Running Travel Adventure Number 1066 — Pt3
Bob Hodge reports days 0–3 at the 2016 US Olympic Trials
Day 0
On my Alaska Airlines flight to Portland I was fortunate enough to be seated next to Emily Sisson, an NCAA Champ from Providence College who now runs for New Balance and will run the 10,000m here at the trials.
We exchanged pleasantries and when she told me that her boyfriend was on the flight and asked if I would mind exchanging seats with him. I gallantly agreed.
It turns out her mate is Shane Quinn an Irish native and Cross Country All American for Providence. Shane’s dad Brendan is an old friend of mine and brother in sweat from days gone by.
I arrived in Portland and grabbed my rental car and immediately headed off in the wrong direction. I was half way to Pendelton before I snapped out of my reverie.
Pendelton is home of the rodeo and local Ken Kesey wrote a nice book about it called LAST GO ROUND.
My destination was Beaverton to see my old friend Vinnie Fleming whose home sits at the edge of the Nike Compound. I had not seen Vincent for 15 years so we had some catching up to do.
In the morning I had a nice stumble-shuffle-run in Hollister Woods. Vinnie who works for Nike gave me a tour of the campus including a walk around the track with the forest in the middle.
I even caught a glance of Amy Cragg and Shalane Flanagan with Matt Tegencamp trackside.
A great day at the compound.
Later I arrived in Eugene — aka grass city — accompanied by massive sneezing attacks. Bad pollen days here in June and July.
I settled into my dorm room, dumped my rental car at the Autzen Stadium lot and ran back picking up some supplies and the local rag, EUGENE REGISTER GUARD on the way.
With all that, I missed Day 0 — the 20k Race Walk held in Salem. (Yes, the USATF Meet Schedule actually calls it day “0”)
Day 1
You know that you have travelled and been somewhere for a while when you break out that second pair of clean undies. Not that it’s a contest or anything.
I got lost a bit on my run this morning. I thought about Billy Rodgers who is so notorious for getting lost. I’m convinced many of his 140 miles week were Bill getting lost. It also explains his 1,000’s of laps around Jamaica Pond.
Well, the Men’s 10,000m, surprised me again with all the screwing around. Here in Eugene you have, as a 10K runner, the best audience you will almost surely see in the USA. And yet, there was not one guy to go for it from the get go. Strange. Ben True looked anemic. I hope he rebounds for the 5K.
Meanwhile, Lagat was looking like a sure bet and got dropped, which was a bit surprising.
The heats in the 800 were exciting and tightly contested. Donovan Brazier’s disappearance in the home straight, and failure to qualify the biggest disappointment.
Me, I have nice seat in a corner looking straight at the finish line. No cover though, so I’m getting roasted by the sun. It’s a small price to pay. There’s a great atmosphere and happy faces everywhere. All in all, a good day for athletics.
Day 3
Athletics is dying from abuse and neglect? Athletics is becoming more of a minor player in the sports world every day? You wouldn’t know it here in Eugene Oregon.
The Trials days so far have been blessed with great weather and awe-inspiring performances. Everywhere you look people are running enjoying the fantastic set of trails available along the Willamette River.
This morning 6000 runners including yours truly ran the Butte to Butte Road Race.
A clinic with coaching legends Bob Larsen and Lance Harter was well-attended and informative. Many dignitaries of Athletics were in the audience mingling with the High School and Collegiate Coaches.
Sharing of coaching ideas and techniques was stressed.
Unfortunately many of the elements that make this meet such a great experience don’t exist at other competitions in the same abundance.
So for today I will see athletics as a juicy Apple and hope that it is not rotten at the core.
