Talking Trials: Wet 10,000's lead Day One at Hayward Field

Ritz was pumped up after making his third Olympics
(taken with instagram)

This is the third installment of "Talking Trials." There will be more to come every day during the 2012 USA Olympic Track and Field Trials from Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene, OR. Full results for the trials are here.

After getting off the plane Thursday night at 11pm Pacific and rolling into Eugene at 1am, I was pretty wiped out. That didn't keep me from the 9am Brooks/Flotrack 6 miler that included all of Pre's Trail. The day only got better from there. The rain though, got heavier and heavier. The Men's 10,000 had a cross country feel to it that made it all the more exciting.

The day at Hayward kicked with a roar. Ashton Eaton ran a Decathlon World Record of 10.21 in the 100 meters and then followed it up with a Decathlon World Record in the Long Jump (27'). He'd end the day 17 points ahead of schedule on the American Record, and he did it in the rain.

The prelims in the Women's 100 and 100 Hurdles and Men's and Women's 400 and 800 went pretty much to prediction, with a few outliers. Tavaris Tate hitting the track with 150 meters to go was pretty ugly, but not as bad a watching Latavia Thomas trip, hit the ground, and then get kicked in the head in the 800 prelims. That one looked like it hurt. Erica Moore also failed to qualify for Saturdays semifinal.

But as writing about running is an American Distance Running blog, the 10,000's were the highlights for me. When the guys started, it was absolutely pouring. The track was covered in puddles and there seemed to be no end in sight to the rain. Right from the gun, Galen Rupp and Dathan Ritzenhein took it out. Ritz needed the Olympic A Standard, so weather be damned, it was going down! Oregon's Luke Puskedra took the lead for a while and when it looked like he would blow up, he soldiered on, and would later rally and finish 8th overall in a 17 second PR of 27:56.62, concluding an excellent career in the Oregon Ducks uniform.

Over the last mile, Rupp, Ritz and Matt Tegenkamp would breakaway from the field and would take the podium, with Rupp winning in an Olympic Trials Record of 27:25.33. He looked great doing it and has to be considered in medal contention in his signature event in London. Teg motored home eight seconds later for the Silver; but no one was more elated than Ritz. After finishing fourth in the Marathon Trials, he looked like a broken man. Today, he looked like a kid on Christmas. This would be his third consecutive Olympic Team. Raleigh's Bobby Mack would finish a strong 9th in 27:58.07.

Shalane Flanagan leads the pack

When the Women's 10,000 started, the rain slowed. This is when it got fun to be a fan. I met Steve Edwards when I was at Carolina. This was before he met his now wife, Shalane Flanagan. He is a sometimes guest on one of my favorite podcasts, "3 Non Joggers," and is as down to earth and fun as they get. He invited the guys up from Portland to come watch Shalane compete and I was lucky enough to tag along for the ride. According to Edwards, Shalane had run 104 miles already this week. She still looked great the whole way.

It was fun watching Steve watch Shalane, but an even more exciting byproduct of this was watching Kiel Uhl cheer on his wife Lisa. Flanagan and Uhl train together and emotion was pouring out. At one point, (Lisa) Uhl had to stop and re-tie her shoe. She fell 100 yards behind the pack, but would recover to finish fourth, qualifying for her first Olympics, as she was one of only three women to have the Olympic A Standard (sans Flanagan, as she will run the marathon). Despite Flanagan and Uhl's success, Texas A&M's Natosha Rogers was the story of the day. Rogers fell to the track early in the race and rallied late to finish second, between eventual winner, Amy Hastings, and Flanagan. Her personal best time of 31:59.21 would be just over 14 seconds off the Olympic A Standard.

After the competition, I finished my piece on local runners competing, for the Greensboro News & Record, and then hit the dorms before heading out for Saucony night at the Wild Duck Cafe. The place was packed and looks to be the "after hours" spot for the trials. One of the people in attendance was a very excited Matt Tegenkamp, who would qualify for his second Olympics. Now the question is, will he double back in the 5000? or is his work complete? Will he run the 5000 and help teammates Andrew Bumbalough and Lopez Lomong? We'll find out soon as the trials march on!

More photos from Day One at Hayward:

Galen Rupp greets the fans after his 10,000 win

The crowd at the Wild Duck Cafe

Coach Bill Bowerman welcomes fans to Track Town

Brooks/Flotrack run with the legend, Derek Rubis, and Spiked Up, Psyched Up's Kevin Liao

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5 Questions with the Hub of Distance Running, Derek Rubis

Derek Rubis in action

We have a special 5 Questions with today with one of the sport's biggest fans, Derek Rubis. There's a Facebook group to help get Derek to the Olympic Trials this June in Eugene and a fundraising site to help make this a reality. It's almost to the target amount. Click here to contribute and track the progress.

Derek Rubis is the self-proclaimed "hub of distance running" and that title cannot be challenged by anyone. He holds the belt. His youthful exuberance and fandom is well appreciated by many of the sport's biggest stars. He's not only a huge fan of distance running, he's the king of Faceholing. He is also up over 79,000 tweets at time of publishing. Is anyone in the world over 100k? I'm not sure, but Derek may get there in a month. In this interview, he's got some NCAA predictions, as well as a list of folks he'd like to meet in Eugene this summer. If you start running well, maybe he'll Facehole you; a true mark of distinction in the running world.

5 Questions with Derek Rubis

1. Writing About Running: Where does your unbridled passion for the sport come from?

Derek Rubis: I started this sport because my doctor said that I could not do contact sports in high school. So I started Cross Country and Track then. It is a sport that not a lot of people can do, not even the sprinters.

The Art of Faceholing

2. Writing About Running: Where did you come up with the idea of your now famous "faceholing?"

Derek Rubis: I saw some people on Facebook with this thing called FACE in HOLE. I thought I would give it a try and now I am addicted to it.

3. Writing About Running: What is something about the sport that you would change if you were in charge?

Derek Rubis: I would show more distance events (on television) and show the whole event, not just the first and last 2 laps (and show less of the sprinting events).

4. Writing About Running: What are your predictions for the Mile, 3000 and 5000 at NCAA Indoors this weekend?

Derek Rubis: 
Top 3 in the Mile: Miles Batty, Andy Bayer and a darkhorse, Eric Harasyn
Top 3 in the 3K: Diego Estrada, Chris Derrick, Andy Bayer
Top 3 in the 5K: Diego Estrada, Lawi Lalang, Chris Derrick

Help Derek meet his heroes!

5. Writing About Running: What 5 athletes are you most looking forward to meeting in person at the trials in Eugene this June and why?

Derek Rubis: 
1. Trey Hardee because he is one athlete, outside of distance running, that inspires me to my best in my runs, workouts and races.
2. Fam, one of my Steeplechase Gods, need we say more?
3. Billy Nelson, another one of my Steeplechase Gods, cause he is short like me and still able to do the Steeplechase better than I can.
4. Nick Symmonds, the king of mid-distance running, cause he is just that damn good!
5. Jesse Williams because he is the greatest field athlete in my mind.

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