2016 NCAA Championships

Another day, another championship track meet in my backyard...

sigh.

Eugene, Oregon locked up the NCAA Championships from 2013 until 2021. This meet is as profound as the Olympic Trials, though in a slightly different way. The Trials are all or nothing, an individual against the field, and a top three slot gets you a trip to the ball.

NCAAs are a team event, where even a single point in 8th place can have huge ramifications. And the electricity for both events is similar. During NCAA events, the teams screaming in the stands for their runners can reach eardrum-bursting levels for a poor umpire stationed in front of them on the backstretch.


                            

A flag for every school...

                         
After our Tuesday night briefing, we had a nice catered BBQ dinner on top of the Weights and Measures building. Hadn't been up here before: it's a great place to be a spectator!

From not so high above the track... 

Even an extra video board

Before the events started, I was walking the track as usual. Officially, I'm looking for debris and things like that. Truthfully, I love walking on an empty track and breathing it all in.

A husband and wife standing along the fence asked what time things begin, and I said, "4:30."

The guy looked at this program and confirmed, "Yes, 4:30."

I said, "Oh, I was just guessing."

His wife roared with laughter.

I love track.

Three very important people in the picture below. One is an Olympic Gold Medalist, the first one I remember watching on TV as a young buck...the VIP is now one of the national officiating leaders. Another man is the coordinator of officials for major meets: he's the guy who makes the final call about the folks who want to work at big events. Lastly, the Meet Operations boss for the University of Oregon. Good people, and I want to be on the right side of them.

                              

Did I mention that if Los Angeles gets the 2024 Olympics, I might be on the short list by then? Better keep living the clean life.

Had a nice swim the next morning at the Amazon Pool. Good to occasionally let the running muscles relax a bit.

All suited up and ready to go. The runners wear hip numbers so we can identify them easily, and I figured umpires should do the same.

Some yoga mats were set up under the West Grandstands, and our officials are good at making best use of their time...

I'm stationed at the start/finish lines...during the 4x100m heats, I'm watching for fouls in the final straightaway, and from behind me, I hear the yell,  "HAT!"   Oops...I'm inadvertantly blocking the photographer pool, and they want head-on shots of the finish. The 'hat' they admonish is that big straw thing perched on my cranium. 

A pole vaulter from Mizzou clears a big height with a half-gainer, triple twisting maneuver. I had to do a double-take on that one. 

 Oklahoma State's John Teeters in the 100m sprint: he appears to be from the Paul Bunyan/John Belushi School of Personal Grooming.

Mr. Teeters

UW's Izaic Yorks cruises thru his 1500m semi, and he's my pick for the final. However, his impressive 'fro runs out of juice, courtesy of a buttery smooth Clayton Murphy from UAkron.

Next morning, I run about 8 miles down to the River Center footbridge. On the way back, I encounter two adults in Tennessee orange, so I ask if they are related to the kid who won yesterday's pole vault competition. Yep, they were his (very happy) coaches.

Some team support folks prioritized their time differently than others...

One of my fellow umpires commented that her garden was suffering a bit, and wondered if it was due to a lack of nitrogen. I told her that Eugene's air has a lower percentage of nitrogen than other areas.

Uh, not really...

Decathletes are a band of merry men. Ok, maybe not 'merry,' especially when they collapse en masse at the end of the 1500m. But they take a victory lap and then a group bow in front of the homestretch grandstands...they earned it.

In between events, I find a few seconds to keep up with my pullup sets....

The video replay judges who occupied the weight room didn't seem to mind...and I nearly doubled my reps from last week! (ok, so I started low...it still counts!)

Ms. Scott from Arkansas is maybe the first blond Dominique I've seen. Tremendous wheels, too, as she lays waste to the fields for a nice 5k/10k double. When she dropped the hammer with a few laps remaining, no one could answer. 

UO's team drops the stick at my feet in the 4x4 relay and quits on the spot. I write up the violation as their own fault. The team does NOT protest, yet the next day's paper quotes the coach as saying his team was obstructed. Really, Coach? If that was the case, how come no protest? Yes, the BS meter hit the top stop on that one...and oh by the way, the video judges confirmed my call. 

Our meals were good: catered lunches, and dinner at the Dux Bistro on campus. Except one night where we finished on the track at 7:58pm, and the bistro closed at 8:00. Someone didn't get the memo about extended hours. No big...dinner that night was: smoked salmon, lentils, sardines, hummus, and more. 

Final day: girl from Arkansas sets not only an NCAA record but an American record in the triple jump. Very rare for a college kid.

A&M's Donovan Brazier erases the 50 year old (to the day!) collegiate 800m record of Congressman Jim Ryun. By nearly a full second...and he eased up in the final 15 meters....and he obviously learned from his DQ at Junior Worlds, when he stumbled off the starting line and veered outside of his lane, right in front of my prying and disapproving eyes.

UO frosh Ariana Washington nips the field in the women's 100m, and the crowd does crazy, Then she doubles down in the 200m. When did UO become a sprinter's school? Later, Ariana and IH hurdles winner Shamir Little have a joyous wrestling match at the finish line.

The men's 100 final has the top 5 finishers within 0.04. I could easily throw a blanket over all of them at the line.

The meet's best hair goes to Arkansas heptathlete Aliyah Brooks, whose gorgeous auburn mane looks like a bouncing sea anemone when she runs the hurdles.

Sea anemones? Look at these bad boys... Hopefully Aliyah isn't quite as nasty. 

When the 400m runners are set in their blocks for the race start, I hear photographer cameras taking shots on full automatic. That's a no-no, boys and girls; wait until the gun fires!

Footballer Randall Cunningham's son wins the high jump. His daughter won Indoor Worlds a few months back. I wonder what dinnertime conversation at that household is like. 

UO's young Mr Cheserek wins the 5 and 10 (again). For a junior to have 15 NCAA titles is, oh. pretty good. He dusted the 5k field with a final 57/1:59....I guess all the 'experts' who said he was washed up this year were a tiny bit wrong. 

As the starting line umpire, it's my job to ensure the track is ready for the next event, so I check for white flags at all four corners before nodding to the starter. Before the last event, the 4x400m relay, I give this report to the head umpire via radio:

"Sir, the track is clear, and all relay exchange zones are showing white flags."

He cusses me out, then laughs in the manner of the Kentucky boy that he is. It's not exactly a stretch; all 4x4 baton exchanges happen right in front of me, unlike the 4x100m passes, which occur at each corner of the track. 

Ok, I guess you had to be there...

Hands down: the absolute BEST part about the meet? The exquisite parking spot I found on the last day, a mere four (that's F-O-U-R) cars from the track. Simply unheard of in a college town, and all due to my expertise and purity of heart. 

Who's got next?

                                   

Answer: me. I'll be at the starting line again in three weeks.

I love track.

2016 Prefontaine Classic

Like my chief umpire says, "Let's go play track!"

No better setting than the Pre, America's best one-day track meet, and one of the premier events in the world. 

On Friday night, UO hosted a reunion of the first 10 Oregon runners to run a 4-minute mile. How could I pass this up? 

Arne Kvalheim, Roscoe Divine, Archie San Romani

(Roscoe was the 2nd college freshman to go sub-4, after some guy named Ryan or something. Roscoe entered the lumber industry and had a respectable career, unlike that other guy who entered Congress).

All of them...

Later, at the track....who was the first man to run a sub-4 mile in America? (hint: it wasn't me).

Aussie Jim Bailey was given a scholarship by Bill Bowerman in 1955, then ran a surprising 3:58 while beating world leader John Landy at the Los Angeles Coliseum.

Back then, Landy and Roger Bannister were vying to be the first man anywhere under 4 minutes. Also in the hunt was American Wes Santee, who ran under 4:01 twice in the months before Bannister's breakthru run.

Bannister ran 3:59.4 on May 6th of 1954, followed 3 weeks later by Landy's 3:58 flat. They both met for a 'rematch' at the British Empire Games in Vancouver that August, and also scheduled to run was young Mr. Bailey.

Last Friday night, I mentioned to Bailey that it would have been something if both he and Santee had run in that meet. He blanched, then said that Santee wasn't a Commonwealth citizen and therefore couldn't have run under any circumstances. I was taken aback, having remembered something different from my track geek history reading, something like him trying to get an invitational entry. But am I gonna argue with the man? Naw, though I did get the great selfie.

Mo Farah rips a 1:58 or so in the final 800 to win a quick 10,000m race. Then I head to Dave and Jeanne's house to crash for the night.

Look what I found in my bag...

A snack from work, I guess...Trader Joe's has great stuff

Dave and Jeanne have possibly the best runner's shrine I've ever seen!

And their new toy, which they are putting to good use for 10 days right after the meet:

All decked out, and plenty of places to go...I've been asked to train to replace the head referee, so I need to get used to laying down the law.

Is this a neat place for a track meet or what?

Lots of late scratches in the meet: Dibaba, Rupp, Centro, Allyson Felix. Would have been nice to see them, but the others filled in nicely.

Women's steeple: 2nd fastest of all time, a second off the world record of some Russian doper, and Emma Coburn gets the American record. Right before her post-race interview, she was sobbing on a cell phone, talking to her boyfriend. Who was in the stadium...

Really? She could have simply walked across the track and found him.

I'm such a dinosaur, but jeez...phones don't need to take over every inch of our lives, do they?

Boris Berian follows up his World Indoor victory with another big win. Unfortunately, it comes on the heels of Nike serving him with a contract violation lawsuit for shopping around when Nike has a right of first refusal clause. Awk-ward....and they even served him at a track meet! Could have been handled so much better.

Lashawn Merritt is a very large individual, even for a 400m runner.

Bernard Lagat made his 16th and final appearance. That's a lotta laps at Hayward Field. And even though he dropped out of the 5k, he took a bow and got a huge ovation.

I run under the stands for a quick trip to the (portable) head, only to find someone banging on the door outside. Uh, give me a minute, please. Turns out to be Canadian Cam Levins, and he had a race to run shortly. Wait your turn, buddy.

Renaud Lavillenie, (Air France), takes home another pole vault crown without breaking a sweat. I love watching this guy: he has so much fun out there. I guess that's easy when you win all the time. And he was sporting quite the outfit: a UO kit!  The guy can play a crowd...

Keni Harrison runs an insane 12.24 in the women's hurdles to blow up the American record, only 3/100 from the world record. And don't confuse her with Kenny Harrison, who won the 1996 Olympic Triple Jump crown.

Women's 1500m was run in 3:56, the fastest ever on American soil.

In the women's 400m, Ashley Spencer stumbles out of the blocks from the set position (before the gun fired). Oops. That's a DQ most days, and she knows it. She sports quite the long face, awaiting her sentence...

Except that a DQ is primarily when a runner gains an advantage or obstructs another runner. This was neither. And, like in baseball, the Pre management gives ties to the runner.

She is reinstated, and does quite the happy dance before getting back into the blocks.

Sanya Richards-Ross runs her last Pre race; she has done 49 races under 50 seconds. Beastly.

In the final race, the Bowerman mile, all 14 runners come in under 4 minutes, including HS senior Drew Hunter. He'll be attending the University of Oregon, thank you very much.

Some statistician up in the booth did some furious number crunching and found that Hayward Field has 'the fastest front straightaway in the world,' by virtue of cumulative sprint times. Ok, that's a stat even I wouldn't have known.

When i finished the 130 mile drive home, I immediately lunged for my copy of "The Perfect Mile" by Neal Bascomb. He did a marvelous job of detailing the efforts of Bannister, Landy, and Santee in chasing the 4 minute mile. My question: was Jim Bailey right about Santee not ever being considered for the Empire Games mile, or was I right in saying that he tried to get a provisional entry but failed?

After some furious searching....Mr. Bailey, you owe me a drink. Bascomb reports that Landy petitioned the Amateur Athletic Union, the Brits, and the US Marine Corps (his employer) for a chance to run against Landy and Bannister. All authorities turned down his request.

Smile. I would have been the best Olympics researcher on the planet. Actually, I am...

2016 Pac-12 Championships

Last year, I was asked if I wanted to work at this year's Pac-12 Championships in Seattle. 

What a silly question. If there's one thing I love more than track, it's traveling to track meets. Especially when it's partially on someone else's dime. 

So off I go. Unfortunately, our local airport was closed for runway paving, so my options were a bit limited. But a 6 hour drive isn't too bad. And I decided on the back way, avoiding the Portland/Olympia/Tacoma traffic; on a good day, the slowdowns are brief. On a bad day, horrific. 

I stumbled across an online review for eateries near my halfway point, and the second pick was my target: the St. John's Monastery Bakery, north of Goldendale. Staffed by Orthodox Greek nuns who generously made no mention of my running shorts and Hood to Coast t-shirt, they served me up unquestionably the best gyro i have ever experienced. Just sublime. 

The dolmas were good, too: piping hot, not what I expected. I think i prefer the canned ones from Trader Joe's. But you can't lose either way. 

Yakima reminded me a lot of West Texas, only with more hills. And next time, I'll take the detour thru Roslyn and see the setting of the show Northern Exposure. 

Into the city, check into the hotel, then off to West Seattle to meet up with Kay, Stacey, and young Declan. 

Nice shirt, my man!

                                     

Kay's house has a wonderful view of Puget Sound...

Dinner was at Ma'ono: a Fried Chicken and Whiskey Bar? Yes, a full page of whiskey choices. 

And did I mention the food? If you haven't had Spam Musubi, you haven't lived. No joke. So much for dropping a few pounds. 

Back to the hotel, the Silver Cloud Inn on Lake Union. I've been in worse locations. And with someone else picking up the tab, it's even better; for this meet, the rooms are covered by UW. 

Next morning: up early for a swim at the Queen Anne Aquatic Center. Five bucks gets you in, and the pool had plenty of room. Recently, i decided to stop being timid in the pool, so i committed to learning how to execute a solid flip turn, not the garbage I've been throwing out there. And it began to click: the problem has been that i'm uncomfortable swimming underwater on my back, and that's what a proper turn requires. But hoards of real swimmers seem to manage without drowning themselves, so let's get after it, shall we? 

45 minutes of laps done, and I'm out of there. Now the fun begins....

                                      

 That's one seriously purple track (even if it looks a little blue).

Briefing at 10am, and the rain began promptly at 11. And continued for the next 3-4 hours in heavy doses. Very wet, but at least it was cold.

Did i mention the rain?

This sucker paid for itself many times over...you can't write up fouls if the paper is disintegrating.

By the end of the day, i was ready for dry socks and a comfortable chair. Dinner was sushi picked up from the University Village QFC.

Next morning; a bit o' running. Wanted to start getting my legs back from that unfortunate Eugene Marathon experience, so down the waterfront i go. Over the Eastlake Bridge, winding thru the U, then past Husky Stadium and a massively attended road race. No thanks, i just want a quiet run to myself. 5 miles out, 5 back, and I'm good. Also noticed that I dropped some spicy miles at around 7:35 pace on the way back.

The rest of the events went well, not many fouls to report. Just some great running...the UO team, known for distance runners, goes 1-2-3 in both women's sprints. We knew Jenna Prandini would be tough to replace, and yet here's newbie Hannah Cunliffe laying waste to the competition. Oregon doesn't recruit, they reload. Ed Ches comes back from injury and lack of conditioning by putting a couple of 4:25 miles (estimated) at the end of the 10k, and doesn't have much company. Meanwhile, the 5k was awesome; a couple of Colorado guys pushing a serious tempo for most of the race...with two laps to go, their coach yells out, "Save a gear!" Too late: UW's Gilbert finds a snappy cadence in the final 400 and completes a solid 13:35.

His teammate Izaic Yorks leads wire to wire in the 1500 and takes the crown. Always good to see locals winning on their home track. And a nice big 'fro, too.

Oregon's Raevyn Rogers cruelly keeps the field close for 700m, then drops the hammer and runs away with the crown. She has a good chance to be a 4-time outdoor champion in the 800 meters.

My roommate James brought us to a great Mexican restaurant down the road. At the counter, I see this...

The server sees me looking suspiciously at the chocolate chip cookie and laughs. "Yes, it has jalapenos," he says. When i hesitated, he comped me. Not sure that made me more interested, but what the heck.

The food was great: fresh, tasty, and lots of it. Surprisingly, the cookie was good, too.

Next morning, I blew off another swim and decided to get driving. Seattle traffic (even outbound) is hideous. With the little bit of rain, i decided to return on the sunny back route, knowing that slick roads near the city mean lots of delays.

Same Greek bakery for lunch. This time, spanakopita for the first time. Not a fan of creamed spinach. The dessert baklava was beyond sweet, almost made me break out in hives. Next time, I'll stick with the gyros.

Great trip, great experience.

Closure in New Jersey and lotsa Family....

Linda, Curt, Angela, Phyllis (Angela's mom)

Diane, Leslie, Mark

Mom and Curt

Leslie

Mom

The car I sent

Mom and Russ's wedding at the church 'farmhouse' in Kingwood (west of Flemington). Uncle Bud (LJ's 2nd husband), LJ, Mom, Russ, Russ's mom. Sept 14th, 1985

Zoe in a collage at the reception

Russ and Ryan, Russ's daughter Heather's son. He has Downs and was born right after 9/11

Cousins Tova and Tara, Diane's daughters

Linda, Diane, Mom

Curt's crab legs from Saturday night

LJ's house in Saddle Brook

School across the street from LJ's. I spent lots of time there shooting hoops or hitting a tennis ball against the building. 

My pork roll breakfast before the service

dinner near the Boardwalk in Pt Pleasant on Friday

Phyllis, Curt, Russ's daughter Heather

First picture of the three of us in decades. I wasn't letting them leave until we got this shot.

Curt and Linda

The Final LSD; now commence the taper!

This year's marathon training plan was a step up in several ways.

First, the approach...I was tired of not really knowing how hard I should be training, so I broke down and got a lactate threshold test done. The results gave me my optimum training zones, and training by effort is a much better way than training by pace. Effort can change based on a number of factors: how you feel, how well you recovered, what you ate, how hard the wind blows, how steep the hills are, you name it. Meanwhile, training by pace doesn't give you any leeway at all.

I've always trained by pace. And I've repeatedly fallen short of my goal: qualify for the Boston Marathon.

Ok, this time it's gonna be different. Every run is mildly or moderately annoying in terms of effort. No runs are easy, none are brutally hard, but they are all in the yellow zone and sometimes close to red.

Something must be working: not a lick of injury or strained tissue since I started in September. And my fitness has improved dramatically, and very consistently as well. It's nice to do a workout without any knowledge of pace, then to upload the data and start celebrating another faster run.

The other change was the long runs. In the past, I've done 18, 20, 23 for my longest efforts. This time, it's two 20's and a 23. The first two runs went very well, and now it's time for the big boy.

Only life intervened to make it interesting. Due to a family thing, I had to travel to the East Coast for the weekend I intended to run 23 miles. The forecast back east was lousy, and I didn't really want to run with my body clock all wacked, either.

Plan B; wake up at 0300 on Thursday, eat quickly, and get out the door by 0400. Easy peasy, except this was following 3 nights of lousy sleep. Oh well; time to get it done.

It's really dark at 0400. Except for my headlamp, my shoe lights, and the reflectors on my Camelbak.

It helps a ton to have all gear gear all laid out the night before: Body glide, vaseline on legs (I was running in shorts in the 40F air), compression shirt, gels, emergency money...

I ate too much oatmeal for breakfast, and felt very full for most of the run. Oh, and I remembered that I had an overdue library book, so i carried it in my hand for 2 miles until I passed the library.

First car to pass me: a police cruiser. I'm surprised he didn't ask what the heck I was doing out there at this insane hour.

A gel every 30 min, a salt stick right after. Just pounding the food. Not a problem, I love to eat.

A gorgeous black kitty with green eyes hiding in the brush near the Hwy 97 Overpass. Actually, all I saw were the eyes. Later, I look up and see 3 deer within 5 feet of me; not sure who was more surprised.

Listened to a long podcast: Billy Hardwick, retired Pro Bowler and dad of Chris Hardwick, host of The Nerdist podcast. I vaguely remember Billy, as I was a bowling fanatic as a kid. Even dropped a 7-10 split once, though there was a lot more luck than skill involved.

23 miles is a pretty long solo run in the dark.

With about 7 miles to go, I switch from podcast to my race playlist. All songs at 180 beats per minute, matching my run cadence. Time to get busy. And the sun is coming up!

I tear open my last gel with my teeth, then squeeze. Unfortunately, I didn't tear a big enough hole. What happens when a liquid under pressure is forced thru a small opening? It goes everywhere. including all over my gloves. What a mess.

The last mile is uphill, and my hamstrings are starting to make noise. Just then, buddy Frank drives by and gives me a shout-out. Just what I needed.

Here are my last three long runs all at the same effort level:
20 miles, 8:43 pace, flat terrain
20 miles, 8:32 pace, 50 feet of climbing
23 miles, 8:32 pace, 650 feet of climbing.

Lots more hills, same pace.

That's a big win. Now the taper.

I've done the work, and now the best thing i can do is not screw it up!

To be continued (on May 1st).