the Bemidji Opera Society both in full opera productions and in Opera Night (a sort of opera revue with Italian food), and continued to present his one-man show in the region. In addition to teaching private voice lessons, he gave classes in foreign diction for singers and assisted students with their voice recitals. He wrote a thesis on composer Gerald Finzi, whose natural treatment of spoken cadence in his melodies appealed to Keston. His declamatory style of singing—appropriate for a Shakespearean actor—was well suited to Finzi's works. While at BSU, he became increasingly serious about his running, and, between classes, sometimes trained by running up the five flights of stairs at Bangsberg Hall, the school's music and theatre facility. Athlete Keston began running at age 55 to combat mild hypertension. On 30 September 2001, at age 76, he set a world age record when he ran a 3:22:59 marathon in the Portland Marathon. This was after a comeback following an accident that may have ended his running career. On 2 April 2005, at age 80, he ran the 15k in 59:00. In 1996, at age 71, he barely missed becoming the first runner over age 70 to break 3 hours in the marathon, as he posted a 3:00:58 at the 1996 Twin Cities Marathon. This is still the fastest ever marathon by a 71-year-old, although the Canadian runner Ed Whitlock subsequently ran a marathon in under 3 hours at age 72, 73 and 74. At ages 80 and 85, Keston set world age records for 12-kilometers in the Bloomsday Run in Spokane, Washington. On 12 March 2005, at age 80, he became the oldest sub-7 miler in history at the USA Masters Indoor Track and Field Championship (Jacksons Track, Nampa, Idaho), running it in 6:48.02. However, although this was set at a US championship, and was more than a minute faster than the previous indoor record set by American Henry Sypniewski, who ran the mile in 7:51:9 at age 81 in June 2000, it was not ratified as an American record (see American records). The M80 world mile record has subsequently been improved by the Spanish runner Manuel Alonso Domingo, who ran 6:22.69 in 2017 (see List of world records in masters athletics). On 14 May 2005, Keston ran the mile in 6:48:2 in the Fountain of Youth Masters Mile at Canby High School, Canby, Oregon, but this was also