The JC (Eugene) Experience

Well, better late than never I guess. I would like to apologize for taking so long to get this up, but I think most of you can appreciate the craziness that has been my life for the last few weeks. I've been behind on a lot of things and therefore, had to spend the last week catching up on some more important areas before this. Now that I'm pretty much all caught up on those, I can get this guy off my back and get you guys caught up on my experience at the trials. So here it goes.

And this is just a hunch, but this post might get pretty long... (you've been warned!)

In July of 2004, I made a journey to Sacramento, CA with friends Paul Rupprecht, Nolay Tobey, and Dave Cusano to watch the Olympic Trials. We spent those two weeks sleeping in a tent at a local baseball field, showering at 24 Hour Fitness, eating at a $4 Chinese buffet, and spending about 6 hours a day watching the most thrilling track and field event in the United States. Until about 3 weeks ago, it was the best experience of my life. Because of this experience, each of us that made that trip vowed that we would be there again in 2008. Unfortunately, Nolan and Dave were unable to make the commitment and had to watch it on TV. But once again, I was joined by my best friend, Paul as we set out to get the entire experience of this once in a lifetime event, while also being joined by Brendan Carr, Mike Lansing, and Ira Wales-Dinan. About a year and a half ago, Paul and I both bought tickets for the full eight days of competition and booked a room in the University of Oregon dormitories. We had no idea where we would be or what we would be doing prior to this event, but we did know that there was nothing that could stop us from being in Eugene from June 27 through July 6.

This experience is now over, but the impact it had on me will stay with me forever. In those 10 days, I met a lot of new friends with which I now have a lot of new memories, I also saw a lot of old friends with which I was able to share some old memories with. I saw some of the most exciting races in US history, and shared with those incredible athletes the high, the lows, the excitement, and the emotion of what this meet is all about. I can honestly say it was one of the best experiences of my life and I am now in severe Eugene 08 withdrawal.

For those of you that could not physically be in Eugene to share this experience with us, there is no possible way for you to fully understand what I am talking about. However, if you're looking to get as close as possible to witnessing that energy and feeling those emotions, I invite you to explore the ever growing world of Flotrack. This team worked so hard to bring the energy of Eugene to the homes of millions that could not be there. There has never been anything like this in Olympic Trials history and I have to say they did so much more than I ever could have predicted. I can not imagine that many of you have had the time to watch even half of these videos; therefore, throughout this JC recap, as I talk about my own experiences, I will include links to those interviews that I feel have the most importance in understanding the heart and sole of these Olympic Trials. If you have the time, I would strongly recommend viewing these videos.

So without further ado, I bring you the JC Experience of Eugene 08.

June 27 - Day 1

On June 27, I arrived in Eugene after driving 3200 miles across the country from Boston to Chino Hills and taking a red eye up to Eugene the night before. I was physically exhausted, but somehow, I felt ready to do anything. The excitement that surrounded Eugene could be felt the second I got off the plane. Instead of taking a nap like I probably needed, I dropped my things off at the dorms and went to meet up with the Flotrack crew. The track events didn't start until later in the evening so I spent the afternoon hanging out with these guys at the Brooks house where right away, I started meeting some pretty cool people that I would end up spending most of the week with.


When we finally made it over to the track that night, the excitement in the stadium was unreal. It was the first day of competition and I was already finding myself on my feet and screaming at the top of my lungs. This was Hayward Field, this was the Olympic Trials, this was history, and everyone in that stadium knew it!

Womens 10K Final:
Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher never disappointed and ran incredible races from start to finish. I had many friends in this race and there was never a moment in that 30 some odd minutes that I wasn't yelling for someone. The story of the day however, and what made this one of the most exciting races of the trials, was Amy Yoder-Begley. Amy was here to qualify for the Olympics, plain and simple, if she didn't run the A-Standard of 31:45, she wasn't going. After hitting the 5K in 16:10, this feat was looking less and less likely. Then, in a thrilling and nail-biting second half, she fought to come back, place third, get the time by less than 2 seconds and qualify for her first Olympic Team. I have so much respect for Amy and if you watch her interview above, you'll feel the same and see that anything is possible. She is an inspiration to many and one of my many new heroes.



After the meet had finished, I managed to get a few pictures with some Olympians and then made my way over to McMenimans with the newly formed Brooks-Flotrack crew and a few Boston kids for some drinks.

June 28 - Day 2

After about 45 hours with no sleep and a pretty riveting first day at the trials, I crashed pretty hard on the surprisingly comfortable dorm room bed. I had set my alarm for 8:30am so I could meet everyone at the Brooks house for the daily morning run. However, I never heard the alarm and didn't wake up until about 11am. I guess my body was trying to tell me something. With most of the competitions starting later in the day, this wasn't too much of a problem. I took my time getting going, went for a run in the afternoon and strolled over to the Flotrack (temporary) Headquarters for some free Qdoba dinner. It was a pretty relaxing afternoon and you could tell after just one day, people were already feeling the need for down time.

As far as competition goes, I would say this was more of a low key day, but there were still some exciting performances.

W Heptathlon
While in the stands, I spotted Rebecca Donaghue and Artie Gilkes and invited them to sit with us. They had just gotten their credentials as Rebecca was not officially accepted in the 5K until that morning. Together, we watched the final event (800m) of the Womens Heptathlon, in which Rebecca's friend and coaching colleague, Gigi Johnson was competing. The anticipation going into this event was pretty intense; here's why. Gigi was currently in 4th place. She trailed 3rd place (Diana Pickler) by a mere 20 points. This meant that Gigi had to beat Diana by a minimum of 1.5 seconds in order to clench 3rd place and punch her ticket to Beijing. Gigi took the lead from the start which is not her typical race strategy. She lead the entire race, winning in a time of 2:15.88. Dianna held on behind her for the entire race and ran a PR to place 2nd in a time of 2:16.59. Gigi missed making the Olympics by about half a second in the seventh event of her competition. It was a hard pill to swallow even for us in the stands.

M 100 Quarterfinal
I usually don't have much to say about the sprinting events, especially in the qualifying rounds. But there were certainly some notable performances in the quarterfinals of the Mens 100 today. First, Tyson Gay runs an American Record of 9.77 after almost not making it out of the qualifying rounds. Just behind him, Travis Padgett runs 9.89 to set the Collegiate Record. Finally in the next heat, Jeff Demps runs 10.01 to set the National HS Record and also qualifies for the next round.

W 800 Semifinal
In the first heat of the Womens 800m, Alice Schmidt takes off from the gun and gets a comfortable lead. At about 600m, Schmidt is still out in front and looks strong. Behind her, there's a fall and four girls go down. Schmidt easily cruises in to win the heat as several others are struggling to finish after her. After some protests about the fall, we find out that all four girls that went down are advancing to the final, meaning that instead of 8 girls in the final, they'll have 12. Crazy!

After the meet, we again head over to the Brooks house for some drinks, but soon round up the troops and head over to the Villard St. Pub. This is a local bar that is about 3 blocks from the track and became the official after party of the Olympic Trials for the next nine days. While trying not to miss any of the Eugene 08 experience, I made it a point to go to Villard St. every night thereafter.

June 29 - Day 3

Now that I was a little more accustomed to the Eugene schedule, I was actually able to get out for the morning run today. The group continued to grow each day and the runs couldn't have been better. Soft wood chip trails with beautiful scenery and plenty of company to run with along the way.

Like yesterday, today's competition schedule was a little weaker by my standards since there were no distance races and no major finals. However, the highlight of the meet came when Tyson Gay blasted the field in the 100m final, winning in the fastest time ever run, an amazing 9.68! Unfortunately it was not a legal wind, therefore does not count as a World Record. Record or not, it was pretty cool to see.

The meet was over early today so we were left with more time to socialize in the evening. Rupprecht had just gotten in the night before and was pretty tired, but I wouldn't let him bail early. We were also joined today by another Maine stud, Liz Turner. Together, we all started the evening at the Brooks house again as they were having a fancy catered party. It was a good opportunity to expand my circle of friends in the running world, and I took full advantage. As the party died down, we once again rounded up the troops and went the 4 blocks over to Villard St.

June 30 - Day 4

By day 4, we had gotten into a pretty good routine of the following activities: wake up around 8am after an inadequate amount of sleep, Rupprecht and I mumble curses at one another for having to wake up early, grab some free food at the commons, head over to the Brooks house for our 9am morning run, grab some free bagels and coffee at the house, mull around for a while, eventually make it back to the dorm to shower, then either get lunch at the commons with Mike and Ira or take advantage of the free Qdoba lunches that Flotrack recruited, spend the afternoons lounging around the Brooks house, playing some Nintendo Wii and partaking in the live Flotrack shows, eventually head over to the track for the afternoon/evening events, and finally make our way over to Villard St. Pub at some point in the evening. There was never much down time and there were always people around ready for another adventure.

Today, we added another event to our daily routine: soaking in the river. We had been running by the river the last few days and saw a few nice entry points to the roaring waters of the Willamette River. So after this morning's run, we all went down the bank and had a nice soak. Of course, a few of us tested the current and swam out a bit further, to find the the water not only got colder as we swam out, but the current also got a lot stronger. It was a good time and something we'd revisit over the remainder of our stay in Eugene.

After a couple "down days" of competition, we had another exciting night at Hayward and therefore, I have a few events to highlight.

W Steeple Semifinal
Two great races with some fantastic ladies as all the favorites advanced to the final and looked great doing it. I also have to mention that on the day before these prelims, I was informed that fellow Mainer, Anna Willard, was recently engaged to Jon Pierce. They are both great people and will surely make a great match. So congratulations to them both!

W 800 Final
With 12 women in this final, they were forced to use a double barrel start, so a lot of bumping around was expected. As a result, the race went out blazing fast from the gun (56sec 400) as everyone wanted to get out of trouble. By the end of the race, you could see these girls were spent as the top 5 were struggling just to hold position and get to the line. Hazel Clark, Alice Schmidt, and Kameisha Bennett were the top 3, but with Bennett not having the A Standard, 4th place Nicole Teter would take the third spot on the Olympic team. It was a great race and I am very happy that Alice made it. She has been around for a while now and has certainly had some struggles along the way; she is a very intelligent and hard working athlete that deserves all the success she receives and I have the utmost respect for her.

M 800 Final
Definitely the best 800 race I've ever seen. Like the womens race, it went out blazing. Unlike the womens race, there were a ton of guys in contention at the end. I don't know why I was doubting him, but with about 180m to go, I though Nick Symmonds was in danger of not making the team. However, like he always does, he managed to get out and blast everyone in the last 100 in a sick time of 1:44.10. It was a very exciting finish as Andrew Wheating also came from behind like usual to take 2nd and then it was a 3-way dive for third as Christian Smith squeezed in on the inside, despite Khadevis Rhobinson trying to hold both him and Lopez Lomong back at the line. In the end, it was the three Oregon boys, who all train at Hayward Field, that made the team.

W 5K Semifinal
Though this was just the semifinals, it was a pretty exciting couple of races. Both Shalane and Kara came back after making the 10K team to win their heats. With 3 girls scratching, 2 girls dropping out, it meant that only 3 finishers would not advance. Despite this fact, there were some great performances, personally highlighted by close friend and teammate, Rebecca Donaghue. This girl is one of my biggest heroes! After stricken with illness all winter, she had to miss crucial training as well as the U.S. XC Championships. When she finally started getting healthy, she took a nasty spill on the ice in March and shattered her wrist (see below). Some how she managed to overcome this obstacle, get back to training and qualify for this 5k all by herself on the last day of the qualifying window with a PR of 15:55. Today, she came out and qualified for the final in a PR of 15:38... that's a 17 second PR for those of you that aren't quick on the math skills. More on her in the final.

M 5K Final
Another exciting race, but not quite the one I was expecting. Galen Rupp and Josh Rohatinsky both scratched to focus on the 10K, meaning that there were only 14 guys on the line. I thought it would get out a little faster with a bunch of guys looking for the A Standard, but it didn't, so Goucher dropped out with 2 laps to go, there was a tough pack of 5 battling at the end, and Lagat, Tegenkamp, and Ian Dobson all made the team, outlasting Asmerom and Solinsky in the end.

July 1 and 2 - Rest Days

Well, they may have been rest days for the athletes, but we didn't get the memo. We just took advantage of the extra free time that we weren't spending at the track and found other activities to keep us busy... like tubing down the river. I also had the opportunity to go to a couple social dinners. One with Pete and Zika, along with the rest of the Zap Fitness/Reebok crew. Another with John Evans and the whole New Balance crew. These were more opportunities to meet some extraordinary athletes and fascinating people like Melissa Cook, Mandi Zemba, Stephen Haas, Josh McAdams, and many others. It also gave me a chance to catch up with already great friends (that also fall into the descriptions mentioned above), like Anna Willard, Jon Pierce, Mike Bunker, Emily Hoyt, Ann Gaffigan, and so many others.

I kept very busy over these two days and amidst these many activities, I kept my phone on vibrate not wanting to take my attention away from those around me. However, on Tuesday evening, I noticed I was receiving a few more vibrations than normal. They were multiple texts from friends Mark Driscoll and Sean McKeon. I felt that something wasn't quite right, so I took my attention away from the New Balance dinner and stepped outside to call Mark. In that conversation, I discovered that my good friend and teammate, Mario, had unexpectedly lost his mother earlier that afternoon. The loss of her life was a shock to many of us and certainly altered the momentum of my current conversations with other NB Boston teammates Dan, Yvonne, Rebecca, and Jess. I didn't have the opportunity to get to know Shirley as well as some others did, but I have been fortunate enough to know Mario and I know what a special family he has. My heart goes out to the Fraioli family as they work their way through this tragic loss. If you can, please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

July 3 - Day 5

Back to competition and the excitement continues to build. In addition to the big races coming up, there were other variables that added to the excitement on this day. Well before the competitions were getting underway, two very excited ladies showed up from the great state of Nebraska. They were Ari Goldstein and Joslyn Dalton. These two had flown in to support their teammate, roommate, and best friend, Ann Gaffigan in the final of the Womens Steeplechase to be held that evening. They brought with them a ton of energy, and a ton of pink leis (to honor Ann's new Pink uniform). That afternoon, I took some time to show them around a little and get them situated in Track Town USA. Later, I had the pleasure of meeting the rest of the Gaffigan support team for dinner at Track Town Pizza. It was a wonderful gesture by Ann's family (who didn't know me at the time) to invite me along and share some great conversations in the hours leading up to Ann's race.

Finally, it was time to get back to the action on the track. The stadium was buzzing and you could tell the crowd was itching to see some more great performances.

W 1500 Quarterfinal
Both the Mens and Womens 1500 Quarterfinals were underway, but with it being the first round and the field only being cut from 30 to 24, we didn't expect any earthshattering performances. The womens 1500s, however, had to be highlighted by 16 year old High Schooler, Jordan Hasay, who led her heat from the gun with her super long hair flowing behind. She qualified on to the next round, not thinking that she would even be able to compete in the semis because of the USATF forcing her to leave early for the World Junior Championships in Poland.

W Steeple Final
This was a highly anticipated event at the Trials, definitely the highlight of the evening and one of the biggest highlights of these trials. Why? First of all, this is the first year that the Womens Steeplechase will be contested at the Olympics. Just like Joan Benoit Samuelson did in the Marathon in 1984 and Stacy Dragila did in the Pole Vault in 2000, the women that make this team will be going down in history as the first in their event to ever compete at the Olympics! Secondly, I've watched many of these ladies over the years and have become friends with several of them in that time. So as a spectator, I am excited to watch history in the making, and as a friend, I am emotionally attached to the blood, sweat, and tears that are pouring into this one race.

This was by far the best field put together on American soil and there were so many people capable of making that team, but in my eyes, there were three favorites and one dark horse. In a thrilling record setting race, the three favorites succeeded in making the team, and my dark horse went after it with all her heart, but fell short of defending her title from 2004 and fell short of making this Olympic team.

The Olympic Steeple Team of Anna Willard, Lindsey Anderson, and Jenny Barringer is headed to Beijing and ready to take on the World as they write their own personal history, as well as our American and World history. Good luck ladies and I know you'll make us proud.

As you've probably already guessed, my dark horse was Ann Gaffigan. While yelling from the sidelines of Hayward Field in my Nebraska Huskers T-shirt and pink lei, I watched Ann fight through that final, going out at American record pace and not afraid to take a chance at this dream. She may see it as a disappointment or a failure, but knowing what she's gone through over the last few years and how hard she's worked leading up to this, I couldn't be more proud of her that night and was honored to have her as a friend. I'm sure the rest of the Gaffigan support group shares those same thoughts. If you have the time, watch her in depth interview above and you'll catch a glimpse of what we've seen in her.

After one hell of a night on the track, we continued that momentum through the rest of the evening as we hit the Eugene City Brewery, the Villard St. Pub, and finally the Brooks house for the after hours party that would go until about 5am. You may ask how we have the stamina to do this night after night. Honestly, I'm not really sure how I managed.

On a side note, this was also the first night that I met Letsrun's Weldon Johnson. Before I had a chance to introduce myself, he immediately called me Bobby Curtis and proceeded to ramble on about my running career. This was the first of about half a dozen instances of the evening that I was referred to as Bobby Curtis, in addition to one Dan Browne reference. It made for some entertaining conversations and probably got me a few extra points and head turns throughout the night, so I guess I have no major quarrells. You can be the judge of wheather or not we look alike.

July 4 - Day 6

Independence day and another exciting day. It started off a little sluggish with the 9am morning run after last nights debauchery, but I made it through our daily routine like always and by the time we got to the track again that evening, I was fired up for another thrilling night at the races.

W 1500 Semifinal
Once again, the early rounds of the semifinals were not anything out of the ordinary up front. However, High School phenom, Jordan Hasay was permitted to leave for Poland later and therefore was able to compete in the semis. Because of this, she again lit up the crowd as she ran a remarkable race, picking off world class athletes in the final lap and qualifying for the final. Oh yeah, and she also broke the National High School record in a time of 4:14.50! The crowd was going nuts and it was pretty neat to see that kind of a performance. If Jordan continues this success in the future years, she will most likely match, if not exceed, the accomplishments of former American distance prodigies Mary Decker and Suzy Favor. It should be exciting.

A little further back in the semis was former Nebraska standout, Anne Shadle. She has been through a lot of difficult times, but has had an incredible attitude all the way through. I finally had the pleasure of meeting Anne at these trials, after hearing so many great things about her, and had some nice conversations with her through these experiences. She is an extremely classy girl and I have so much respect for her. After watching an interview like this one above, I gain a lot of inspiration for my own goals and dreams and I only hope that I can have the same courage and attitude that she's had along the way.

W 5K Final
Well, the ladies in this race certainly didn't upset the crowd. It wasn't an American Record or crazy upset, but they did put on a show. After already making the 10K team, Kara Goucher and Shalane Flanagan went on to make the team in the 5K. Between the two was former Olympian in the Marathon and World Championship Final Qualifier in the 5K, Jen Rhines. They took off with about 3 laps to go, and no one could touch them as they average 66 seconds on each of those final laps. The athlete that kept me yelling the most in that race however, was once again, Rebecca Donaghue as she put everything out there and finished 8th place in a new PR of 15:35. This has been a long time coming for Rebecca and I am so happy for both her and Artie. I'm excited to see what else is ahead of her this year and beyond.

M 10K Final
There were some great races leading up to this one, but the Mens 10K was definitely the most anticipated race of the night. Abdi fans everywhere cheered on with their Black Cactus T-shirts as Abdi Abdirahman led pretty much wire to wire. He put on a show and took home the title with lots of character and animation. He was also joined by Galen Rupp and Jorge Torres on the team for Beijing.

There were many other outstanding athletes in this race that also received a lot of attention, but one athlete that was talked about probably more than anyone else was Adam Goucher. As I said before, Goucher dropped out of the 5K final knowing that he would not be able to get the necessary A Standard and therefore would not have a chance of making the Olympic Team. Instead, he opted to enter the 10K field. The reason there was so much talk about this, was because Goucher was 31st on the declaration list for a field that was supposedly capped at 24 athletes. The USATF decided that they wanted Adam Goucher in that 10K Final and therefore, they leap frogged the other six athletes between him and 24th place to allow him in the race, but not the other six that had run faster than him. There was a great deal of controversy surrounding this decision and a lot of protests by the athletes that felt they were being screwed out of the deal. I could certainly see both sides of the arguement as I knew some of those six athletes; however, I think it was the right decision to put Goucher in that Final. He is great for the sport and has the resume that should allow him in a field of that calibur. But if he didn't perform on that night, or dropped out again with two laps to go, I would not have been a fan. He ended up running what I thought was a great race, he took a chance, and ended up fading to 8th, but certainly proved that he belonged in that race.

Lastly, I thought Ed Moran did a great job in the race and though he just missed the team in 4th place, he has a great attitude in his interview and speaks very well about his decisions and struggles as an athlete. As you've probably noticed, a lot of these interviews have been athletes that have overcome hard times in their lives to accomplish something great. These are the athletes that inspire me and keep me motivated.

After the craziness on the track, we once again went over to Villard St Pub, where I bumped into several Olympians, many other track studs, and had a chance to catch up with Sean McKeon and Dianna Chivakos. It was great to hang out with these two great characters and now that we're all in Southern Cali together, I'll hopefully see them more frequently.

July 5 - Day 7

The last two days of competition were pretty highly anticipated with a lot of finals on schedule and a lot of fast races expected to light up the crowd. Without overlooking the accomplishments of these athletes that competed in the final two days, I would say that the peak of excitement for me happened in the days prior to these. That being said, I just have a few highlights for the last couple days.

M 200 Prelims
This was definitely the talk of the day as American Record Holder and now 100m Olympian, Tyson Gay, crashed to the ground with what looked to be a major hamstring injury. Not only did this mean he wouldn't be on the team in the 200, it also meant that he might not be able to compete in the 100m or the relays at the olympics which were just weeks away. Fortunately, they announced that it was just a severe cramp, but we still can't know for sure how it will affect his Olympic performances.

M Steeple Final
This race was exciting more because of the character of the person that won it. Anthony Famiglietti, known as "Fam", charged to the front on American Record pace and led the entire race from wire to wire. He certainly faded in the finish, but had still won the race and had no fear in putting everything on the line. Joining him on the Olympic Team were Josh McAdams and Billy Nelson as they both executed perfect race strategies and proved they deserved to be on that team.

July 6 - Day 8

The final day of competition was a short one with only 3 hours of events on the agenda. With some extra time and with it being the last day of the trials, a group of us ventured up to the Mackenzie River for a nice long run and to see a little more of the Oregon scenery. It was a great trail that weaved in and out of huge 6 ft diameter, 100 ft tall trees and rolled along the roaring river with a cool breeze at our backs. Definitely worth the drive and the group that went made it even more enjoyable.

We got back to Eugene with just enough time to get some lunch and get over to the track for the start of competition. In my mind, the most anticipated events of the day were the 1500 Finals. And since this post is already way too long, those are the only events that I'll highlight here.

W 1500 Final
There were definitely a lot of fast girls in this final, but unlike the mens race, I think there were some clear favorites here and I think the ones that made the team didn't really surprise anyone. The only thing that might have surprised people was the pace at the beginning. Especially in womens distance running, with so many girls looking for that A Standard, I think people expected it to be fast. But then again, it was windy and it's the Olympic Trials. You want to take chances here but you also want to place as high as possible. Some people gave those girls crap for not taking a chance at the lead and going for the standard, but those critics don't know it all. No one wants to sacrifice their race and risk bringing up the tail end at the finish. For some girls, it just wasn't the day for that kind of a time. Shannon Rowbury, Erin Donahue, and Christin Wurth all showed that they had what it took and that's why they are now on that team. For me, I was really rooting for Amy Mortimer and Morgan Uceny to get that standard as they were my underdog favorites, but it just didn't happen. I talked with both of them that night, and though they were obviously disappointed, they had pretty good attitudes about how things turned out, especially Morgan. I think she finally realizes that the 1500 is her calling, and if you check her results over in Europe, you'll see she's already well on her way.

M 1500 Final
The final event of the Olympic Trials and arguably the most anticipated. There were plenty of falls, protests, and controversial advancements along the preliminary path to get here, but it was now down to these 12 athletes to find out who would go to Beijing. Like the womens race, there were a bunch of guys that needed the A Standard, but it was obvious from the start that no one was going to run the necessary 3:36. Instead, they strolled through a 61 first quarter, 2:00 first half, and with about 200m to go, everyone was still in the race. It didn't really make for an exciting race until the final 200m and with the race set up the way it was, I think the result was what most would expect. The strong kickers of Lagat, Manzano, and Lomong came out on top, leaving Alan Webb, the American Record Holder in the Mile, off the team. Truthfully, I wasn't very surprised with this result, and while I do think Webb would have had a better showing at the Olympics than Lomong or Manzano, he just didn't get the job done and they did. That's how the game is played and therefore, I wish those guys the best of luck in Beijing, and hope Webb figures out how to come back from that disappointment.

So that was it for the competitions, which was sad, but we still had a full night ahead of us and planned on making the best of it. I joined Paul, Mike, Ira, the Nebraska girls, the Brooks crew, the Flotrack crew, and every other track fanatic in Eugene for a night at Villard St. and a pretty sweet after party with the Oregon Track Club.

The next day, we skipped the morning run, slept in, and checked out of our dorm room. We made a few stops in downtown Eugene and eventually made our way to the Airport. We once again met up with Sean and Dianna as we waited for our flights. I also had a chance to talk briefly with Bernard Lagat, Shannon Rowbury, David Krummenacker, and shared a flight with Pat Tarpy, Ed Moran, Steve Slattery, and Chris Lukezic. I had an overnight layover in Las Vegas, and finally made it back to Chino Hills by the next morning.

My 2008 Olympic Trials experience had come to an end and I now have a new chapter in my life to start on. I've come a long way since those days in Sacramento, and I can't even imagine where I'll be in my life when the 2012 Trials roll around. The only thing that I can asure you of, is that I'll be in Eugene again for those Trials, at least as a spectator. And if things go really well, I may be fortunate enough to enter Eugene12 as a participant. I know a lot will happen between now and then, but nothing will ever take away the experience I had at Eugene08.

Thanks to everyone that was a part of the this experience and I hope you gained as much from it as I did!