Runnerville

 Villard Street seemed deserted as we drove home from dinner at the Boulevard Grille on Randolph tonight.  A quick glance showed a few diehards knocking back their final Trials beers at the Villard Street Pub as we passed.  The pub had been the unofficial post-meet gathering spot night after night during the Trials, and now with packing and early morning flights waiting, there wasn’t the same urgency to stop to exchange opinions and race memories.  Strange how quickly the industry packs up and departs after settling in for the ten days it took to select this 2008 Olympic Team.

Read more…

The remainder of the 2008 Olympic Track & Field Trials could well be hard pressed to match the spirit of the of Day One in Eugene. After a 28-year absence, the sport’s premier national meet returned to the hallowed grounds of Hayward Field on the university of Oregon campus under glorious blue skies and an array of fluttering American flags. A record 20,964 track-hungry fans spilled out of the gussied up grand dame of American tracks, carrying 10th grader Laura Roesler of North Dakota down the homestretch and into the semifinals of the women’s 800 meters. Pretty in pink (singlet), the Fargo prep notched a 2:04.03 fourth place finish in heat one to stir the crowd for the first of what promises to be many times over the next nine days. Read more…

Cross Nationals are easily my favorite National Championship each year (NCAA Cross Country, notwithstanding). In the past few years we’ve had Messrs. McDougal and Withrow make auspicious in-roads toward elite senior status as college kids. Max King had everyone asking “Who’s Max King?” in New York. A photo finish on frozen tundra in Indianapolis, and a local guy making good in the long-course race. (I forget his name; I just remember the gist of the story.) Ryan Hall claiming the mantle of Best American Distance Runner in 2006 (though we didn’t know, at the time, that this one dominating race was only the beginning). Last year, Boulder’s best defending their home turf — er, home mud. Read more…