the track town diaries: june 28

So far, this is one of those trips where everything is turning out exactly as I imagined. Eugene is just as beautiful as everyone has told me. The crowds at the track are as big and enthusiastic as expected. The entire town is behind the event. It's like Boston or Duluth on marathon weekend. Every diner and taco stand has a poster in the window and a greeting on the sign out front.

Kris and I lucked into a hotel close to the track. Everyone keeps asking how I got it. I have no idea. Just online at the right time. We're right next door to Track Town Pizza. We're told it's not the best pizza in town, but I'm going to eat there anyway. If you've made the effort to name your establishment after my sport, you get my business.

At the track last night: Our neighbors in section U are locals. They agreed to cheer for Minnesotans, if we would cheer for anyone who has ever attended the University of Oregon. Including the kid driving the Gatorade cart (he apparently has some potential in the 400). On the other side of us was the father of Allison Grace, the former Kentucky standout, now running for ZAP Fitness. Allison was running the fourth 10,000 of her life last night. Her dad was beaming.

We ran into Bruce Mortenson outside the stadium. He and Tom Heinonen were waiting in a very long line for food. I kind of figured that there would be some kind of special buffet set up for former Oregon NCAA champions and hall of fame coaches. Turns out that they have to wait for their burrito like everyone else. Bruce was full of tips on things to do in Eugene. I was waiting for him to invite us to go out for a beer with he and Kenny Moore. Didn't happen.


It was great to see so many of the MN athletes do well. Charlie already did the recap, so I'll avoid duplicating his post. Every field seems so deep. Was that the best U.S. women's 10,000 field ever assembled? And Deena wasn't even running. There were former Olympians in the race (Rudolph, Dryer) who weren't even a factor.

Amy Begley's race was unbelievable. She knew that she needed the A standard and pushed the pace in the hardest part of the race. But I still didn't think she'd get it. I thought they'd run too slow in the first 3k. Someone asked me if she had a shot with a mile to go. I did the math and said, "no way she can finish that fast." Obviously, I was wrong.

But someone just reminded me that McGregor is still the alternate. Goucher and Flanagan are entered in the 5,000. Our girl still has a shot.