A Hefty Serving of Eugene

Where to begin? As most of you already know, I made my way out to Oregon a couple weeks ago to support and experience this years USA Track and Field Championships / World Trials. It had been three years since my last visit to Eugene and I have to say it gave me a warm welcome back.  Looking back at that last experience with the 2008 Olympic Trials, there was so much to talk about that I ended up with this "little" piece of literature, which even with the multi-page write up, just scraped the surface of that Eugene experience. I'll try to keep this recap shorter, but I will say 2011 in many ways was just as exciting. I know the Olympic Trials get a lot more hype (and understandably so), but I definitely suggest going to a US Championship meet whenever you get the chance, regardless of the year. More on that topic below.

Again, I'll try not to ramble on as much this time, but I do feel the need to highlight the week and a few key areas, while they are still fresh in my mind. I'll even try to organize it into categories for you! Furthermore, I have a bunch of shout outs to give, so look for your name!

Portland

Kirby and I

I started the trip in Portland a few days before heading South for the US Champs.  This gave me some time to explore the city, get some good running in, and relax before an inevitably crazy week in Eugene. I was excited to be able to stay with my close friend and old training partner from Maine, Kirby Davis along with his amazing girlfriend, Al! They were wonderful hosts and definitely added to the great experience. The week started with a nice long run through Forest Park with Kirby and his BAC (Bowerman Athletic Club) teammate Jon Marcus (JMar). Forest Park is the largest park in the country that is located within city limits, with 5100 square miles. It is referred to as Portland's backyard gem and rightfully so. We did a combination of the main trail (Leif Ericson Trail) and a smaller single track (Wildwood Trail). Definitely a great place to run as we did 17 miles in there and I never once got tired of the terrain or the views! We liked it so much our Flotrack crew went back there following the US Championships to run with Katie Follett, Danny Mackey, Kevin Follett, and Sean Castor.

Leif Ericson Trail

Wildwood Trail

The city of Portland itself is pretty cool. It's a good sized city with a population of almost 600,000. About 3 times the population of Portland, Maine. However, most of the city gives off a smaller city vibe more similar to Ann Arbor, MI or Boulder, CO.  There were lots of micro breweries, cool breakfast joints, big farmers markets, and outdoor food vendors, etc. It doesn't really get the bigger city feel until you get into city center with a few bigger buildings and the train stations.

Multnomah Falls

The surrounding areas also add quite a bit to what Portland has to offer. That first Sunday, Kirby and myself, along with another BAC member, Wolf, ventured East a little ways along the Columbia River (border boundary between Oregon and Washington) toward the Mt. Hood National Forest. There were some pretty cool spots along the river, nice camping areas, and a bunch of cool waterfalls coming off the cliffs, including the famous Multnomah Falls. Mt Hood (the second most photographed mountain in the world) always has snow on it so there is an endless supply of water flowing down these waterfalls, especially in the warmer months.

Michael Johnson Track - Beaverton

Tuesday was workout day for the BAC so we went over to Beaverton, just outside Portland, where we met the team on the Nike Campus at the Michael Johnson Track. This is one of the coolest tracks to run on, because it is surrounded by trees and the infield is also filled in with trees. So even when running a track workout, you can feel like you're in the woods. In my opinion it makes the track seem smaller too, which is always a good thing. The BAC scheduled workout was 20 x 400m @ 70-72 w/ 100m jog rest (25-30sec).  Still early in my build up, that was a bit much for me, so I did the first 8 at this rate, then started taking a longer rest on every 3rd interval, giving me a total of 15 for the workout. The warm up and cool down loop was also cool as it was done on a wood chip trail that follows the entire perimeter of the Campus (about 2.5 miles).


Track Town USA / FloTrack
My plan of getting to Eugene was to meet up with Ryan Fenton and the rest of the Flotrack crew on Tuesday night at the Portland airport once they flew in from Austin and drive down to Eugene together. Their flight got in a bit late and we had some issues getting the proper rental car. So after 3 different rentals, a stop at McDonalds, and 2 hours of driving, we finally made it to Eugene around 3am. After a few hours of sleep, we were up and ready to start Eugene 2011, kicking things off with the first 8am Flotrack Morning Run, more on those in a bit.

I've visited Eugene a total of five times now, 3 times to compete and 2 times to spectate. Though I haven't yet figured out how to use the Hayward Field magic to my competitive advantage, all of my visits have been pretty memorable. Eugene, also known as Track Town USA, always seems to have a special feel for runners, because you know the history of what has happened there. Everything is familiar and reminds you of a prior experience, whether it's an experience of your own or someone elses. This feeling is certainly elevated surrounding a US Championships or Olympic Trials, and that is when that magical atmosphere continues to grow. This was actually my first non OT Outdoor Championships that I had been to. I always imagined that the non Olympic years were pretty low key, but that is a very false assumption.  That just shows what little atmosphere the NBC or ESPN coverage shows you. Nothing compares to being there in person.

Speaking of great atmosphere and the excitement that surrounds an event like this, before sites like Flotrack, there were very little ways to pick up on that excitement if you weren't able to attend the event.  The goal that Flotrack had for these championships (and for all their coverages) was to share the excitement that we were experiencing and encourage the people at home to get excited as well. Again, it will still never be the same as being there yourself, but we've certainly seen the growth of enthusiasm through feedback and comments. It's the same idea across the board, with the European Circuit, World and Olympic Championships, workouts, coaches, meet directors, etc. It's all good exposure to things many of the fans never knew existed. If they don't know it exists, how are we supposed to get them to participate? Of course, I could go off on some tangents there, but I'll try to stay on topic.

So Each morning, we got up early for the Flotrack Morning Runs, getting people engaged, talking about the meet, get some race predictions going.  We had up to 60 people going out for these morning runs along the trails, which included past Olympians, current Olympic hopefuls, college and high school stars, and some everyday runner enthusiasts.  On the topic of morning runs, I have to give a shout out to Terrance Mahon. Without his attendance, we wouldn't have had our epic sprint to the finish at the end of every run. Thanks Terrance! After the run, we'd continue that buzz at breakfast (usually Studio One Cafe!), walking around town, getting the general public engaged and trying to bring as much of that as we could into a 3-4 minute video. With the majority of the senior races being in the evening, this also gave us the opportunity to do Live Pre Race Shows each day before the events got going.  Similar to those in 2008, this was a way to get people thinking about the races and the individual competitors within those races before they were underway and hopefully create a more enjoyable spectating experience. The races are always better to watch when you know the people involved, or at least know a little of their story. More on that in a bit as well.

Live Show with Brie Felnagle

So big shout outs to Ryan Fenton, Mark Floreani, Kevin Selby, Alex Lohr, Ray Machuca, Paul Michel, Tim Jeffreys, and the rest of the Flotrack crew that was involved in that coverage. There is so much more that we can do with these events and we're always finding ways to do it better so expect big things next year!

Ray on the other side of the camera for once

At The Races

Flanagan Winning the W 10k

Unfortunately, Flotrack didn't have any rights to the actual races at these championships, so other than Ryan and Kevin doing post race interviews, there wasn't much for us to do during the meet itself. The good thing about that was we could just go in as spectators and enjoy the races. I could try to talk about the highlights of the races themselves, but that would just take too long and you already know what happened on the track anyway. As a spectator, all four days were awesome, but I always seem to get more fired up for the first couple days. Even though less attended, these days tend to be more exciting for me because that's usually when all the distance races are.  The 10k and 5k finals were on Thursday and Friday, respectively. And even the 1500 and Steeple prelims are exciting because you get two to three times the amount of racing and two to three times the amount of people to cheer for. For Day 1, Alex, Tim, and I had seats in the front row on the back stretch grandstand just in front of the 1500m start. We had a big crew in this section with Steph Rothstein, Allie Kieffer, Steph Slekis, Lindsay Allen, and a bunch of others that I'm probably forgetting.

M 5k Finish

For Day 2, we had seats over by the finish line, which we were surprised to come by.  It was definitely a great spot to be in for viewing, but I was a little disappointed with the general atmosphere of that area. When watching races, I like to get vocal, cheer for the people I know, talk to people around me, stand up when big moves are made, etc. The crowd around us definitely showed interest in the sport as they were mostly season ticket holders and had been going to these events for several decades, but whenever we started getting vocal, we'd often get the look as if we were talking through a movie. It's definitely a cool spot to be in, but I think I prefer the cheaper seats on the backstretch with the people that are on their feet for 90% of the races.

M 1500 Finish

So Days 3 and 4 were spent with the athletes and coaches over by the 200 start and I had some great race watching experiences again with Allie, Steph R, and Steph S., as well as Jenna Wrieden, Greg McMillan, Brian Mahoney, Sara Vaughn, Nick Arciniaga, Erin Bedell, Danielle Domenichelli, Stan the Sports Psych guy, and many others that I can't think of right now.

The Athletes
As I continue to get more involved in this sport, as a competitor, as a fan, as a supporter, and as a career pursuit, I am constantly growing personal relationships in this sport. Because of that, each year becomes more and more exciting. You feel so much more connected to what's going on and I've definitely learned a lot more about how this sport works (and how it doesn't work) as a result of those connections. There are way too many names to list them all, but I want to at least name the ones that made a bigger impact on my experience at these Championships. This in addition to those already mentioned and includes Coaches and athletes that may not have competed as well.

Shayla Houlihan, Lindsay Allen, and Erin Bedell
Annick Lamar and Ellen Dougherty
Katie Follett, Danny Mackey, Kevin Follett, and Uncle Bob

W Steeple Final

Greg McMillan, Team USA Arizona, and McMillan Elite
Katie DiCamillo, Tim Ritchie, and Molly Huddle
Nick Arciniaga, Aaron Braun, Scotty Bauhs, and Charlie Serrano
Frances Koons, Julie Culley, Lesley Higgins, NYAC, and NJNYTC
Jen Rhines, Amy Hastings, Anna Pierce, Terrance Mahon, and Mammoth TC
Jesse Williams, Angela Bizzarri, Gabriele Anderson, and Brooks Beasts
Allie Kieffer, Stefanie Slekis, Steph Pezzullo, and Sun Elite TC
Steph Rothstein and Ben Bruce
Lauren Hagans, Lindsey Gallo, and Lauren Centrowitz

W 5K Top 3

Brian Gagnon, Ben True, Tim Broe, and Ron Warhurst
Ann Gaffigan, Joslyn Dalton, Annie Shadle, Laura Landgreen, and WTS
Kara June, Sarah Madebach, and Team Rogue
Des Davila, Keith Hanson, Kevin Hanson, and Dave Smith
Pete Rea, Alli Grace, Ryan Warrenburg, Thomas Morgan, David Jankowski, Alissa McKaig, and Zap Fitness
Steve Magness and Adam Goucher
Tommy Schmitz, Danielle Domenichelli, Tetlo Emmen, and Nicole Feest
Jenna Wrieden and Brian Deal
Larkin Geyer and Ludus Tours
Danny Lopez, David Williams, Eron, and adidas
Sara Vaughn, Brent Vaughn, and Chris Pannone
Ryan Vanhoy and Addie Bracy
Karly Hamric, Isaya Okwiya, and Riadha
Nicole Bush and Lisa Aguilera
Jesse Carlin and Devotia Moore

I know I missed a lot more and I know I could write several paragraphs on the experiences I had with each of those people above. I'll simply say thanks to all of you for being there and for adding to a great week!

USATF / Meet Management / TV Coverage
You may have noticed a lot of discussion about these topics among various websites and social media, but I just want to point out a few good reads that bring good points to the table of discussion. Many of these are not new to us in the world of Track and Field, but some are becoming more of a problem. Rather than turn this into a forum for discussion, I'll link the different areas and feel free to comment on those pages based on your interest level.

Letter to the USATF - This is on the topic of selection athletes and field sizes for the US Championships. I personally believe there should only be one standard and base your field sizes on that one standard. I think it's fair to allow appeals for people that are close to the standard, but don't allow them beyond a certain date (say 7-10 days before the Championships). Athletes shouldn't have to wait until the day before their race to find out if they're competing.

US Selection Process - This is on the topic of selecting our World and Olympic teams and how we find our best representation. I believe we should keep the process the way it is now with the top 3 Trials finishers going to the World level, but I believe we should push the Trials back into the summer to be help a few weeks before the World Championships or Olympic Games. This way our athletes have a more appropriate build up, they get their standards beforehand, and we know who our team is at the Trials.


Doug Clement on setting up new meets in the US - This video discusses the topic of setting up big meets in the US during the early summer months, so elite athletes can compete against each other in their own country. I believe this would do a lot for our sport and open up the door for sub elites to reach that next level that may not be able to go to Europe every summer. This would also create more opportunity for fans to become involved in our sport.

Stephan Kreykamp, putting on a European Meet - This video piggy backs on the ideas of the video above with Doug Clement. It shows that it does take a lot of work to put on a quality meet, but it's not impossible. I believe we have the resources and the athletes to do something like this and we need to focus our efforts with the people that are most involved already.

Peter Abraham - The Sorry State of Running Television Coverage - This post is on the topic of how we are showing this sport to the general public. The participation in running as a competitive sport is at an all time high, yet our television broadcasters have yet to be able to keep an audience. It takes more than a few artistic camera shots and a view of the starting blocks to get people engaged. I fully agree that there needs to be more emotion and more of a story line. There is plenty of emotion to go around in Track and Field and plenty of stories to be told. First, we need to get people behind the camera that know the stories. People like Ryan Fenton, Toni Reavis, Ed Eyestone, Carrie Tollefson, etc. There are plenty of people involved in the sport that can speak well to the benefit of our athletes and to the fans.

My Training / Looking Ahead
I was going to start talking training on here as well, but this post is already way too long, so I'll just say that things are building up well for now and I'm getting that consistency back. I'll talk more on that in the next post. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more updates soon on both training and life.