“Hey Wescott, got a job yet?”

It was the spring of 1966 and young Jim Wescott had recently received his master’s degree in physical education from the University of Indiana in Bloomington. The track and field nationals were being held there, and Wescott was hailed by a North Carolina State friend.

No, Wescott hadn’t gotten a job yet. So he interviewed for a position coaching the “throwers” and, as a primary job, teaching.

“We hit it off,” Wescott said of the interview that led to his three years as assistant coach, then becoming head coach in 1969, then going on to 25 years coaching at Colby College in Waterville beginning in 1978. He retired in 2003 at age 60 after coaching the White Mules to four NESCAC cross country championships, and he was named New England Division III cross country coach of the year in 1990.

Achievements and awards are among the reasons Wescott is in the 2010 class of the Maine Running Hall of Fame, to be inducted at the Nov. 14 banquet. But a major reason is that he “hit it off” with so many athletes.

Todd Coffin (Colby ’83) one of Maine’s best-ever runners, served as Colby coach for three years after Wescott’s retirement and calls Wescott one of the nation’s best coaches. Wescott’s laid-back philosophy perfectly suited Coffin, who earned All-America honors.

“Such a positive attitude,” Wescott said of Coffin, marveling at how he won a national title in the steeplechase in 1983 after being down with the flu the entire week before. “It was his birthday and he was one day of recovery from getting off his ‘deathbed,’” Wescott said.

Yarmouth’s Byrne Decker (Colby ’89), long one of Maine’s top road racers, said he was an indifferent runner in college. But Wescott “kindly tolerated” him.

“His temperament was always very even and all his runners genuinely liked him, respected him and wanted to give him their best … An outstanding running mind, excellent coach and a great person,” Decker said.

Wescott, who lives in Belfast, modestly credits some of his coaching success to his own athletic career. A native of Dover, N.H., he won the state decathlon title in 1961 and won “a couple” of New England titles in the low hurdles while at Plymouth State. He said being “more of a generalist” probably helped him relate to a broader range of athletes.

His athletic career isn’t exactly over, either. He competes in the Maine Rowing Association master’s division. Wescott took up swimming regularly several years ago, after he went for a run during a vacation out West and had to accelerate when an elk came thundering at him. The elk turned out to be pursuing female elk, but the resultant calf twinge made Wescott aware of the problems older runners face.

“A real honor,” he called his induction to the Maine Running Hall. “It’s nice to have (another) Colby person in there … Coaching is a wonderful career, more a lifestyle than a job. Every day brings something exciting new and different. And the kids keep you young.”

Hall inductions are at Killarney’s at the Holiday Inn in Waterville, starting with a social hour at noon. Tickets are $25. Contact is Skip Howard at 947-4836 or skippr@roadrunner.com.

John Rolfe of Portland is a staff writer and a road runner. He can be reached at 791-6429 or at: jrolfe@pressherald.com