You ever reply “Yes” to an email a little too quickly?
Happened to me a couple of weeks ago. One minute I’m a happy, sedentary sports writer. The next, I’ve impulsively agreed to participate in Saturday’s media only 400-meter “Race the Wavelight” competition to kick off the second day of the Prefontaine Classic.
Like anyone who’s visited Hayward Field before, I’ve imagined what it would be like to run down the final stretch. But I’ve also avoided running for the better part of my life.
You know why hockey is great? You can coast on ice.
On the track it’s just you, your legs and, now that I’m reading the fine print, “camera and TV crews will be allowed on the track to shoot the media Race the Wavelight competition.”
Oh.
All publicity is good publicity, right?
Thankfully my old pal Andrew Greif from the L.A. Times — and a former member of the UO track team — is running, too, and he joined me this week on The I-5 Corridor podcast to go over strategy.
He also previews what he’s watching for when the actual athletes get on the track later in the day. That includes Colin Sahlman, a prep senior from California chasing Alan Webb’s high school record of 3:53.43 in the 1500 meters set at the Pre Classic in 2001.
Greif was there for that one, too.
“There’s an argument to be made that [Sahlman’s] having the best season as a distance runner in U.S. history,” Greif said. “…I would just keep an eye on that. A little bit of magic could happen there.”
For more, listen to this podcast in the player above or find us over on Apple or Spotify.
— Tyson Alger
Note: The winner of the media 400 wins $500 to donate to a charity of their choice. In the rare chance I don’t win, consider a donation to Run Freely. It’s a charity founded by former ESPN anchor Kenny Mayne, which raises money to cover the costs of getting veterans moving again.
Episode 36: The road to the Pre Classic 400