On the Right Track

This article first appeared in SkyWest magazine, the official publication of SkyWest Airlines, United Express and Delta Connection. For more information about that publication visit www.skywestmagazine.com or contact info@gopublicationsinc.com. The original article can be viewed here.

EUGENE, OREGON, A CITY OF 148,000 FRIENDLY PEOPLE, is tucked in the Willamette River Valley a little more than 100 miles south of Portland. Home of the University of Oregon, Eugene is known for its active political community, scenic location and cultural savvy. Above all, Eugene is known for running.

     In the 1970s, University of Oregon coach Bill Bowerman and his enigmatic star Steve Prefontaine helped ignite the running boom that spread like wildfire throughout the country. Bowerman and one of his former runners, Phil Knight, founded Nike on the building wave. Olympians from throughout the country, and world, flocked to Eugene to train in a community where they were admired like football players in Tuscaloosa, or hockey players in Saskatoon. ‘Track Town’ was born.

     “We are not going to become the football capital of the world, or the basketball capital of the world,” said Jon Anderson, a member of the 1972 U.S. Olympic team, winner of the 1973 Boston Marathon and lifelong Eugene resident. “But we can be that for track and field.”

     It’s one thing for a city to build an identity for a few years. Cultivating a legacy takes longer. Over the decades, that is what Eugene has done. In recent years track and field has experienced a decline in attendance and sponsorship, but Track Town is leading the way for a new running boom.

     The annual Prefontaine Classic, held in early June, is regarded as the premier invitational meet in the U.S. and routinely draws a standing-roomonly crowd of 12,000 plus. The Oregon Preview meet, held in March to help collegiate runners get in tune for the outdoor season, drew a record crowd of 5,699 people, and the first Eugene marathon in 25 years—with a motto of Running in the Footsteps of Legends—was held April 29. In addition to the annual events, Eugene will host its fourth U.S. Olympic Trials in 2008, forming the U.S. Olympic team for the Beijing Olympics. The 2010 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the 10th such meet Eugene has hosted, will follow that.

PERFECT STORM

     Many remarkable events unfolded at the right time to prompt Eugene’s evolution into Track Town. Joe Henderson, a former editor of Runner’s World magazine and a Eugene resident for more than 25 years, recognizes just how important Eugene’s past is to its present. “Each new crowd at a track meet,” he noted, “each new day with hundreds of runners on the tracks, streets and paths, is a reflection of Eugene’s history.”

     Bowerman began to lay the groundwork when he came to the University of Oregon in 1948, taking over for legendary coach Bill Hayward. By the time Prefontaine began his remarkable collegiate career, Eugene was already supporting a very successful track and field program.

     Prefontaine came to the University of Oregon in 1969 as a highly touted runner from Marshfield High School in nearby Coos Bay. In his four years at the school, Prefontaine won seven individual NCAA titles in track and cross country and never lost a race at Hayward Field. His success and tenacious, front-running style brought him legions of fans in Eugene, across the country and world. Before his untimely death in a motor-vehicle accident in 1975, Prefontaine had held every American running record from the 2,000 meters through the 10,000 meters and routinely helped attract standing-room-only crowds of 10,000-plus people to Hayward Field.

     “There was almost a frenzy around Prefontaine,” said Anderson, who was Prefontaine’s Olympic team mate and a pallbearer at his funeral. “He was outspoken, and he certainly drew the whole state to follow him and track and field in a positive fashion.”

     Bowerman’s role in igniting the running craze cannot be overstated. In 24 seasons as head track coach at Oregon, his teams finished in the top 10 at the NCAA Championships 16 times, winning four team titles and finishing second twice. He coached 31 Olympians, 24 individual NCAA champions, 51 All-Americans and the U.S. Olympic team for the 1972 Munich games. Runners under his tutelage set 12 American records.

     Bowerman was able to take his success to the people of Eugene, not just promoting his teams or meets, but urging the community to become involved. One of his most famous quotes, “If you have a body, you are an athlete,” rings loudly through out Track Town. In 1962 he took the Oregon four-mile relay team to New Zealand where a colleague introduced him to the sport of jogging. He returned to Eugene inspired and co-wrote a 20-page pamphlet with Eugene cardiologist Waldo Harris about the health benefits gained from jogging. Soon, Bowerman was hosting runs each week to a thrilled public and the pamphlet was expanded into a book. Jogging sold more than one-million copies and helped hasten the nation’s running boom.

     The coach’s vision extended to the realm of business. Bowerman and Phil Knight — a middledistance runner at Oregon in the late 1950s — shook hands on a deal to start Blue Ribbon Sports. Later named Nike, the venture revolutionized athletic footwear and is now the largest athletic supply company in the world.

     It is easy to give due praise to Bowerman, Prefontaine, Knight and many others who helped usher in the running boom, but the community of Eugene was equally important. Many cities could have been the birthplace of jogging in the U.S.; only one could be the capital of running.

     Eugene responded to Bowerman’s ideas about jogging with unimaginable support. Within just a few meetings, the jogging club went from a handful of curious participants to more than a thousand enthusiastic runners turning out for the chance to rub elbows with world-class athletes who came to help their coach. When those athletes competed at Hayward Field for the hometown Ducks, residents supported the team with the same fervor they showed their new hobby. Some of this enthusiasm was thanks, in part, to runners like Prefontaine, but could also be attributed to the relationship the people developed with the track program. Soon, Eugene was home to the most ardent and knowledgeable track fans in the country, perhaps the world. Hayward Field was the site of the 1972, ’76 and ’80 U.S. Olympic Trials and nine U.S. Track and Field Championships.

     “He got the community involved in what he was doing at the university, and it has stayed involved,” Henderson recalled, “Bowerman wasn’t just the Oregon coach. He was a promoter, salesman and goodwill ambassador of track and field, and for the activity of running.”

TODAY

     Running is far from the only way people in Eugene stay active. Visitors to the lush city will find many layers of opportunity, both for an active lifestyle and an active mind. The city’s motto, ‘World’s greatest city of the arts and outdoors’ is on display everywhere you look.

     Eugene is routinely credited as one of the best cities for cycling in the country, both as a mode of getting around town and for recreation. Eugene’s dedication to an active lifestyle can be seen in an extensive system that includes 30 miles of off-street paths and 89 miles of on-street cycling lanes designed to promote alternative transportation. Of eight bridges crossing the Willamette River in Eugene and neighboring Springfield, five are designated for foot or cycling traffic only. One of the motor-vehicle bridges has a lane exclusive to pedestrians and cyclists.

     Eugene’s uniqueness is also seen in its location. Without leaving Lane County, visitors can reach the shores of the Pacific in nearby Florence or the base of the 10,000-foot South Sister Peak in the Cascade Range. The confluence of the Willamette and McKenzie rivers just north of town provides an abundance of possibilities for canoeists, kayakers, rafters and fisher-folk. The Cascade and Coastal mountain ranges offer a plethora of hiking opportunities, including the Delta Old Growth Nature Trail where hikers can see 500-year-old trees rising nearly 250 feet.

     Saturdays from April through October offer Eugene’s famed Saturday Market, the oldest, weekly open-air crafts festival in the country. West of the valley, one of the region’s best wine-producing areas develops Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris rivaling those found anywhere. Summer brings the Oregon Country Fair in nearby Veneta, and the Oregon Bach Festival draws music-lovers from throughout the region.

     “The activity level of the community reaches far beyond Hayward Field to people who never set foot there and might not even run,” Henderson notes. “Everyone seems to have an activity here and many have two or more.”

FULL CIRCLE

     It’s easy to find your way back to the track, or trail. Local running enthusiasts can always find something associated with their favorite sport. Each week in July the community hosts allcomers meets where the fastest and slowest of racers can feel the wind whip their hair in competition. Eugene also hosts the Butte to Butte 10-K Race, held July 4 this year.

     If your visit doesn’t correspond with these events, you’re likely to find something going on at Hayward Field. The track is open to the public throughout the week, allowing runners to circle their sport’s most hallowed venue. Hayward Field also helps Eugene kick off the summer with the state high school track and field championships, followed by the Prefontaine Invitational.

     Eugene has an extensive park system, including Alton Baker Park where you can run Pre’s Trail, a 4.2-mile path dedicated to the late runner and modeled after bark-covered running paths found throughout Europe. Wherever you go, you’re likely to find others hitting the trail with you. Henderson moved to Eugene in 1981 and still remembers how it made him feel. “We [runners] were everywhere here, an accepted and largely ignored part of the scenery as we made our daily rounds,” he recalled. “I’d never felt this normal anywhere.”

SkyWest United Express serves Eugene with flights to and from Denver, San Francisco and Portland.

SkyWest Delta Connection serves Eugene with daily flights to and from Salt Lake City.

©2007 Go! Publications Inc.  Any copying or redistribution of contents of this website without permission is expressly prohibited. The inflight magazine of SkyWest Airlines, operating as Delta Connection and United Express. Photos, with the exception of the banner, are courtesy of VisitLaneCounty.org