TRIALS BLOG: Distance Night at Hayward

The 4th of July is always one of my favorite holidays.  I love the BBQ’s and fireworks.  This 4th was very different than any I’ve ever had and one of the most memorable. 

 

After posting my blog Friday afternoon I headed over to get a burrito at the Campus Cantina, which is about a mile walk from the dorms.  The food was fantastic, especially the salsa con queso, which often is too thick.  The guys nailed it.  Bart to the picture of me because the bar stools were very tall, and well, I am not.

 

The afternoon was reserved for a nap since we’ve had a few late nights followed by some early morning runs.  The meet was schedule to start at 6:45 and I wanted to get in a bit early to locate better location to take pics from than the day before.

 

 

The stadium filled up immediately on this day, which many distance fans considered the best day of the entire meet.  Everyone was pumped up.  You could tell the crowd was going to be a good one because every field event was followed just as closely as the anticipated distance races that followed.

 

The men’s 1500m was rather uneventful but Webb did scare me with how he looked coming down the home stretch.  Lomong made it through, and since he’s such a great story and went to HS in NY, I have to root for him.  I’d love to see Webb, Lagat, and Lomong go 1-2-3 on Sunday, really in any order.

 

The women’s 1500m was so exciting.  I was primarily watching the HS girls, Hasay and Babcock.  Hasay started rolling with 700m to go and just kept going.  I was sitting with Errol Anderson, one of the best photographers you can find and a New Yorker who seems to know everyone.  We both watched as Hasay closed the gap on this field of professional women.  I really felt we were watching a  girl go from phenom to star in one final 200m sprint.

 

The women’s 5K was even better.  The crowd was really getting into it and we had two NY HS graduates to cheer for – Molly Huddle and Jen Rhines.  Huddle led early before fading but Rhines made the Olynpic team in her 3rd different event spanning her career – the marathon, 10K, and now 5K.  Amazing for a girl from Liverpool, NY.

 

The marquee event was the 10K.  While the race itself was great, for me it was all about Abdi’s celebration and Rupp’s home town reaction.  Rupp was also a HS phenom who became a star on this night.   Fireworks exploded over the west grandstands as the three runners circled the track in victory together, Jorge Torres being the 3rd.  After the meet the fans were treated to more fireworks as they trickled out.

 

I headed back to the room, editing my pics, sent them to Chris and to Scott Bush and other MileSplit people, and headed out to get a late dinner at The Willard Street Pub.  It was even more crowded on this night as me and Steve Underwood from Dyestat split a tray of sliders (small burgers).  Eating healthy after a long day, at midnight, is just about impossible.

 

Each day it’s a little harder to get up and get that run in but I managed to shoot over to Pre’s Trail for a 45 minute jog.  I think everyone’s getting a little tired because the collective pace of the hundreds of people I passed was rather slow.  I did pass Dan Green of New Balance who I know through my work at The Armory and Mark Floriani of FloTrack fame.  It was a tough run but I managed to push the pace under 8 minute miles the last 15 minutes, though it wasn’t easy.

 

The meet started at 11am out here on Saturday and the morning session was supposed to be pretty non eventful.  That was until Tyson Gay hit the track like he was shot and the crowd made a sound I have never quite heard.  Gay is out of the 200m and who knows, maybe the Olympics altogether.  This could be a huge blow for the American’s.

 

We did get to watch Lynne Layne of New Rochelle, NY who runs for Tennessee now, as well as Ari Dixon of Beacon, NY, now competing for Sacred Heart,  Both were so dominant in HS and both appeared mediocre in this crowd.  Amzazing.

 

The meal that the meet provided was fantastic.  I had a Mediterranean wrap and some pasta salad with a water.  This morning after my run I had some fresh strawberries and pineapple, so it’s been a good day so far.  I’m hoping I can hit the gym up again later and get some weights and core work in.  Again, when you see this many fit peole around, it’s that much easier to motivate to work out.