4
Wednesday, August 5, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Running commentary
By Charlie Kanzig
Correspondent
I don9t watch much on
television when it comes to
sports 4 or anything else
for that matter, 4 but the
Summer Olympics usu-
ally keeps me riveted to the
screen. Especially when
it comes to the track and
field and the marathon. The
Tokyo Olympics were origi-
nally scheduled to start last
week, but the pandemic
has postponed the Games
until 2021. Given the way
the pandemic is going, and
the toll it has taken on the
health, economies, and
stamina of the world, I won-
der if they will happen at all
before 2024. A recent poll
showed that only about half
of the Japanese population
thinks it9s a good idea to
hold the Olympics next year.
But the pandemic has
not thwarted the training
and aspirations of some
elite runners training here
in Oregon, many with the
Beaverton-based Bowerman
Track Club (BTC), who
missed the chance to com-
pete in the 2020 Olympic
Trials, but will hopefully get
the chance next year.
The BTC conducted
three intra-squad meets at
Jesuit High School earlier
this month and the results
were as fast (or faster) than
some Olympic Trials races
from 2016.
The meets 4 which were
unpublicized and included
no spectators and held to
strict health guidelines
4 produced a Canadian
record, an American record
and some of the fastest times
ever run on American soil. I
find this to be remarkable
given all of the circum-
stances the athletes, and
the entire world, have been
dealing with for the past
many weeks.
Maybe everyone was
ready to do something
amazing after months of
shutdowns, interruptions,
and disappointments.
Shelby Houlihan, a 2016
Olympian, broke her own
American record for 5000
meters on July 10 by more
than 10 seconds, lower-
ing the mark to 14:23.92.
Her BTC training partner
and fellow Iowan, Karissa
Schweitzer, also ran under
the previous record, finish-
ing in 14:26.34. The pair
now rank 12th and 14th all-
time in the world. The world
record is held by Tirunesh
Dibaba, who ran 14:11.15 in
2008.
In the men9s 5000,
Canadian Moh Ahmed, ran
a stunning 12:47.2 to lower
his own national record by
almost 11 seconds. Lopez
Lomong placed second
in 12:58.78, which was
the ninth fastest time ever
run by an American. The
world record for the event
was established in 2004 by
Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele
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in 12:37.35.
July 21, at the third intra-
squad meet, Ahmed took
a turn at the 1500 meters,
along with eight of his
BTC teammates in what
they termed to be a <time
trial.= Ahmed won the race
in 3:34.89 seconds. For
perspective, this clocking
matches the winning time
for the 1500 at the 2016
Olympic Trials in which the
top three runners were vying
for a shot at qualifying for
the Games.
T h e w o m e n 9s 1 5 0 0
turned out to be even more
impressive as Schweitzer
ran 4:00.02 to win over
Colleen Quigley (4:03.98)
and five other BTC racers.
In 2016 Jenny Simpson won
the Olympic Trials 1500 in
4:04.74.
I9d say that the
Bowerman Track Club
and its lead coach Jerry
Schumacher, are making the
most of a difficult situation
and appear to be the pre-
eminent training group for
distance runners in America
4 particularly after the dis-
mantling of the Nike Oregon
Project which folded after
coach Alberto Salazar was
suspended from coach-
ing by the U.S. Center for
SafeSport for misconduct
related to alleged doping
violations.
If the BTC athletes are
able to keep their spirits and
training up, it seems likely
some club members will be
PHOTO BY CHARLIE KANZIG
The brand new Hayward Field, complete with a tower representing
Oregon track and field legends, sits idle until competitions resume.
at the next Olympics.
On a related track-and-
field note, the new state-of-
the-art Hayward Field facil-
ity is complete and ready to
be used as soon as competi-
tion is allowed to start once
again. Hayward Field will
be the site of the Olympic
Trials, if they are held, in
2021. Eugene will also
host the 2022 World Track
and Field Championships,
originally scheduled for
2021. The event will mark
the first time that the World
Championships have been
held in America.
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I find these runners inspi-
rational. I see their approach
as a reminder for us all to
keep working to the good
even if we don9t know what
the future holds.
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