Eugene, Oregon likes to call itself the track capital of the world. Whether that is true or not, the Olympic Committee did award the honor of holding the 2008 U.S. Track & Field Trials to that city, and the citizenry are bursting with excitement as participants have already been descending on them for the last few weeks.
The trials, taking place at Hayward Field at the University Of Oregon will begin on June 27 and end on July 6. Crowds of up to 15,000 a day are expected.
Hotels, motels, and private homes are filling up fast, so if you plan to attend, you need to secure housing quickly. If you can't attend, you may want to get in touch with The Register-Guard, Eugene's daily newspaper to reserve a commemorative edition planned to recap every event with fantastic photo essays and a lot of background material about notable athletes such as Maria Mutola, Bill Dellinger, Mary Decker Slaney, and Steve Prefontaine who have all lived and trained in Eugene. A link to reach The Register-Guard for its commemorative edition, or for their Olympic Trials preview edition which will give times and locations of each event, is provided below.
No doubt, there will also be some reference to the legendary story of how, many years ago, running coach Bill Bowerman used his wife's waffle iron to make waffle-type soles for running shoes, and how subsequent improvements on this invention led him and his partner, Phil Knight into the manufacturing of world-famous Nike Athletic shoes.
An interesting "extra" concerning the trials is that an all-out attempt is being made by organizers to keep it environmentally green. Just a few of their innovations include:
1. The purchase of wind-generated electricity from the local water and electric board to power the event which is expected to use over 200,000 kilowatt hours of power during the trials. The same company owns a solar station which will power the lights and sound for the festival stage.
2. Shuttle services to provide transportation from motels to Hayward field and about town. Personal bike and skateboard rentals will also be available.
3. Michael's Catering of Phoenix, AZ, who will cater the event, has agreed to use mostly local labor, local produce and other local food products in order to cut down on polluction from trucking and transportation.
4. Compostable table service will be used as much as possible. Even ketchup containers and straws are expected to be compostable. Paper plates are being formed from corn and potato products so they can end up in the compost bin instead of the garbage dump after each meal.
5. On June 30th, an unusual event is planned. Nike is sponsoring a shoe collection and is asking those attending to donate worn-out athletic shoes which will later be ground up to re-surface worn track surfaces. (This has got to be a first in re-cycling, and it sounds like a great idea.)
With such huge crowds in attendance, Eugene and nearby Springfield, OR have planned a variety of other activities to give the trial attendees a change of pace. Parades, concerts, and tours to the nearby mountains, and to the beautiful Oregon Coast, a little over an hour's drive from Eugene are already on the agenda.
If you aren't too far away, and haven't already planned your summer vacation, why not try to spend a few days at Track City, U.S.A., also known as Eugene, Oregon? The people are friendly, the weather is great, and, once you've been there, you'll want to return again and again.
www.registerguard.com
http://running.syr.edu/column/19991227.html
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