Like many of her co-workers at SMUD, Liz Palmer often spends her lunch breaks lifting weights and working out in the company fitness center.

But unlike her co-workers, Palmer can also run the 100-meter dash in 12.7 seconds, holds several track and field world records in her age group and will be looking to set more – all after turning 50.

Palmer and Roseville's Kevin Morning, 55, head a list of local hopefuls at the 2011 World Masters Athletics Championships, which begin today at multiple local venues, including Sacramento State's Hornet Stadium, and continue through July 17.

The heptathalon will kick off the start of all competition early this morning, and Palmer and Morning will both be in action on Friday morning in their respective 100-meter quarterfinals.

More than 4,800 athletes from 93 countries are expected to compete in 34 events. All participants must be at least 35 years old to compete as a masters athlete.

Sacramento was awarded the biennial event in 2007. It will be the first time in 16 years the United States has played host to the 19-year-old event, which Morning said fuels his drive to excel.

"I think for the championships to be here in Sacramento is just amazing," Morning said. "They might not come back to California in my lifetime, and to have them in my backyard, I couldn't not take advantage of it."

Neither could Palmer, who will be competing in her first world championships. A top hurdler at Arapahoe High School in Colorado, she placed third at the state championships in 1978 before moving on to the University of Northern Colorado.

Injuries derailed her collegiate career, however, and she shifted away from the sport to raise a family and become an accountant for the Sacramento Municipal Utility District.

In 2005, she came across an all-comers track meet, which sparked her competitive interest, not to mention her desire to stay fit.

"Right around my age is when lifestyle diseases and problems can start to crop up," she said.

Although she pulled a muscle in her first race in 30 years, she was hooked.

"I got so much joy out of being a high school and collegiate athlete, it's hard to describe," she said. "I look back on it, and I didn't appreciate what I had. Today, I'm older and wiser, and now I do."

Morning, who competed at the 1997 event in Durban, South Africa, as well as the 2001 event in Brisbane, Australia, acknowledged how expensive the travel can be, particularly because most masters athletes don't have sponsorships to help defray costs.

Morning said he was surprised when he learned that some of his rival athletes from the area weren't going to participate.

"A couple local guys didn't register to compete, and I don't really understand why," he said. "I'd be turning in recycling bottles and cans just to get into this meet."

As a high school sprinter from Pasadena, Morning says, he was never anything more than average. But average for the good-humored Morning meant jumping 23 feet, 8 inches in the long jump his senior year, a mark that would have won the 2010 California State Championship.

He went on to run in college at UC San Diego, where his times consistently put him in the middle of the pack. He ran the 400-meter and 200-meter dashes in about 48 seconds and 22 seconds, respectively.

But Morning never quite broke through on the track. He started a family, got his master's degree in physical education, moved to the Sacramento area in 1995 and became an elementary school teacher. It wasn't until a friend suggested that he look into the masters athletics scene that he decided to try running competitively again.

While he says he was "flat out cooked" by his competitors in the first race he ran, the wheels were still there.

In 2003, at age 46, Morning ran the 200 meters in 22.13 seconds, tenths of a second off his career best in the event.

"I wasn't that hungry when I was younger," he said. "As I got older, I just got really hungry, and now I see records other people have set and wonder if I can do that."

With four World Masters championship sprint gold medals under his belt, Morning says, he now focuses more on setting record times.

"I love seeing how fast I can run," he said. "It's amazing that year after year, I can run this fast. How many people get to reach this age and achieve this kind of status? It's a blessing."

Palmer is one who can keep up. She ran the 60-meter dash in an age-group world record 7.86 seconds in March.

To stay in top shape, Palmer works out five times a week, lifting weights three times and working out on the track twice with her youngest son Jim, a hurdler at Folsom High School, or other local masters athletes.

"I know we aren't as fast, can't jump as far. I think we are a good example of how to age gracefully," Palmer said.

KCRA: Nearly 5,000 athletes compete across Sacramento - July 6, 2011

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