Lord? Am I in heaven?
There was a thick layer of fog hovering over the land and a chill in the air – a far cry from where I had been and what I had left. Yes, Eugene, OR is different from anywhere that I have been – that’s what makes this place so special. And special, it is.
Since 1969, when he was a high school senior in Coos Bay, people have been coming to Eugene to get a piece of a legend – Steve Prefontaine. For seven short years, it was to watch and witness greatness perform. Since his passing? Well, each individual has their reason but for most, it is likely that they just want to walk and run in Pre’s footsteps.
Just the thought of running on the same streets or on the same trails as Steve Prefontaine can inspire anyone. The thought can make one stride a little longer, a little faster, a little farther.
Coming here, I tried to imagine the kind of experience that I would have. An image without seeing isn’t an image at all. You truly need to be here to fully gain the spirit of Prefontaine as well as the spirit of Eugene.
The spirit of Eugene comes down to people like Bob Coll and Joe Henderson who are willing to share their town and its running history and do so with enthusiam and passion. It comes down to Vivian and Barbara at the Visitor Center whose mission was to find accomodations and a good pizza place for myself, and did so with big heartfelt smiles. It comes down to the gentleman 20 feet to the right of me who just asked if I wanted to play him in a game of chess (unfortunately, I had to turn him down – for now). It comes down to everyone that I have seen who, when they see a runner waiting to cross a street, will literally stop, smile, and wave for the runner to cross (it even happened to me).
I realize that no place is perfect and I am sure there are some negatives that come with Eugene, but I have yet to see them. It is a runner’s paradise. And just think, all this assessment and I have another day to go! Will my opinion change? We’ll see.
For my workout this morning, I decided to get on the track and do a little speed work. Historic Hayward Field is being renovated for next year’s Olympic Trials so I couldn’t get access (bummer). I was directed to South Eugene High School’s track (which has a bit of history itself). A set of quarters was on tap for today -- they haven’t been done in a while.
I wanted to keep the set fairly short since I have planned to do an afternoon run (in a few hours) and a longer run tomorrow morning. So, I accomplished 12 quarter-mile repeats with a 200 a meter jog rest in between. All were completed in the 70-75 second range and I felt good about it. The track was beautiful and the area had a great feel to it.
I wanted to get a 15 minute cool down in and noticed a trail that ran close by the track. It turns out that there were, actually, two – one paved and one wood chipped. The wood chips looked really inviting and that’s what I took. It was just a relatively small loop (maybe a mile) but felt good. And it had lighting! What a concept that a trail have lighting! Hint, hint, city of Cedar Rapids. I remember seeing a piece on Joaquim Cruz years ago which highlighted a circuit workout that he did – I think it may have been on this trail but not sure.
One thing of note, while driving through Eugene trying to locate certain spots, I noticed something – at least one runner on every street that I turned on. Literally everywhere that I turned, there was a runner. The fifteen minutes of trail time that I logged – I must have passed 25. Oh yes, this is a running town. This is Track Town - Eugene, OR.
More from Eugene next time. Gotta run!
Peace
Notes from the road:
1) It took me 4 hours to get from Carmel to just north of San Jose. California traffic is UNREAL! Traffic jam after traffic jam and it wasn’t even rush hour! Every hour must be rush hour in Cali. There were a number of motorcyclists who took it upon themselves to split traffic and move to the head of the line. The first couple I thought,”What the heck?” The next I edged out to try and block, it didn’t work. The next I stuck my head out the window and shook it with displeasure and received no reaction. I saw two more coming in my side mirrors – they were wearing biker gang jackets so decided not to do anything.
2) While trying to keep my cool and sanity during “the jams”, I looked for vanity plates. Only saw two – MOONDOG and CU2NITE.
Road song of the day: “The Runner” by Manfred Mann