The Olympic Trials for the U.S. Track and Field team begins Friday in Eugene, Oregon, and I'm excited. While I can't claim to be a hard-core track junkie, I am a runner and a fan. I've been to several Olympic Trials over the decades, including three in Eugene (1972, 1976 and 1980) along with Sacramento and Palo Alto. There's no contest — Eugene is truly the nation's Track Capital. The town is large enough to handle the event and, even better, small enough that the Trials creates a contagious, city-wide buzz that has everyone chatting about things like shotput throwing techniques, 5K splits and the recommended number of steps between high hurdles.
During the Trials I'll try to provide insights into topics and people you won't read in the newspaper, see on television or read about on other Websites. And maybe recommend some favorite wineries to visit when there's down time at Hayward Field. I hope we'll all learn about runners we've heard of and see just what uniforms the qualifiers will be wearing in Beijing.
Whether on the track or from the stands, let's all plan on setting some personal bests.
Lee Juillerat
No comments:
Post a Comment