.”

It was Kern’s first time running in the annual Masters Mile, and first time running in Barton Hall since 1987, his senior year in high school when he ran in the New York state championships.

Berra led for the majority of the race before Kern out-kicked him on the final lap and stretched ahead for good.

For race director Tom Hartshorne, the elite men’s 40s race was a race for the ages, but might have resulted in a different outcome had Kern stuck to his traditional method of leading the pack.

“I think it might have been a different race if Berra had sat on (Kern’s) shoulder and hung with him,” Hartshorne said. “But it was a great race.”

According to Hartshorne, Kern typically likes to control the race and is a traditional mile-runner, while Berra, an 800-yard competitor, is usually the one trailing looking for an opportunity to break from the leader’s shoulder.

“The race in my mind was Charlie trying to break him with three laps to go and Nick trying to hang on so he could out-kick him,” Hartshorne said. “But …Nick Berra led the race.”

The elite masters women’s 40s race featured a runner who single-handedly took over the race.

Alisa Harvey, 45, of Manassas, Va., won with a time of 5:08, ahead of 32-year-old Eileen Combs of Lafayette, who finished with a time of 5:12. Marisa Hanson, 47, of Pleasant Valley, followed Combs with a time of 5:25.

According to Harvey, the Masters Miles gives her a trip down memory lane when she ran in Olympic trials.

“I’m drawn to it just like it were my Olympic trials back in my trial days,” Harvey said. “This is my season highlight event.”This is Harvey’s fourth time competing in the event, and she has won three times. She set a world record for her age group her first time competing in 2008.

Seventy-nine men and women ranging in age from 40 to 88 participated in nine races. They included five sectional races, featuring local runners, and four elite races, featuring some of the best masters runners in the world.

The event was able to draw clusters of spectators who took seats high above the track in bleachers at the back end of Barton Hall.

Tom Cawley, 51, of Hazlet, N.J. took the elite masters men’s 50s race with a time of 4:44, followed by Casey Carlstrom, 51, of Ithaca, with a time of 4:49. Bill Zink, 50, of Wyckoff, N.J., finished behind with a time of 4:53.

Suzanne Myette, 52, of Endicott, took the elite masters women’s 50s race with a time of 5:49, followed by Cheryl Bellaire, 52, of St. David’s, Pa., with a time of 5:51. Julie Hayden, 51, of Ashburn, Va., finished third in 6:05.

Originally known as the Cornell Masters Mile, Jim Hartshorne created and directed the event up until 1988, when he stepped down. Rick Hoebeke took over as race director that year and renamed it the Hartshorne Masters Mile in recognition of Hartshorne’s contributions.

The women’s masters mile was added by Jim Hartshorne in 1981, 13 years after the inauguration of the men’s in 1968, with nine females competing in that first race.

For many competitors, the Masters Mile is an opportunity for athletes stricken by natural age to prolong their careers.

“You just can’t compete with collegiate athletes and something like this helps us to keep a career going,” Kern said.