• Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Login
  • Register
  • Home
  • Archive
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Archive
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result
Home Track & Field

Bird Watching, To feel the U.S. Olympic team trials is a requirement for every fan, by Jon Gugala, note by Larry Eder

RBR AdminbyRBR Admin
June 24, 2012
0
0 0
0
SHARES
5
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

I have to admit that I get a real kick out working with young writers. Jon Gugala, one of our newest writers, has huge enthusiasm for the sport, and an eye for details that, as a publisher, I truly admire. This is Jon’s column for June 23, we hope that you will enjoy it!

Harrison_QueenQ-OlyTr12.jpgQueen Harrison, U.S. Olympic Trials, Photo by PhotoRun.net


By Jon Gugala

EUGENE, Oregon
June 22, 2012


Eugene is a pilgrimage.
 
No matter if you’ve been following the sport of track and field for 20 years or 20 days, nothing beats being on the ground at a big meet, and the U.S. Olympic team trials, from June 22 to July 1 on the University of Oregon campus, is the biggest domestic meet of them all.

You can check websites and you can read magazines; most of how we as fans follow the sport of track and field is by proxy. But on a trip to Eugene for the trials, the word becomes flesh, and if there’s anything than can save this sport and its relevance, it’s the tangible experience.
 
They say God is in the details, and it’s those details that track finds its salvation.

You get on your flight to Eugene with the whole Stanford crew, including 2011 NCAA Cross Country Championships runner-up Chris Derrick (touted to challenge for that third spot on the U.S. Olympic 10,000m team), lean and tan with a patchy, hockey-style playoff beard. Close behind are Jake Riley, Elliott Heath, and Papa Bear himself, Stanford head coach Jason Dunn.

RelatedPosts

Conversations with Larry: Shawnti Jackson signs NIL deal with Brooks Running

Is Sha’Carri Richardson the one true global star of Track and Field since Usain Bolt?

NUGUSE SMASHES AMERICAN RECORD FOR THE MILE: 3:43.97

TracktownUSA_map.png
Tracktown USA map for Runners | Walkers | Hikers


And then you arrive in Eugene, drop your bags, and where else would you go? You go to Pre’s Trail, an ambling woodchip path along the Willamette River that is the New York City Fifth Ave. equivalent for the distance elites.

You ride your bike past the anachronism of American record-holder Galen Rupp, shirtless and yet still in tights, his calling card pollen-shielding facemask half-disguising him.

(And you yell, “One more day!”–today is the 10,000m final–because, shoot, if you can’t be an unapologetic fan in Track Town USA, then where can you?)

You park the your bike and someone yells hello at you, and it’s Donny Cowart, ranked sixth in the U.S. in the steeplechase and looking for an upset.
 
As you run together, Cowart says of his chances, “I really feel like I got this.”

Tell me that insider information, as obvious and repetitive as it is, isn’t cool.

And you pass other trials competitors–a blonde girl with a Providence College Friars shirt on that you don’t even know the name of, but it’s a sizing up, a look from tip to top that lets you know that she’s in the best shape of her life, peaked and jittery like a thoroughbred in the chute, waiting for the gates to swing wide.

You pass last year’s USATF 800-meter runner-up Maggie Vessey, incognito in oversized sunglasses, her blonde hair pulled back in an austere ponytail. You say, “How’s it, Maggie?” and she smiles and nods and keeps running.

Eugene in trials season swells with an anticipatory feeling like a theoretical particle that, with just a nudge, will explode in a mess of protons and electrons. But it’s something that you must be present to feel.

Clay_BryanHJ-OlyTr12.jpgBryan Clay, 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials, Photo by PhotoRun.net

This story is absolute propaganda, to elicit the response of getting you here.
 
In four years, when the trials machine is reborn in Des Moines, Iowa, pack up the family in the station wagon and road trip it to Corn Country. If you’re a college kid, couch-surf.

Just come.

Because over the Internet or on the glossy pages of a magazine we forget the violence that track and field possesses at its highest level, the ragged breath and the coursing blood and the slinging sweat. Too often we watch it neutered and housebroken.
 
It can take 20 days or 20 years to forget the magic of track and field. To remember, it takes one day in Eugene.

Author

  • RBR Admin
    RBR Admin

    View all posts

Previous Post

Bryan Clay Decathlon Clarification, by Jill Geer/USATF, note by Larry Eder

Next Post

Ashton Eaton Treats Record Crowd at Hayward Field to Decathlon World Record, by Dick Patrick, note by Larry Eder

RBR Admin

RBR Admin

Similar Post

WC / Day Eight: Relay Madness:  4×1 Sweep For USA, Mondo’s Perfect Game Strikes Gold
Training Tips

2023 RunBlogRun Fall Cross Country Training & Racing Program, Week 3, day 1, Monday is an easy day…

September 25, 2023
2022 Berlin Marathon Diary, Eliud Kipchoge all set for Berlin return

2023 RunBlogRun Fall Cross Country Training & Racing, Week 2, Day 7, the long run is on Sunday

September 25, 2023
Conversations with Larry: Shawnti Jackson signs NIL deal with Brooks Running
Convos w LE

Conversations with Larry: Shawnti Jackson signs NIL deal with Brooks Running

September 23, 2023
Coffee With Larry, Berlin Marathon is tomorrow, US Olympic Trials will be well presented, but hotels and Air BnBs are already charging more!
Coffee With Larry

Coffee With Larry, Berlin Marathon is tomorrow, US Olympic Trials will be well presented, but hotels and Air BnBs are already charging more!

September 23, 2023
Will a win -or anything else- matter for Eliud Kipchoge at the 2023 Berlin Marathon?
World Marathon Majors

Will a win -or anything else- matter for Eliud Kipchoge at the 2023 Berlin Marathon?

September 23, 2023
Coffee with Larry, Nike Pre Classic : Best Edition Ever!
Training Tips

2023 RunBlogRun Fall Cross Country Training & Racing, Week 2, day 6, a day at the races!

September 23, 2023

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Subscribe to RunBlogRun's Global News Feed

Wake up to RunBlogRun’s news in your inbox. Sign up for our newsletter and we’ll keep you informed about the Sport you love.

*we hate spam as much as you do

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
USATF / Day Four:  USA’s Assembled Team Is Ready!

Abby Steiner replies via twitter, on the curiosity about her new professional running contract

August 27, 2023
An epic pole vault competition

An epic pole vault competition

August 26, 2023
2022 USATF Outdoor Champs: Melissa Jefferson takes the Women’s 100m title in windy 10.69!

The curious case of Sha’Carri Richardson: How can the sprinter turn around her career?

February 8, 2023
Reborn Sha’Carri Richardson comes back from the brink and is now ready to become the world champion

Reborn Sha’Carri Richardson comes back from the brink and is now ready to become the world champion

July 17, 2023
What happened to the crowd at Eugene?

What happened to the crowd at Eugene?

7
Asafa Powell, Considering Longevity in Sprinting

The RunBlogrun Interview: Asafa Powell

5
2022 Munich Diary, Day Five, a Great Friday Night

2023 European Athletics Indoor Champs, The Women’s 60m, who will win the final tonight?

5
TCS New York City Marathon Broadcast to be Available in More Than 530 Million Homes Around the World on Sunday, November 6

RunblogRun Editorial: The Sorry State of Running Television Coverage, by Peter Abraham, note by Larry Eder

4
WC / Day Eight: Relay Madness:  4×1 Sweep For USA, Mondo’s Perfect Game Strikes Gold

2023 RunBlogRun Fall Cross Country Training & Racing Program, Week 3, day 1, Monday is an easy day…

September 25, 2023
2022 Berlin Marathon Diary, Eliud Kipchoge all set for Berlin return

2023 RunBlogRun Fall Cross Country Training & Racing, Week 2, Day 7, the long run is on Sunday

September 25, 2023
Conversations with Larry: Shawnti Jackson signs NIL deal with Brooks Running

Conversations with Larry: Shawnti Jackson signs NIL deal with Brooks Running

September 23, 2023
Coffee With Larry, Berlin Marathon is tomorrow, US Olympic Trials will be well presented, but hotels and Air BnBs are already charging more!

Coffee With Larry, Berlin Marathon is tomorrow, US Olympic Trials will be well presented, but hotels and Air BnBs are already charging more!

September 23, 2023

Popular Stories

  • USATF / Day Four:  USA’s Assembled Team Is Ready!

    Abby Steiner replies via twitter, on the curiosity about her new professional running contract

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • An epic pole vault competition

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • The curious case of Sha’Carri Richardson: How can the sprinter turn around her career?

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Reborn Sha’Carri Richardson comes back from the brink and is now ready to become the world champion

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • What happened to the crowd at Eugene?

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
WC / Day Eight: Relay Madness:  4×1 Sweep For USA, Mondo’s Perfect Game Strikes Gold
Training Tips

2023 RunBlogRun Fall Cross Country Training & Racing Program, Week 3, day 1, Monday is an easy day…

September 25, 2023
2022 Berlin Marathon Diary, Eliud Kipchoge all set for Berlin return

2023 RunBlogRun Fall Cross Country Training & Racing, Week 2, Day 7, the long run is on Sunday

September 25, 2023
Conversations with Larry: Shawnti Jackson signs NIL deal with Brooks Running
Convos w LE

Conversations with Larry: Shawnti Jackson signs NIL deal with Brooks Running

September 23, 2023
Coffee With Larry, Berlin Marathon is tomorrow, US Olympic Trials will be well presented, but hotels and Air BnBs are already charging more!
Coffee With Larry

Coffee With Larry, Berlin Marathon is tomorrow, US Olympic Trials will be well presented, but hotels and Air BnBs are already charging more!

September 23, 2023

Recent Tweets

Next Post

Ashton Eaton Treats Record Crowd at Hayward Field to Decathlon World Record, by Dick Patrick, note by Larry Eder

runblogrun

RunBlogRun comments on the global world of athletics, sports & ethics, and the Olympic movement. @runblogrun

Browse by Category

Newsletter

Subscribe to our mailing list to receives daily updates direct to your inbox!

  • Home
  • Archive
  • Contact Us

© 2022 Run Blog Run - All Rights Reserved

No Result
View All Result
  • Archive
  • Contact Us
  • Home page
  • My Account
  • Sample Page

© 2022 Run Blog Run - All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

Select a password for yourself. (minimum length of 8)

Paste here the user biography.

Provide here the twitter screen name. i.e. @RunBlogRun

Provide here the instagram screen name. i.e. @RunBlogRun

Provide here the facebook profile URL. i.e. http://www.facebook.com/RunBlogRun

Provide here the linkedin profile URL. i.e. https://www.linkedin.com/in/larry-eder-5497253

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist