Day Four

Day 4 (06/30/08)
Some people don’t do mornings but I guess I’m a morning person because I think the morning is the best part of the day. So, not to miss a morning up here, I was up before 6, put on my running attire and headed out the door (actually 3 doors before I could get to my bike). It’s only a short ride over to the Prefontaine Trail where I love to run. There are over 6 miles of trails all covered with bark chips. This makes for a very soft surface to run on which is perfect for my feet. Pre found trails like this running through out European cities where he competed and when he came back to Eugene he sold the city fathers on building just such a trail through Alton Baker Park. Here you can run through forests, open fields, next to rivers ,creeks, ponds, bridges and past Autzen Stadium where Oregon plays their football games. This morning’s run was an extra special bless from the Lord because this time last year I truly believed I would never run again until I got to Heaven. For me it doesn’t get any better than jogging along this trail for 30 minutes listing to songs like WE HAVE ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD, SPEAK SOFTLY LOVE, O FORTUNA, SCHOOL DAYS, JOHNNY B. GOOD, WHISPERING BELLS, TOWN WITHOUT PITY, MOMENT TO MOMENT, and YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE on my iPod (the 8th wonder of the world). The only thing that would have made it better is if Kelsey and Oreo were here to run along side me. Latter that morning I rode my bike back to the Allann Coffee Co. where I was able to post another blog. After dinner we all headed back to the track for the 7:10 start of the women’s 400 IH semifinals. The weather today has been much cooler. Some of the smoke from the Northern California wild fires has now reached up here and the skies are not as bright and sunny as they have been. This cooler weather made for great distance running and whereas distance races normally sends most track spectators out for a bathroom break or to grab a hotdog, here it keeps everyone in their seats because that is what they like best. The 800 is actually a middle distance and filled with drama. The women’s final was run out of 2 alleys tonight because of the big 12 runner field so they had to go out fast in order not to get tangled up when they broke for the poll. The drama in this final was to see if Oregon Track Club member Nicole Tetter (who was advanced into the final by the meet referee after her tumble in the semis) could make the Olympic team. This 34 year old knew she wasn’t the favorite and that she is nearing the end of her career and she knew that she wanted one more last hoora. Hanging in the middle of the pack for much of the race, Nicole finally moved into 3rd position at about the 600 meter mark and held on coming out of the final bend. For a short time it looked like she had an Olympic berth within her grasp but behind her, Kameisha Bennett was charging down the backstretch after her. Bennett’s heroic efforts put her ahead of Nicole, 2:01.20 to 2:01.30. For most fans in the stands, they had a little heartbreak as Nicole was a local favorite but that little heartbreak soon turned to joy when it was announced the Tetter was on the team despite her 4th place finish. What most people didn’t know was the Tetter had run an A standard time of 1:59.91 back in May of 2007 (the A standard is the time an athlete must accomplish if the country they represent is sending more than one athlete in an event). The second chances Nicole got by being advanced into the final and by leaping over the 3rd place finisher means a second trip to the Olympic for her. “From falling, not thinking that I was even in the finals, to getting 4th and making the team by default,” she said “I can’t wait to get to China.” Mark down June 30, 8:25 PM on your calendar as the time Hayward Field experienced one of its most crowd pleasing moments ever. The men’s 800 final was a classic. Three Eugene based runners were part of the 8 man field for this race. Nick Symmonds, Andrew Wheating, and Christian Smith. Symmonds was a true contender for a place on the Olympic team coming into the meet with a string of victories over top flight competition. But Wheating was a question mark. After all, this Oregon sophomore was only 7th in the Pac 10 conference as a freshman. After a meteoric rise this year, he became the NCAA runner-up but this is not the NCAA. This field included people like 4 time U.S. Champion Khadevis Robinson. Then there was Smith who most people had written off as extremely lucky to make the final and was one of the last 800 entrants allowed into the Trials with only a provisional qualifying time. Symmonds let Robinson take out the race and that’s just what Robinson did, pushing the pace hard and passing the 400 in 50.33. Probably less then 1% of the world population can run one lap that fast and here these guys still have another lap to go. “It was the fastest opening lap I’ve ever run,” Symmonds is quoted as say. As the second lap progressed Symmonds and Wheatly started moving up, Symmonds on the inside and Wheatly along the outside. With half a lap to go, Symmonds was boxed in by a wall of runners and looked to be in serious trouble. But he had learned a lesson from previous races that is hard to learn. It’s called “patience”. That patience he exercised paid off when one of the runners ahead of him moved one step to the right. That one small crack in the wall was the opportunity he was looking for and Symmons shot through the gap and launched his trade mark kick that took him to victory in a commanding style with a personal best time of 1:44.10. At the same time Symmons was shooting through from the inside, Wheating was running wide of the pack and as the crowed came to their feet and roared with a vengeance, Wheating began to pick off the runners that stood between him an a trip to Beijing. There is no doubt it, there was pandemonium in the stands when Wheating placed second with a personal best time of 1:45.03. “Oh my gosh, the crowd was so loud, I couldn’t hear myself breathing,” Wheating said. Behind Symmonds and Wheatly, Robinson, the prerace favorite , was hanging on for dear life. Christian Smith, the 3rd string Oregon runner, and Lopez Lomong were coming on strong. Smith snuck up behind Robinson and with a desperate lunge at the finish line completed Eugene’s sweep of the 800 Olympic team members. “I saw Khadevis and I knew he was the guy I had to get,” Smith said. “I just took a lean and dove. I didn’t think a lean alone would be enough. I wasn’t sure if I was diving for third or fourth. I couldn’t believe it when I got up off the track and saw that I was third. It was an unbelievable feeling.” Many feel it was the loudest crowd to ever to witness a track meet. Wheatly was quick to credit the crowd with his and Smith’s success. “I believe Oregon was 1-2-3 because of this crowd.
Do you remember my plan as laid out for this race in blog Day 2? Well, can you believe it? I forgot to bring my ear plugs. My ears are still ringing!