PNW Vacay Part 2: Eugene and Olympic Trials

Hello and happy Saturday!

After posting sporadically lately, I’m trying to find my blogging groove. I had time to do it, so I’m picking up where I left off yesterday and sharing part 2 of our trip today.

As I said in yesterday’s post, this vacation was planned because of the track and field Olympic Trials at the University of Oregon. Travis had been to Eugene once before when our nephew had a race years ago, and he knew Hayward Field is a special place.

Of course, both my kids run track and follow quite a few athletes, so this was really special for them.

Travis did the best he could choosing two days with races that the kids would specifically want to see. He chose Sunday because of Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone was slated to run the 400m, but she decided to focus on 400m hurdles which ended up being a different night. We still got to see many amazing races including Noah Lyles in the 100 and a few University of Kentucky athletes compete as well. Keaton Daniel is an outstanding UK pole vaulter, and he came in 4th and was named an alternate.

There was a fun area behind the track with photo ops, the merch tent, food, and a stage where the top three athletes would go for Q&A after the races/events.

Welcome to Track Town!

Hadley signed the (cardboard) “Olympic Torch,” which she thought was so neat.

We made our way to our seats which were on the second level, and we had an amazing view.

The weather was amazing too!

There’s Noah Lyles in the red after his 100m run:

Sunday night, we saw: men’s pole vault, men’s 100m semi and final, women’s 800m semi-final, men’s 400m semi, women’s 400m final, among other events.

Afterwards, we snapped a couple of pics…

…and then a lovely woman asked if I wanted to hop in a pic…which I appreciated 🙂

Afterwards, the kids wanted to go down a level to see some athletes. Sunday night they got selfies with Fred Kerley (men’s 100m) and Noah Lyles (men’s 100 and 200m) and then Monday night with Allie Wilson and Juliette Whittaker (both women’s 800m).

Going into these races, I didn’t realize how accessible these athletes would be after the races. It’s super cool that the kids saw so many of their idols up close!

After the races, we walked around a bit and then made our way to catch our Uber back to the house.

We were hungry, and Travis went out of find some food while the kids hung out in the hot tub.

Then, it was bedtime.

The next day was Monday, June 24 which was our 19th wedding anniversary. Travis is known for his bubble letter cards, and he tries to be artistic. Of course, this is my name looking like Hayward Field track. haha

Travis and Hayden left for Hayden’s workout, and when they got back, I woke up Hadley and we went to “Pre’s Rock,” which is where Steve Prefontaine died. If you aren’t familiar with him, he was an amazing distance runner from the University of Oregon who ran in the 1972 Olympics. At the age of 24, he died in a car accident near the university.

Runners leave items at the rock. Hayden meant to bring a medal or racing bib but forgot. I’m glad we went and visited this memorial.

After that, we made our way to the University of Oregon bookstore. Everyone wanted to get a shirt or sweatshirt, and I love a university bookstore. What we saw of the campus was really pretty.

Hadley loves a mascot!

Then, Hayden wanted to see the football field. We figured it would be pretty locked up, and it was, but he was able to get a peek at the indoor football facility.

Then, we went back to the house for a bit, before getting ready for night two of the Olympic Trials. We decided to leave early and get some dinner beforehand. We drove instead of taking an Uber, and we ate at Wild Duck which is a popular place near campus.

Then, we walked over to the field, and the kids watched some of the athletes on the warm-up track.

On Monday night, our seats were on the first level near the finish line which was so cool.

Hayden was so excited to watch the men’s 1500. The men’s 400, women’s 800 and women’s 5 k were also exciting. We also paid close attention to the women’s high jump as University of Kentucky’s Charity Hufnagel was jumping, and she won gold. The men’s long jump was right in front of us too.

Monday night, we were able to watch: men’s 110m hurdles, women’s high jump final, men’s long jump final, men’s 1500m (Hayden was so excited!), men’s 400m final (one of the finalists was 16 year old Quincy Wilson!), women’s 5000m (such an intense finish!), and the women’s 800m final (with a heart-breaking trip up by Athing Mu!). It was such a great night of racing, and we were so close to the action!

After the races, the kids wanted to go back over to the area they went the previous night where the athletes enter/exit the track. We stayed put and told them to meet us back in our seats. We got a text that included my mom asking if GG had seen them on TV. She looked back on the track coverage, and lo and behold…there were the kids on TV right behind Mike Tirico. haha

We finally caught up with the kids after their time on TV. haha

We had to get a pic in their Oregon/Olympics merch. I joked that the only thing faster than the men’s 110m hurdles that night was Hadley finding the merch tent!

Afterwards, we got ice cream while Travis went to pick up Chipolte. Both nights, most things were closing around the time the trials were over…at least where we were staying.

We headed back to the house, ate, relaxed and went to bed.

On Tuesday morning, Hayden went for a run, and then we packed up the car. We had breakfast at the highly recommended Pancake House. While we ate our delicious breakfast, we spotted Noah Lyles with his mom, then Travis noticed Michael Johnson (who famously wore his gold spikes for the 200m race in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics) in a booth. On our way out, we spotted distance runner Craig Engles who Hayden looks up to. It was quite the place to be!

Before we left Eugene, Travis asked Hadley if she wanted to go to the Nike store as he’d taken Hayden the day before. As we walked up to the store, one of the employees asked the kids if they wanted to try to “Nike Experience” they were putting on that day. They signed in, were given the latest Nikes and then got to run down about 20m. When they were at the beginning of the “track,” they announced their name, blew smoke and said, “runner, take your mark!” and then as they ran, one of the employees snapped professional (ish) photos that could be sent to my phone.

They had a good time doing that.

After the Nike store, we got in the car and drove a couple of hours to Rockaway Beach, Oregon. We had the cutest house, steps away from the beach.

So, that’s a recap our the second part of our trip. It was a very memorable experience that we all loved. Honestly, I loved everything we did on this trip, but so far, when people have asked my favorite part, the Olympic Trials were definitely it.